Oconto Middle, Oconto WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Oconto Middle

Oconto Middle is a regular public school in the city of Oconto, Wisconsin, serving grades five through eight. It is part of the Oconto Unified School District and operates as a standard neighborhood school. The enrollment is modest for a middle school, with each grade containing a similar number of students, giving the school a scale where most families can expect a familiar environment. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a notable level of economic need in the community.

State testing data for the 2024-25 school year shows a mixed picture across grades and subjects. For math, proficiency rates vary considerably by grade, with one grade level reaching a strong result while others are lower. In English language arts, the rates also differ by grade, with none reaching a high mark. Eighth-grade science and social studies results are available; the social studies rate is somewhat stronger than the science figure. The school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint among districts in Oconto County, a point a parent may want to explore further by consulting with the school about its academic approach and how it supports students across different grade levels. Participation on the tests was high, so the data reflects nearly all enrolled students.

The town of Oconto itself is a small city and county seat situated where the Oconto River meets the Bay of Green Bay. Its economy draws on manufacturing, particularly boat building, along with food processing, lumber, paper, and tourism. The population has been relatively stable over recent decades, and the city retains a compact historic downtown with civic buildings, museums, and riverfront parks. Daily life in the roughly thirty-five-block core is walkable, but most errands outside that area require a car. The school is located within the city, part of the same small community footprint. Housing values in the area are below both state and national medians, making the market more affordable than many parts of Wisconsin and the country as a whole.

The Oconto Unified School District has recently secured two voter-approved referendums that signal community investment. In 2023, voters approved a recurring revenue limit increase to support ongoing operations, including staff compensation and educational programming. In 2024, voters passed a capital referendum to fund facility upgrades such as safety improvements, roofing, and HVAC work across the district. Both measures passed with clear majorities. For families, this means the district has committed resources to maintain its buildings and sustain its staffing and programs over the near term, though the recurring revenue increase also has a lasting property tax impact. Project work from the capital referendum was reported to begin in 2025.

The school’s environment data, including discipline rates, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism, is not reported in the available sources, so a parent may wish to ask the school directly about these topics. Because Oconto Middle serves only grades five through eight, there is no graduation rate or high school program data to review. The school’s academic results are uneven across grades, and its overall proficiency position relative to other districts in the county is below the midpoint. For a family considering this school, the community offers a stable, small-town setting with recent public investment in its schools, while the academic data suggests it is worth understanding how the school addresses the variation in performance from grade to grade.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 5 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Science

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 11 pts below state median

This schoolOconto Unified 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 5Lower-income27%Higher-income61%34 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income41%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income57%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income46%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income54%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income41%1 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income61%Higher-income77%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income42%8 pp gap