Alexander Middle, Nekoosa WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Alexander Middle

Alexander Middle serves students in fourth through eighth grade, all under one roof in the small, working-class city of Nekoosa, Wisconsin. For a family considering this school, the picture that emerges from the data is one of a middle school that shows a clear upward academic trend as students move through the grades, set within a community with a stable if modest economic base.

The city of Nekoosa has a character shaped by paper manufacturing, with the Domtar paper mill as the dominant employer. It is a compact place along the Wisconsin River, and its population has been experiencing a slow decline in recent years. Housing costs in the area are below both the state and national benchmarks, which reflects the area's more affordable nature. The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it sits on its own campus within the small city.

Academically, state testing results for the most recent school year show a pattern worth noting. In both math and English language arts, the share of students reaching proficiency is lower in the middle grades and climbs meaningfully by eighth grade. For math, performance was weakest in fifth grade and strongest in eighth grade. A similar arc appears in English language arts, where the eighth-grade proficiency rate was the highest of any grade tested. Science proficiency, tested only in fourth and eighth grades, was also higher in eighth grade. Social studies followed the same pattern. This suggests that students may be building academic momentum through their middle school years. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint when compared to other districts within Wood County. That is a solid position, though not the top of the county.

A substantial share of the student body comes from low-income households, as measured by federal meal program eligibility. This is a meaningful context for the proficiency numbers; schools with higher concentrations of poverty often face additional challenges in achieving top-tier test scores. Parents may want to ask how the school tailors support for these students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the provided records, which is a gap a family may wish to explore directly with the school.

The school's enrollment is moderate for a middle school serving five grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic population and a smaller American Indian or Alaska Native group. The school is part of the Nekoosa School District, which also operates an elementary school, a high school, an alternative academy, and a charter school, along with a school focused on Ho-Chunk heritage.

Alexander Middle does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and course access details were also not present in the data provided. For a family trying to get a full sense of the school environment, these are areas where a direct conversation with the school administration or a visit would be valuable. The academic data itself tells a story of a school where students tend to finish stronger than they start, a pattern that parents may find reassuring if their child enters in the earlier middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 35% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 46% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 43% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 57% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 40%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 651%

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

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 50% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 60% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 65% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

This schoolNekoosa 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-income39%Higher-income62%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income46%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income55%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income59%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income44%Higher-income79%35 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income76%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income34%Higher-income46%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income45%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income59%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income76%36 pp gap