Arise Virtual Academy, Janesville WI

Original Research by School Decision on Arise Virtual Academy

ARISE Virtual Academy is a K through 12 public charter school operating within the Janesville School District, serving students across the city of Janesville. Janesville is a mid-sized city with a manufacturing and commercial history, divided by the Rock River and centered on a downtown Town Square. Its economy has shifted following the closures of major employers like General Motors and Parker Pen, though corporate headquarters for chains such as Blain's Farm & Fleet and Woodman's Markets remain in the city. The housing market reflects a modest growth context; the typical home value in the area is in line with statewide trends.

The school is designed as a fully virtual academy, which means the educational experience is fundamentally different from a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. This is the school's defining characteristic: instruction and learning happen remotely, making it a fit for families seeking an online model rather than daily on-site attendance. The student body is small for a grade band spanning kindergarten through twelfth grade, and the enrollment skews toward the upper grades, with the largest concentrations in middle and high school. The demographic composition shows a majority of white students, with smaller shares of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races, as well as a small number of Black and Asian students. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the school's reporting.

State testing results for the 2024-25 school year are limited in what they show. For grades three through six in both math and English language arts, as well as for grade four in science and social studies, the performance data was suppressed, which is standard practice when the number of students tested is very small. The reported results come from grades seven and eight. In grade seven, the proficiency rate in math was low, while in English language arts it was substantially higher, with most of the small group of students testing at or above the proficient level. In grade eight, math proficiency was lower than the state median for that grade, while English language arts proficiency was around the midpoint. In science and social studies for grade eight, the share of students scoring proficient or above was solid, with social studies performance notably strong. Because the data covers only a handful of tested grades and small student counts, drawing a general conclusion about overall academic performance across the school is unreliable.

The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to the other nine school districts in Rock County. A family should be aware that this comparison is based on the same small pool of reported results.

Staffing data, discipline statistics, chronic absenteeism rates, and a graduation rate were not reported. For graduation in particular, this may reflect the fact that the academy draws from the Janesville district rather than issuing its own graduates independently, though the available data does not confirm the arrangement.

What this school offers is a remote learning structure within a mid-sized district, with a small and heavily upper-grade student body. The academic picture is based on thin data, and a parent considering this school would want to ask the school directly about how it tracks student progress, what its curriculum and graduation pathways look like, and how it supports the younger elementary grades where the enrollment is smallest.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 117 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

528 schools plotted. 25 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 45% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 49% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 44% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 51% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 43% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 58% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolJanesville 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 6Lower-income50%Higher-income20%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income50%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income25%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income38%9 pp gap