Summary:
ZIP code 54810, which covers Balsam Lake in western Wisconsin, is served by exactly one middle school: Unity Middle, a grades 5–8 school with 238 students in Unity School District. Because there is only one middle school in the area, there are no in-ZIP peers to compare against, so the most useful benchmarks are the district and Wisconsin state averages. Structurally, the school has favorable metrics for a school of its size: a student-teacher ratio of 11.6 and per-student spending of $14,261. Just over half of students (50.42%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Academically, Unity Middle's profile is split. The district overall ranks 331 of 432 in Wisconsin (23rd percentile, 1 star), and the school's own rank has slid from 241 of 641 (62nd percentile, 3 stars) in 2023–2024, to 272 of 628 (57th percentile, 3 stars) in 2024–2025, down to 401 of 643 (38th percentile, 2 stars) in 2025–2026. In 2025–2026, average math proficiency was 39.56% versus 53.69% statewide, and average ELA was 45.46% versus 54.57%. Grade 7 stands out as a bright spot, beating the state in both ELA (64.52% vs. 55.33%) and math (66.13% vs. 55.67%). Grade 6 is the weak point, at 28.30% in ELA and 30.19% in math. Eighth-grade math also fell sharply, from 50.00% to 29.03%. Science and social studies remained above state in 2025–2026 (53.23% and 67.74%) but dropped notably from 2024–2025.
Engagement indicators are a genuine strength. Chronic absenteeism is 14.3% at the school, below the district's 18.6% and the state's 17.3%. The 2024–2025 dropout rate was 0.8%, above the district's 0.2% but below the state's 1.1%. Taken together, Unity Middle shows strong grade 7 results, solid science and social studies performance, and better-than-average attendance, alongside declining overall rank and significant middle-grade math and ELA drops in grades 6 and 8 — areas worth watching closely.
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