Best High Schools in Zip Code 54566

ZIP code 54566 contains exactly one high school: Wabeno High, a grades 6–12 school in Wabeno, Wisconsin with 193 students, part of the Wabeno Area School District. Because it spans middle and high school grades, its data mixes Forward Exam results for grades 6–8 with ACT results for grade 10. It is a small school with a high-poverty profile: 61.66% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, per-student spending is $11,425, and the student-teacher ratio is 11.5. District figures for test scores, graduation, and dropout match the school exactly, so Wabeno High drives the district's reported results, though chronic absenteeism is higher at the school than the district.

Academically, Wabeno High scores below the state in most subjects and grades. In 2025–2026, only 2 of 12 reported tests beat the state average: 6th grade ELA (59.09% vs. 54.95%) and 6th grade Math (54.55% vs. 53.60%). In 2024–2025, just 1 of 12 did — 10th grade ACT ELA at 54.55% vs. 48.62%. Most results trail the state by wide margins: 8th grade ELA is 22.22% vs. 54.38%, and 10th grade Social Studies is 16.67% vs. 48.25%. Some areas improved sharply (6th grade ELA rose from 33.33% to 59.09%), while others fell — 8th grade ELA dropped from 43.75% to 22.22%, and 10th grade Social Studies fell 24.24 percentage points. A simple average across the 12 tests shows a gap of about 15.5 points behind the state in 2025–2026.

Accountability and engagement measures are also weaker than the state. The district ranks 399 of 432 in Wisconsin (8th percentile, 0 stars), and the school has earned 1 star in each of the last three reported years. Graduation is 86.2% vs. the state's 92.0%, dropout is 3.3% — three times the state's 1.1% — and chronic absenteeism is 20.3%, above both the district's 18.9% and the state's 17.3%. With only 193 students across seven grades, small cohorts can swing year-to-year rates substantially. Overall, there are real bright spots, especially 6th grade in 2025–2026, but the broader picture is below-state academics with attendance and completion challenges.