Chippewa Falls Middle, Chippewa Falls WI

Original Research by School Decision on Chippewa Falls Middle

Chippewa Falls Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District, drawing students from the small city of Chippewa Falls and the surrounding area. The town sits on the Chippewa River and is the county seat, with a mix of residential neighborhoods, a revitalized downtown commercial district, and industrial employers that include the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company and TTM Advanced Circuits. It is part of the Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area. The district itself recently passed a referendum to fund facility improvements across all school buildings, including safety upgrades and HVAC replacement, a lasting property-tax increase that affects every school. The district also launched a new literacy program in the 2024-2025 school year, implementing science-based reading instruction across all elementary schools, a curriculum shift in early reading.

The middle school is a regular public school and its enrollment is large for a single middle school serving three grades. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races, Hispanic, Asian, Black, or American Indian or Alaska Native. Nearly two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was missing from the available records, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those population counts and support services.

On state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates in math and English language arts show a mixed picture. In math, rates climb modestly from sixth grade to seventh and again to eighth, settling at a point slightly above the half-mark. In English language arts, rates hover near the half-mark across all three grades, with seventh grade at an even split. Eighth-grade science results land at roughly the same level as the math and ELA numbers, while eighth-grade social studies posts a noticeably higher proficiency rate, well above the half-mark. The school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in Chippewa County, though the range across the county is narrow, so the difference between the top and bottom results is small.

The school has very high participation rates on state tests, with nearly every enrolled student taking the assessments. This means the reported results reflect the full student body rather than a self-selected group. A graduation rate is not applicable because this is a middle school.

Chippewa Falls Middle School sits within a district that has moved toward facility improvements and curriculum updates. The building itself is not new, but the district-wide referendum signals a commitment to capital maintenance. For a family weighing this school, the academic numbers show a school performing near the middle of the county pack, with social studies as a relative strength and ELA as a softer spot. The peer environment is shaped by the city’s mix of manufacturing, healthcare, and retail employers, with a student body that is economically diverse and racially homogeneous. Parents who want to know more about how special education and English language services are staffed should seek that information from the school directly, as those details were not in the available data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 10 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Science

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 7 pts above state median

This schoolChippewa Falls Area Unified 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 6Lower-income46%Higher-income60%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income59%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income64%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income64%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income70%28 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income66%11 pp gap