Riverview Middle, Barron WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Riverview Middle

Riverview Middle serves students in fifth through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Barron Area School District. It is located in the city of Barron, a small county seat in northwestern Wisconsin that grew out of lumber milling and agriculture and remains anchored by a large turkey processing plant, a regional hospital, and county government. The historic downtown centers on a courthouse square, and the city’s compact residential and industrial landscape reflects a long, slow-growth trajectory. The district brief turned up no recent referendums, curriculum shifts, or other parent-relevant changes with lasting impact; the reported picture is one of stability rather than transition.

Enrollment at Riverview Middle is moderate for its grade band. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a context where economic need is a meaningful factor for many families. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic or Black, and very small numbers of Asian, Native American, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material; a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

State assessment results from the Wisconsin Forward exam are reported for the recent school year and show a varied pattern across subjects and grade levels. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from roughly a third of students meeting the bar in eighth grade up to about two-thirds in seventh grade, with fifth and sixth grades falling in between. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: the highest rate is in fifth grade, where about half of students scored proficient or above, while sixth and eighth grades sit lower. Science results for eighth grade come in at just over a third proficient, and social studies for the same grade at about two-fifths. When averaged across all tested grades and subjects, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Barron County. That is a soft spot. The numbers vary enough by grade and subject that a family might want to look more closely at how individual teachers and teams handle specific cohorts; the school’s results do not suggest a uniform picture. Participation rates on the assessments were very high, which makes the results a reliable reflection of the enrolled students.

Because Riverview Middle serves only grades five through eight, there is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data to report here. Information on discipline, staffing ratios, and course access was also not available, so those dimensions of school environment are not covered in this account. The school is not a charter or magnet, and Title I status was not specified.

For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is that Riverview Middle operates in a community with a stable, working-class economic base and a moderate level of student need. Its academic results are mixed, with some grades and subjects showing stronger performance than others, and the overall picture relative to other county districts sits at the low end. This is a school where a parent would want to understand the specific classroom and support structures, particularly in the grades and subjects where proficiency drops, and where the absence of special population data makes it worth a direct inquiry about services for students with disabilities and English learners. The setting is a small city with a clear downtown core, a modest housing market, and an economy built on food processing, healthcare, and government.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 61% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 766%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 53% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

This schoolBarron Area School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income71%36 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income50%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income35%Higher-income56%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income39%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income79%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income46%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income53%Higher-income77%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income36%6 pp gap