Farnsworth Middle, Sheboygan WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Farnsworth Middle

Farnsworth Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade in the Sheboygan Area School District, a district that has experienced a sustained enrollment decline in recent years. The school is a regular public school located in the city of Sheboygan, a mid-sized Lake Michigan port city with a manufacturing heritage and a mix of German-American and Hmong-American communities. Sheboygan’s downtown and lakefront areas, including parks and an arts center, anchor local civic life, while the district’s schools are distributed across the city rather than on a single campus.

As a middle school, Farnsworth does not have a graduation rate to report, and the available academic picture comes entirely from state assessments. Students in all three tested grades take the Wisconsin Forward exam in math and English language arts; eighth graders also take science and social studies. Across those tests, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to the nine school districts in Sheboygan County.

In math, a bit under half of eighth graders reached the proficient or advanced level, a result that was the school’s strongest showing in that subject. Performance in sixth and seventh grade math was lower. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: eighth graders posted the highest proficiency rate, while sixth and seventh graders had lower results. In eighth grade science, about a third of students scored proficient or above. Social studies, tested only in eighth grade, saw a larger share of students reach proficiency.

These scores suggest that academic achievement at Farnsworth is modest compared to district peers in the county. A parent may want to ask the school about the supports available for students who are not yet meeting the state bar, particularly in the earlier middle-school grades, and how the school addresses the gap between where its eighth graders finish and where they start.

The student body is diverse and economically mixed. A substantial share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. In terms of race and ethnicity, the largest group is white students, followed by Asian students, then Hispanic students, and smaller groups of students who are Black or of two or more races. The school’s non-white student population is sizable. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available from the source used here, so a complete picture of the school’s special-population support is not possible from this data set alone.

Housing in the area is priced below the state median, and the local housing market has seen a moderate increase in values and a sharper increase in rents, consistent with broader trends. The area’s median household income is near the national figure.

The district has recently undertaken a major shift in how reading is taught in the early grades, moving to science-based literacy instruction under a state mandate. This change, which began in the 2024-25 school year, will affect the students who eventually reach Farnsworth, but the school itself participates in the district’s broader curriculum adoption.

Farnsworth Middle School is a mid-sized public middle school in a city that has seen its schools face enrollment pressure. Its test results lag behind many other districts in the county, making it a school where a family would want to understand the academic interventions and enrichment available, and how the school measures its own progress beyond the single snapshot of state testing.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 46% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 49% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 42% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 43% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 48% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 41% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 51% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

This schoolSheboygan Area 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 6Lower-income26%Higher-income50%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income53%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income61%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income34%Higher-income53%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income60%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income65%28 pp gap