The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in Social studies. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tainter Elementary
Tainter Elementary serves children from prekindergarten through fourth grade in Rice Lake, a small city in northwestern Wisconsin that acts as a commercial and medical hub for a cluster of rural communities. The school is one of three elementary buildings in the Rice Lake Area School District, and it sits in an area where the local economy is supported by a mix of industrial employers, a regional medical center, and two postsecondary institutions.
The student body is predominantly white, reflecting the demographics of the surrounding region. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need that is a straightforward characteristic of the school's population rather than a judgment on it. Enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the early grades, with the largest groups appearing in kindergarten and prekindergarten, which suggests the school serves as a primary entry point for families with young children.
On the Wisconsin Forward exams, proficiency rates for Tainter's third and fourth graders show a mixed picture. In English language arts, roughly half of students scored at the proficient level or above, with fourth grade results slightly below the third grade figure. In math, both grade levels posted similar results, with fewer than half of students reaching proficiency. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade. The social studies proficiency rate was higher than the other subjects, while science trailed further behind. When viewed against the other school districts in Barron County, Tainter's overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile. That comparison is worth noting for a parent who is evaluating how the school's academic performance stacks up locally, though the school serves only the early elementary years, and district-to-district comparisons at this level can mask a lot of variation between individual classrooms and cohorts.
The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no data was available on Title I status. Information on staffing ratios, discipline, chronic absenteeism, and special education or English learner populations was also absent, so a parent who wants a fuller picture of the school's learning environment and support systems would need to ask the school directly or consult the district office.
Rice Lake sits on the shore of a lake of the same name, with a compact downtown, a traditional grid street pattern, and US Highway 53 providing a regional connection. Housing values in the area fall noticeably below the state benchmark, and rents are similarly positioned, which may be relevant for families considering a move. The school is located on Carrie Avenue, a residential street in a neighborhood that is a short drive from the lake and from the city's commercial corridors.
The district brief turned up no recent changes of lasting consequence that were publicly reported, so the district appears to be operating without major upheavals in leadership, boundaries, or programming. That stability can matter to families with young children who will spend several years in the same building.
Tainter Elementary offers a straightforward early elementary program in a district that serves a region with a modest growth profile and a stable housing market. The proficiency data suggests that in both math and reading, the school has room to improve relative to its county peers, and a parent may want to follow up with the school about how it supports students who are not yet meeting the state bar. For a family already living in the Rice Lake area or moving there for work, Tainter is the neighborhood school for a segment of the city, and its size and grade span make it a typical entry point into the district.
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