Original Research by School Decision on La Farge High
La Farge High sits in the small, fully rural village of La Farge along the Kickapoo River in Vernon County. The village is quiet and very small, with a declining population and a modest housing market. It is the kind of place where the dominant employer, Organic Valley, a farmer-owned organic cooperative, anchors the local economy. The school itself is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve, and it is a very small school. The enrollment is small enough that each grade has only a handful of students. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small number of Hispanic students and a tiny number of multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area’s low median household income and elevated poverty rate.
What is not available in the public record is any state assessment data for this school. State testing results are absent, and there is no reported graduation rate. The comparison set that places the school relative to other Vernon County districts could not evaluate proficiency, graduation, or chronic absenteeism because the data was missing. For a school that covers all four high school grades, these are notable gaps. A parent or resident looking for academic performance measures will not find them in the published figures. The school itself would be the best place to ask about student outcomes, curriculum, and college or career preparation.
The school environment data, including discipline, course access, and staffing, is also missing from the record. There is no information on special education or English learner populations. The district as a whole, the La Farge School District, undertook a major capital construction project with a significant per-student investment in recent years, which suggests a commitment to improving physical facilities. The district also operates the Kickapoo Valley Forest School, a small charter school serving primary grades with a nature-based pedagogy, offering an alternative educational option within the district for younger children.
La Farge is a village where daily life depends on a car, with limited street life and no public transit. The schools are all located on a single street within the village, integrated into the compact downtown area. The housing market is affordable by state standards, with values well below the Wisconsin median, and home prices have risen modestly but remain low. The population is declining slightly, and there is no sign of new housing or commercial development. For a family moving here, the context is one of a stable, rural, slow-shrinking community anchored by a single major employer.
La Farge High is a very small high school in a very small, rural village. The public data gives almost no picture of academic performance. A family considering this school would need to talk directly with the school or district to understand how students fare, what courses are offered, and what pathways exist after graduation. The school’s size could mean close relationships between students and staff, but that is an inference, not a finding from the data. The village’s character is quiet and rural, with the Kickapoo Valley Reserve and river providing outdoor recreation. The school district has invested in its buildings and offers a charter school option for the early grades. For anyone evaluating La Farge High, the starting point is recognizing that the usual public indicators—test scores, graduation rate, program offerings—are simply not reported here.
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