The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Social studies. The lowest is 43% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Potosi Middle
Potosi Middle is a small, regular public school serving grades six through eight in the village of Potosi, in southwestern Wisconsin's Grant County. The school is part of the Potosi School District, which also serves the nearby community of Tennyson. Potosi itself is a rural village with a population that has been small and fairly stable over time, its most prominent feature being the restored Potosi Brewery, which houses the National Brewery Museum and draws regional tourism. The village maintains a long Main Street corridor and hosts an annual Catfish Festival, but it is not a growth center, and the district brief did not reveal any recent major changes or initiatives to report.
The student body is very small, consistent with what one would expect in a rural middle school serving three grade levels. The student population is composed overwhelmingly of white students, with a very small Hispanic share. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community that is not notably affluent or distressed by regional standards. On civil rights topics such as special education identification, the data was not available in this report, so a family with a child who has an individualized education program may want to ask the school directly about how those services are structured.
On the state's Forward assessments, Potosi Middle's results present a varied picture by grade and subject. In math, performance across the three grades was uneven. Sixth and eighth graders had proficiency rates that were in a moderate range, while the seventh-grade cohort posted a notably lower share reaching proficiency. In English language arts, the same pattern appeared: sixth and eighth graders performed in a moderate band, while seventh graders again showed a weaker result. In science, the eighth-grade cohort had a proficiency rate right around the midpoint. The strongest result came in social studies, where the eighth-grade class had a high proficiency rate. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages these results across tested subjects and grades, fell in the bottom quartile among Grant County districts. This is a meaningful data point: relative to its county peers, Potosi Middle's combined test performance sits on the lower end, and a family moving into the area may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are behind grade level, particularly in the seventh grade where the scores dipped most noticeably.
Since Potosi Middle serves only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school's grade configuration means it does not offer advanced placement, career pathways, or dual-credit courses that one would find at the high school level. The district's high school would be the place to look for those opportunities, and a parent with a middle schooler may want to consider the full K-12 pathway the district provides. Information on staffing ratios, class sizes, and course offerings was not available in the data examined here, so those are natural follow-up questions for a school visit or a call to the principal's office.
Housing in the Potosi area is more affordable than the national or state median, and the village's rural setting means that a typical commute involves driving. A family considering Potosi Middle would likely be looking for a quiet, small-town environment in a stable, low-growth area, where the school is an intimate setting and the community's identity is tied to local history and the brewery rather than to a vibrant commercial or development scene. The academic picture suggests a school where proficiency varies by grade and subject, and where overall results are lower than those of many neighboring district schools in Grant County, something a family should take into account as they weigh the full fit.
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