Karcher Middle School, Burlington WI

Original Research by School Decision on Karcher Middle School

Karcher Middle School serves sixth through eighth graders in the Burlington Area School District, a regular public school that draws students from Burlington, a small city between Milwaukee and Chicago. The school occupies a building on Wainwright Avenue, within a community that the city itself describes as gaining recognition as a sought-after location for young professionals and families. Burlington blends residential neighborhoods with a substantial commercial and industrial base, and its historic downtown, with a Riverwalk along the Fox River, is walkable. The school is one of seven in the district, sitting between the elementary schools and Burlington High School.

State testing data covers grades five through eight in math and English language arts, with science and social studies assessed in eighth grade. The overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places Karcher below the midpoint relative to other districts in Racine County, though not at the bottom. Math proficiency is strongest in grades six through eight, where roughly two-thirds of students score proficient, while grade five math lags behind. English language arts shows a clear upward trajectory: about half of fifth graders meet proficiency, but by eighth grade that share rises to roughly three-quarters. Eighth graders also post strong results in science and social studies, with about two-thirds proficient in science and three-quarters in social studies. These results suggest that students generally strengthen their reading and writing skills as they move through the school, and that eighth-grade content-area knowledge is a bright spot. The math results are more uneven, with fifth grade notably lower, a gap that a family may want to discuss with the school.

The school enrolls a sizable student body. Around a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly White, with a Hispanic population that makes up a notable share, along with small numbers of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available. The school does not appear to be a Title I school, and its charter and magnet status are not indicated, so it functions as a straightforward neighborhood middle school within the district.

Housing in the Burlington area carries a value above both the state and national benchmarks, and the local economy reflects a low unemployment rate nationally. The city is positioning for continued growth: a new bypass has reduced downtown traffic, and the manufacturing and office park is expanding. That context matters for families considering whether the area is likely to maintain its current character and school funding base. The district itself reported no recent major changes of note in publicly available sources, so there is no indication of pending disruption or reorganization.

For a parent or resident evaluating Karcher Middle School, the picture is that of a middle school where literacy skills build steadily and eighth-grade outcomes in social studies and science are strong, while math performance is solid for the middle grades but weaker in the one grade that draws from outside the school’s official grade band. The school operates within a stable, growing smaller city with a walkable downtown and an active business community. The student body is not highly diverse in racial terms but does have an economic mix. The overall proficiency standing relative to other Racine County districts is slightly below the middle, which a family weighing options may want to investigate further by asking about the school’s own academic improvement efforts and the alignment of its math curriculum from elementary through middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 48% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 64% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 65% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 51% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 67% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 768%

School 68% · District 67% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 76%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

This schoolBurlington 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-income36%Higher-income58%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income73%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income56%Higher-income73%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income84%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income61%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income76%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income53%Higher-income70%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income75%32 pp gap