The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in Social studies. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Crandon Middle
Crandon Middle School serves the sixth through eighth grades in the Northwoods city of Crandon, Wisconsin, the Forest County seat. The school is part of the Crandon School District and operates on a single campus near the downtown and county courthouse area. The surrounding community is a rural small city whose economy is anchored by logging, tourism, light industry, and nearby tribal casinos. The city is growing very slowly; the housing stock includes many seasonal and lakefront properties, and the built environment is dominated by single-family homes and highway-oriented commercial strips. Walkability is modest outside the downtown core, and daily trips are largely car-dependent.
Crandon Middle is a regular public school of moderate size for its grade band. The student body is roughly half white, with a substantial share of American Indian or Alaska Native students and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. Just under half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not reported, so a parent may want to verify those supports directly with the school.
State assessment results from the Forward exam show a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates for sixth and seventh graders were in the low-to-mid forties, while the eighth-grade rate dropped into the mid-twenties. In math, proficiency declined from sixth to eighth grade, with the seventh-grade rate in the low forties and the sixth- and eighth-grade rates in the low to mid-thirties. On the eighth-grade science assessment, about three in ten students scored proficient or above. Eighth-grade social studies was a relative bright spot, approaching half of students proficient or above. When compared with other districts in Forest County, Crandon Middle posted an overall proficiency index below the midpoint among the county’s three districts.
The school’s participation rates on state assessments were strong, at or near full participation across all tested grades and subjects, which means the results are a fair reflection of the student body’s performance.
Discipline, course access, and staffing data were not available in the source records, so a family looking for a full picture of the school environment may want to follow up with the district. The district brief did not identify any recent parent-relevant changes such as boundary adjustments, program launches, or facilities projects.
For a family considering this school, the surrounding housing market offers a relative cost advantage. Home values in the Crandon area sit below both the Wisconsin state benchmark and the national benchmark, and housing has been appreciating at a rate well above the national average. That combination suggests a more affordable entry point than many other parts of the state, with notable price growth in recent months.
Crandon Middle provides the standard middle school academic pathway in a small, rural Northwoods setting. The proficiency numbers are below the county median, particularly in eighth-grade English and math, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand intervention strategies and support structures. The student composition reflects the broader community’s racial and economic diversity, and the school’s location on a combined campus in the city center makes it physically integrated into the town’s daily life.
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