The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in Social studies. The lowest is 57% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on New Holstein Middle
New Holstein Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in the small city of New Holstein, Wisconsin. It is one of three schools in the New Holstein School District, which also includes an elementary school and a high school. The school sits within a compact residential and manufacturing community that the city describes as having a viable industrial base while being within an easy drive of several larger cities in the region. The surrounding area is rural, and the district has recently made a substantial investment in its facilities, a piece of publicly reported capital spending that shapes the physical environment students experience.
The school serves a middle-grade population that is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic component and even smaller shares of students who are Black, multiracial, or American Indian. A little over a quarter of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that positions the school as serving a modest-income community but not one with a concentrated poverty burden. The data available in public civil rights reporting does not show counts for students with disabilities or English learners, which is a gap a parent may want to explore directly with the school.
New Holstein Middle participated in the Wisconsin Forward Exam with full participation across all grades and subjects. The academic results across grades six, seven, and eight present a picture that varies somewhat by subject and grade level, but overall the school's performance is strong relative to other districts in Calumet County. On the composite proficiency index that averages all tested subjects and grades, the school lands in the top quartile among the county's districts. Inside that composite, some lines stand out. In mathematics, the school showed a consistent strength across all three grades, with the large majority of students scoring at or above the proficient level. In English language arts, results were more uneven. Sixth and eighth graders posted solid proficiency rates, but the seventh-grade figure was markedly lower, with fewer than half of students meeting the bar. Science and social studies, tested only in eighth grade, showed the school performing well in both subjects. The seventh-grade ELA dip is the one notable soft spot in an otherwise broadly strong set of results; a parent may want to ask the school how that grade level is being supported.
The school's enrollment is small enough for its three grade levels to function as a single community. It is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designations. The district runs a continuum from early grades through high school, and the middle school sits at the center of that path. The New Holstein district website or school office could clarify whether any specialized academic programs or elective offerings are available for middle schoolers, as that detail does not appear in the data provided.
For a family considering this school, the academic evidence points to a school that generally performs above the middle of the pack among its county peers, with particular strength in math and a single grade-level concern in reading that would be worth investigating. The community is a small, manufacturing-rooted city with a slight population decline in recent years, and the housing stock in the area is priced below state and national benchmarks. The school's small size and the district's three-school structure mean students likely experience familiarity and continuity rather than anonymity. The recent facility spending suggests the district is investing in its physical plant. There is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data available, as those are metrics that apply to high schools and are not relevant to a middle school setting.
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