The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Social studies. The lowest is 47% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Park Falls Elementary
Park Falls Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Chequamegon School District. The school sits in Park Falls, a small northern Wisconsin city with a history rooted in the pulp and paper industry. The community, which has seen slow population decline from its industrial-era peak, retains a traditional downtown commercial core that has undergone renovation. The North Fork of the Flambeau River divides the town, and the area is surrounded by the Chequamegon National Forest, making outdoor recreation a prominent part of local life. Key employers include a reopened paper mill, a fishing rod manufacturer, and a window factory, alongside government offices like the U.S. Forest Service.
The school itself is a substantial presence in the community, serving the elementary grades for the district. Enrollment is moderate, with a noticeable concentration in the kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. A significant share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic makeup of the area. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller numbers of students identifying as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, as well as small percentages of students who are Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, or identify with two or more races. Data on the number of students receiving special education services or those who are English learners was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to explore directly with the school.
On state assessments, the school’s performance presents a mixed picture. In third-grade English language arts, a majority of students scored at proficient or above. Fourth-grade English language arts results showed a similar level of achievement, and in fourth-grade social studies, a majority of students also reached proficiency. Fourth-grade science proficiency was lower, with just under half of students meeting the bar. In mathematics, the results varied by grade. Third graders posted a level where a majority were proficient. Fifth-grade math saw roughly half of students proficient. Fourth-grade math was the weakest area, with less than half of students reaching proficiency. Fifth-grade English language arts also fell below half at the proficient level. When compared to other districts within Price County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades placed it in the top quartile, indicating that its combined results are on the stronger end relative to local peers.
Because the school serves only grades PK through 5, there is no graduation rate to report. This is simply a function of the grade band, not a missing or negative indicator. The school environment data, including discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, and staffing ratios, was not available, so a parent would need to look into those areas separately to get a full picture of the day-to-day climate.
The parent district, Chequamegon, was formed from the consolidation of the former Park Falls and Glidden school districts. The district brief did not surface any recent major changes such as referenda, curriculum overhauls, or property tax shifts. The search for district-level developments found little of lasting impact, so those topics are absent here rather than guessed.
For a family considering Park Falls Elementary, the school offers a setting in a small, tight-knit community with a strong outdoor orientation. The academic results show clear strengths in early elementary English language arts and social studies, with math proficiency more uneven across the grades. The school’s overall performance relative to other districts in the county is a positive signal, though individual subject and grade-level results vary enough that a parent may want to ask how the school supports students in the areas where proficiency is lower. The missing data on special education and English learner services is a notable blank, and the absence of school climate measures means a family would need to rely on visits and conversations with staff to gauge the environment.
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