Neenah Middle School, Neenah WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Neenah Middle School

Neenah Middle School is a regular public school that serves grades four through eight. The school is a very large facility for this grade band, and it is the only middle-level school in the Neenah Joint School District following a major district reconfiguration that took effect in the 2023-24 school year. That reconfiguration, funded by a voter-approved referendum, moved grade five into the building and shifted the school’s grade span. It now houses one grade four classroom and a much larger set of students in grades five through eight.

The student body is predominantly white, which is the most notable characteristic of its composition. Among students of color, the largest groups are Hispanic students, followed by Asian students, students who identify as two or more races, and Black students. About a third of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that gives the school a moderate level of economic diversity compared to many area schools. The school has a substantial enrollment, and the grade cohorts grow larger with each step up, from a small fourth-grade class to eighth grade being the largest class, meaning the school’s culture and program offerings are built for scale.

On state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates show a clear pattern. The small fourth-grade cohort posted very high rates across math, English language arts, science, and social studies, but those numbers come from a tiny group and do not reflect the school’s broader performance. For grades five through eight, where the enrollment is large, math proficiency rates clustered in the upper half and above among tested grades, with seventh grade being the strongest and fifth and sixth grades somewhat lower. English language arts results followed a similar shape, with the middle grades running around half of students proficient and seventh and eighth grades reaching higher rates. Science results for eighth grade, the only tested science grade among the larger cohorts, showed just over half of students proficient. Social studies results for eighth grade reached about three-fifths proficient. A parent looking at these numbers will see a school where performance varies by grade and subject, with some grades hitting solid marks and others where a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the trends.

When measured against other districts in Winnebago County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades placed in the top quartile. That is a strong comparative indicator for a school of this size. The school serves only middle grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and the available data did not include chronic absenteeism rates or discipline statistics, which are common gaps for schools that do not report civil rights data to the same degree as high schools.

The community context is important for understanding what kind of place this school sits in. Neenah is an industrial city on Lake Winnebago, part of the Fox Cities metro area. The city has a strong manufacturing base anchored by major employers like Kimberly-Clark, Plexus Corporation, and Neenah Foundry, and it has seen population growth along with the broader region. The school itself is on Tullar Road, a location that places it within the residential fabric of the city rather than on a single campus. The downtown riverfront area provides civic anchors like Shattuck Park, the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, and the Neenah Lighthouse, but the daily experience for students is shaped by the school’s scale and the district’s recent investment in facilities.

The district’s 2020 referendum funded a new high school and the reconfiguration that created Neenah Middle School in its current form. The district entered long-term debt through that referendum after previously carrying none, but it maintains a property tax rate that is low relative to the Fox Valley region. For a family moving into the area, the housing market reflects typical midwestern affordability, and the district’s tax structure is a factor worth knowing, but the more immediate question is whether a school of this size and composition matches what a student needs from their middle school years. The school’s academic results are generally solid with some variation by grade, and its size means a wide range of course options and peer groups, but the trade-off is a less intimate setting than a smaller middle school would provide.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 71% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 57%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 8 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 64% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 52% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 54% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 861%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Science

Grade 495%

School 95% · District 62% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 71% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 861%

School 61% · District 61%

▼ 3 pts below state median

This schoolNeenah Joint 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 4Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income60%29 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income28%Higher-income64%36 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income72%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income71%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income69%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income69%39 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income75%35 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income69%36 pp gap