Summary:
ZIP code 54868 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, has four public schools, all in the Rice Lake Area School District: two PK–4 elementaries, Tainter Elementary and Hilltop Elementary; one grades 5–8 school, Rice Lake Middle; and one grades 9–12 school, Rice Lake High. Together they enroll 1,992 students, with roughly 65% in the middle and high schools. The district ranks 235th of 432 in Wisconsin — the 46th percentile, 2 stars — even though three of its four schools are 3-star schools this year.
Hilltop Elementary is the brightest spot: it scores above both state and district in every tested area, ranks in the 60th percentile with 3 stars, and has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 6.8%. Tainter Elementary is moving the other way — now 1 star and the 25th percentile, down from 2 stars the prior two years, and below state in all six tested areas, with the area's highest free/reduced-lunch rate (56.4%) and highest per-student spending ($18,116). Rice Lake Middle is a steady 3-star school with standout 6th- and 7th-grade math (61.11% and 67.66%) and 7th-grade ELA (68.86%), though 8th-grade social studies and science fall below state.
Rice Lake High posts excellent completion numbers — a 98.3% graduation rate and 0.1% dropout rate — but 10th-grade ELA and math sit slightly below state, and its chronic absenteeism of 20.6% is the highest in the group and above the state's 17.3%. Attendance varies widely across the four schools: Hilltop 6.8%, Rice Lake Middle 10.1%, Tainter 12.5%, and the high school 20.6%. Notably, spending does not track neatly with results here: the highest-spending school has the weakest outcomes, while the lowest-spending school is a stable 3-star performer. The clearest story in 54868 is the elementary split — same district, same grade span, very different outcomes.
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