Saint Croix Central Middle, Hammond WI

Original Research by School Decision on Saint Croix Central Middle

Saint Croix Central Middle serves students in fifth through eighth grade in the village of Hammond, part of the Saint Croix Central School District. The school is a regular public school that opened a new building on Vine Street for the 2022-2023 school year, funded by a voter-approved referendum that also covered other district improvements. A more recent referendum passed in 2024 will fund secure entrances, HVAC work, and other upgrades across the district, including at this middle school.

The school enrolls a moderate-sized student body for a middle school spanning four grade levels. The student population is predominantly white, with a small share of students identifying as Hispanic, Asian, or two or more races, and very few Black or American Indian students. Roughly one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a lower share than what is seen in many Wisconsin districts, indicating a relatively higher-income family base. Data on students with IEPs and English learners was not available for this school, so a family with a child in those categories may want to ask the school directly about supports.

On state assessments, Saint Croix Central Middle posts results that place its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades above the midpoint among districts in St. Croix County. That is a solid standing. Digging into the grade-level results, math proficiency is strongest in fifth, sixth, and eighth grades, where roughly three out of four students reach the proficient or advanced level. Seventh grade math is a softer spot, with just over half of students scoring proficient. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: fifth, sixth, and eighth grades show proficiency rates of roughly three-fifths to just over seven out of ten, while seventh grade drops to a little over half. Science, tested only in eighth grade, shows proficiency near that seventh grade math level. Social studies, also tested in eighth grade, is a clear strength: the large majority of students scored proficient or above. A parent may want to look into the seventh grade dip further with the school, as it appears across both math and reading.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or course access was available in the source materials for this school. Those are meaningful gaps for a parent trying to assess the school environment; the absence may partly reflect data collection limitations at the state level rather than a lack of programming.

Hammond, the village where the school sits, is a small community that brands itself as offering small-town living within commuting range of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. It has a mix of residential neighborhoods and two industrial business parks near Interstate 94. Housing values in the area are around the national median. The population is essentially flat, with slight household growth and a rising median household income. Owner-occupied housing dominates, and the housing affordability index suggests relatively accessible prices compared to the wider market. The village has a police department and municipal court, hosts a seasonal community event, and its village board meets regularly. No public library branch or public transit was documented in available sources.

The Saint Croix Central district recently shifted to a structured literacy curriculum aligned with Wisconsin Act 20, a statewide early literacy law that took effect in the 2024-2025 school year. This represents a change in how reading is taught at the elementary level, and its effects will carry into the middle school as those students progress. The building itself is new and purpose-built, a clear facility strength. For a family looking at a middle school with above-average academic results, a newer facility, and a district that has made recent investments in both infrastructure and literacy instruction, Saint Croix Central Middle fits a profile of a school serving a relatively stable and mostly white community with modest economic diversity.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 73% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 67% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 62% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 69% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Science

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 65% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 885%

School 85% · District 83% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

This schoolSaint Croix Central 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-income53%Higher-income62%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income67%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income59%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income56%Higher-income75%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income63%Higher-income75%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income60%Higher-income77%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income53%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income72%Higher-income69%3 pp gap