Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 54806

ZIP code 54806 covers Ashland, Wisconsin, and has two public elementary schools — Lake Superior Elementary and Marengo Valley Elementary — both serving grades PK–5 and both part of Ashland School District, with 787 students combined.

Marengo Valley Elementary is the standout: 4 stars and a rank of 291 of 1,039 Wisconsin elementary schools in 2025‑26 — the 72nd percentile, or top 28% statewide — after 628 of 1,044 (2 stars) the year before. It beat the district average in all eight grade-and-subject cells and the state in seven of eight; only 4th-grade Social Studies, at 61.54%, fell short of the state's 65.51%. Lake Superior Elementary has held 1 star for three straight years, ranked 812, 816 and 855, and in 2025‑26 came in below both the district average and the state in every measured cell. Its sharpest weak spot is 4th-grade Math at 24.44%, versus 65.38% at Marengo Valley and 52.87% statewide. Averaged across the eight cells, proficiency is 67.7% at Marengo Valley, 54.8% statewide, 45.2% for the district and 39.6% at Lake Superior — roughly a 28-point gap between the two schools.

Attendance is the measure that tracks results most closely: chronic absenteeism is 9.6% at Marengo Valley, about 45% below the state's 17.3%, while Lake Superior sits at 17.4%, essentially the state average. Notably, Marengo Valley serves more low-income students (67.93% free/reduced lunch vs. 57.21%), spends less per student ($15,450 vs. $16,276) and has larger classes (14.8 students per teacher vs. 13.2), so its advantage is not explained by money or class size alone. One caveat matters: Marengo Valley is small — 184 students to Lake Superior's 603 — so a single year's numbers can turn on a handful of students, though its gains were broad-based, with seven of eight cells up by about 17 points on average, while Lake Superior declined in five of eight.