Most public schools are meeting or going beyond state expectations in the Northwoods.
School report cards released each September look at how students are doing in reading and math, attendance and graduation rates. There are also categories that measure student improvement, and how schools are closing performance gaps between demographics.
In Crandon, District Administrator Jim Asher says schools did better than state averages in student growth and closing the gap categories...and but still need work on some academic indicators.
“Our student engagement indicators are all good, we met all of those without a problem. The priority areas – our district score was 57.2, and the state score was 66.4 so we know we have a little work to do, especially in regards to math achievement.”
The Rhinelander School District also meets expectations overall. Northwoods Community Secondary School is one of the few individual schools ranked lower, termed as “meeting few expectations.” Superintendent Kelli Jacobi says the school lost points for poor attendance. And meanwhile Pelican Elementary School has made the jump into the second-best category of “exceeding expectations.”
“Being the first in the district to do so, that is definitely celebration worthy. Central showed improvement – most of the schools did show improvement over last year.”
Northwoods school districts that rank overall as “exceeding expectations” include Northland Pines, Mercer, Phelps and Minocqua. The Department of Public Instruction has detailed breakdowns of school and district scores on its website.
