Original Research by School Decision on Goodman High
Goodman High is the only secondary school in the Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District, serving students in seventh through twelfth grade in the rural Marinette County community of Goodman. The school sits in a town that began as a company lumber settlement, where the mill owner built the homes, stores, and schools. The lumber mill that anchored the local economy for generations has since closed, and the town’s population has been declining. The reopening of the Goodman Club House under new ownership is a bright spot, but the area faces headwinds: the local economy is tiny, the nearest hospital and commercial airport are each a long drive away in Michigan, and there is no public transit. This is a place for families who want a very small, close-knit school in a quiet, remote setting and who are prepared for limited local amenities and a long commute to most services.
The school’s enrollment is very small. Its student body is overwhelmingly white, with only a handful of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. A substantial share of students come from low-income households, as measured by eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education and English learner enrollment were not available in the record; a parent may wish to ask the school directly about the services and supports available for these populations.
State testing results for seventh and eighth grade in math, English language arts, science, and social studies were suppressed, meaning the tested group was too small for the state to report a proficiency rate publicly. This is common in a school with only a handful of students in each tested grade. Because of the suppression, there is no public data on how students at Goodman High perform on Wisconsin’s Forward exam relative to other schools in the state or in Marinette County. The comparison set that would typically place the school’s proficiency index against other districts in the county was not applicable for this reason. A parent looking for evidence of academic achievement will not find it in the state assessment record and may want to speak with the school about classroom assessments, grading, and how the school measures student progress internally.
The school serves grades seven through twelve, so it includes both middle and high school levels. There is no graduation rate available in the data, which may reflect the small senior class size or a reporting gap; a family with a high-school-aged student should confirm the school’s graduation rate and postsecondary placement directly with the administration. Information on advanced coursework, career and technical education programs, and dual-credit offerings was not present in the record provided. Given the school’s small size, the course catalog may be limited compared with larger high schools, though nearby or virtual options could expand what is available.
Housing in the Goodman ZIP code costs a good deal less than the typical home in Wisconsin, reflecting the remote rural market. The district brief turned up no recent referendums, curriculum changes, or other parent-relevant developments that were publicly reported for the Goodman-Armstrong Creek School District in the last several years. This is not unusual for a very small district with only two schools and minimal public presence.
Goodman High offers a genuinely small-scale experience for families who want their child in a school where everyone knows one another and the setting is rural and quiet. The trade-off is that the academic metrics that many families use to evaluate a school are largely unavailable here, and the community’s economic base has contracted. Any family considering this school will want a direct conversation with the principal or counselor about the academic pathway, the range of courses, and how the school prepares its students for life after twelfth grade, since the public record supplies little of that picture.
See more original research from School Decision →