John Muir Middle, Wausau WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on John Muir Middle

John Muir Middle serves sixth through eighth grade in Wausau, Wisconsin, as part of the Wausau School District. The school is a regular public school with an enrollment that is substantial for a middle school grade band. It is a community that is notably diverse for central Wisconsin: about one in four students is Asian and the remainder is predominantly white, with a smaller share of students identifying as Hispanic, Black, or of two or more races. Just under half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a level that reflects a mix of household incomes across the city.

Wausau itself sits on the Wisconsin River and functions as the region’s commercial and civic hub, with a downtown anchored by the 400 Block, the Grand Theater, and a whitewater kayak course. The local economy leans heavily on manufacturing, insurance, paper production, and tourism, and the city has long had a significant Hmong American community. The suburban ring around Wausau is more auto-oriented; the school itself is located on Stewart Avenue, a main east-west corridor, and draws from surrounding neighborhoods.

On state assessments, John Muir Middle’s results present a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates across all three grades cluster in the low-to-mid 50 percent range, meaning that a little more than half of students met the state’s benchmark for grade-level reading and writing. Math proficiency is more uneven: seventh graders posted a rate in the low 60s, sixth graders at about 55 percent, and eighth graders below 50 percent. Science, tested only in eighth grade, fell at a similar rate. Social studies, also tested in eighth grade, was a comparative strength, with roughly 63 percent of students scoring proficient or above. When stacked against the other districts in Marathon County, John Muir’s overall proficiency index sits just below the midpoint of the pack. That is not a hard edge, but it is a signal that a parent may want to look into how the school supports students who are not yet at grade level, especially in math by eighth grade.

The school participates in the Wisconsin Forward Exam, and participation rates across all tests were very high, which adds confidence that the results represent the full student body. A graduation rate is not available, because the school serves only middle grades.

The district context matters for John Muir families. In 2020, the Wausau School District proposed closing six elementary schools, and the current district website lists fewer elementary buildings than before, suggesting consolidation was at least partially carried out. That restructuring shifted fifth and sixth graders into John Muir Middle and seventh and eighth graders into Horace Mann Middle. For families moving into the area, the implication is that John Muir now serves a wider grade span than it did previously, and the feeder patterns into the school have changed. This is a relatively recent structural change, so a family may want to confirm the current grade configuration and what elementary schools feed into John Muir.

Housing values in the area around the school are moderately priced relative to the national median, and rents have been rising in recent years. A typical home in the school’s ZIP code costs less than the national benchmark, and the rent-to-income ratio suggests housing is affordable for a household earning the national median income. For families considering a move into the district, the housing market is accessible compared with many other parts of the country, though local supply conditions were not available in the source material.

The school’s own program offerings, such as specific electives, clubs, or advanced coursework, were not available in the data. The same is true for teacher staffing ratios and chronic absenteeism. A parent interested in those details would need to check directly with the school or the district. What is on record is a middle school with a solid mix of demographic backgrounds, a proficiency profile that is around average for the county, and a recent district reorganization that reshaped the very structure of who attends this school and when.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 58% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 849%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 55% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 53% · ▼ 1 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 50% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 62% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolWausau 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-income34%Higher-income69%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income64%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income69%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income71%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income49%Higher-income70%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income64%32 pp gap