The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in Social studies. The lowest is 64% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Clear Lake Junior High
Clear Lake Junior High serves a small cohort of seventh and eighth graders in the Clear Lake School District, a single school in a rural Polk County village. With an enrollment that is compact even for a two-grade school, the building provides the transition between elementary school and the high school that shares the campus. The community it draws from is small, overwhelmingly white, and economically mixed; a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which signals a level of need that the school and district manage within a tight rural budget.
On the Wisconsin Forward assessments, the school’s results show a mixed picture that a parent should weigh against the small testing group. In math, roughly two-thirds of seventh graders and a similar share of eighth graders scored proficient or above. In English language arts, the eighth-grade cohort performed stronger, again with roughly two-thirds proficient, while the seventh-grade group landed lower, with a little more than half reaching that bar. Science results for eighth graders were in line with eighth-grade math, with about two-thirds proficient. Social studies was the strongest subject for that grade, where three-quarters of students scored proficient. Taking all tested subjects and grades together, the school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among the seven districts in Polk County. That is a solid result for a small school, though the small number of students means a few individuals can shift the percentages noticeably.
Because the school serves only seventh and eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, as those students have not yet reached that milestone. The school’s chronic absenteeism rate also was not available in the data reviewed, so a parent who is concerned about attendance patterns would want to ask the district directly.
The school is a traditional regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported. Information on discipline, staffing ratios, course access, and special education rates was absent from the available data. That leaves several open questions about day-to-day student experience and support structures that a family should raise with the school office.
The village of Clear Lake itself is a small rural community about an hour from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, a drive that has become more practical since the completion of major highway upgrades. The local economy leans on manufacturing, with an industrial park hosting several large employers including a food processor and heavy equipment manufacturers. Housing values are modest relative to the national median, and the village describes itself as growing, though no major new housing developments were identified. The compact downtown, village park with lakes and camping, and the multi-use trailhead give the town recreational anchors that are typical of a small Wisconsin village.
The district brief turned up little in the way of recent parent-relevant changes, so the school’s programming and leadership are likely stable.
Clear Lake Junior High offers a traditional academic program in a setting where students move through the middle grades in a small, known group. The proficiency data, while uneven across subjects and grades, places the school in a reasonable position compared with its Polk County peers. A family looking at this school will want to ask about the subjects where seventh-grade ELA performance was lower, and about how the school addresses the range of student needs reflected in the economic diversity of the student body. For a family that values a small rural school where teachers know every student and the transition to high school is within the same building and district, this is a straightforward choice. For a family that expects broad course options, extensive extracurriculars, or detailed public reporting on support services, this school will require more direct inquiry.
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