Clintonville Middle, Clintonville WI

Original Research by School Decision on Clintonville Middle

Clintonville Middle serves grades six through eight as a regular public school within the Clintonville School District. The school sits in the city of Clintonville, a small industrial town in rural Waupaca County with a manufacturing heritage that includes the birthplace of four-wheel drive technology and the Seagrave Fire Apparatus plant. The city’s population has been declining in recent years, though the local industrial park continues to employ workers in tractor, military vehicle, fire truck, and paper product manufacturing. Main Street functions as the civic and commercial spine with seasonal farmers markets and events, but the walkability is event-driven rather than a sustained daily foot-traffic pattern. Search results did not specify whether the middle school building is located downtown or on a separate campus.

The school enrolls a modest number of students. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population as the next largest group, followed by small shares of students who identify as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Black. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a substantial share of families with lower household incomes. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported in the available records.

On the Wisconsin Forward state assessments, proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades present a mixed picture. In English language arts, grade seven posted a stronger result, with roughly six in ten students reaching proficiency, while grades six and eight each landed around the halfway mark. In math, grade seven again stood higher, at nearly six in ten proficient, while grades six and eight each showed a little over two in five proficient. For grade eight, the only tested grade in science and social studies, proficiency rates were near half in science and somewhat above half in social studies. Participation rates were at or near full attendance across all tests.

When placed against other school districts in Waupaca County, Clintonville Middle’s overall proficiency across subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile among the eight districts in the county. The median district proficiency index is higher, so families comparing options in the immediate area may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are not yet meeting the bar, particularly in math at grades six and eight and in grade six ELA. The district’s graduation rate does not apply to a middle school, and chronic absenteeism data was not available.

Housing in Clintonville has seen a meaningful increase in values in the past year, typical of many smaller Midwestern communities, and remains below the statewide benchmark. Monthly mortgage costs on a median-priced home are estimated at a level that could be manageable for many households in the region, though the share of students receiving meal assistance suggests a range of economic circumstances among families. No data on the school’s program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, or discipline incidents were provided, so a parent interested in, say, advanced coursework, arts, or support services would need to gather that information directly from the school. The district brief turned up no recent major changes or referendums, though public records indicate a significant capital outlay in the 2022-2023 fiscal year; specifics on that construction or renovation could not be confirmed from available sources.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 9 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 49%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median

Science

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57%

▼ 7 pts below state median

This schoolClintonville 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-income26%Higher-income58%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income57%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income63%Higher-income59%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income64%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income52%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income49%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income67%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income54%24 pp gap