Summary:
ZIP code 54703 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has two public middle schools—DeLong Middle and Northstar Middle—both serving grades 6–8 in the Eau Claire Area School District. DeLong Middle is the larger school with 893 students, while Northstar Middle enrolls 529. Both schools have a 0.0% dropout rate for 2024–25 and 3-star ratings in 2025–26, even though the district overall is rated 2 stars and ranks 225 of 432 in Wisconsin, at the 48th percentile. This gives parents two similarly structured middle-school options in the same district but with different sizes and recent performance trends.
For 2025–26, Northstar Middle is the stronger performer. It ranks 230 of 643, in the 64th percentile, and beats DeLong Middle in 7 of 8 Forward Exam proficiency measures. The biggest differences are 8th Grade Science (58.93% vs. 48.89%), 7th Grade Math (63.41% vs. 55.04%), 8th Grade Social Studies (70.83% vs. 64.07%), and 8th Grade Math (62.50% vs. 56.67%). DeLong Middle's only 2025–26 win is 6th Grade Math, 58.54% vs. 57.67%. Northstar Middle also has a slightly lower student-teacher ratio, 11.4 vs. 12.2, while both schools have nearly identical free/reduced lunch rates (42.91% at Northstar Middle, 43.56% at DeLong Middle) and per-student spending ($16,389 vs. $16,418).
Their recent trajectories differ sharply. Northstar Middle improved from the 52nd percentile in 2023–24 to the 64th percentile in 2025–26, while DeLong Middle declined from the 58th percentile to the 52nd percentile. In 2024–25 to 2025–26, Northstar Middle's 8th Grade Social Studies rose from 59.15% to 70.83%, and 8th Grade Science rose from 51.22% to 58.93%; DeLong Middle moved the other way in both. One attendance paradox: Northstar Middle has higher chronic absenteeism (20.8%) than DeLong Middle (17.4%), despite stronger test scores. These are single-year comparisons, so parents should consider them alongside school visits, course offerings, and their child's needs.
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