The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Wausau Area Virtual Education
Wausau Area Virtual Education is a full-time online charter school serving the Wausau School District. It is a regular public school in its governance, not a magnet or a special alternative school, but its virtual format makes it a distinct choice. It serves students from kindergarten through the end of high school, and enrollment is small, heavily weighted toward the upper grades, so the student body tilts toward teenagers and young adults.
The student population is predominantly white. Hispanic students and Asian students form the next largest groups, while Black, Native American, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are not represented in the reported count. About one in seven students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a lower share than many public schools see. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the materials used here, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the range of special education services and language support it offers in a remote setting.
State testing results are thin. Because this is a small school, state officials suppressed nearly all grade-level proficiency figures to protect student privacy. The only published results come from seventh grade, where roughly two in five students met the state standard in English language arts and about one in five met it in math. Those numbers come from a very small tested group, and the participation rate was under three-quarters, which adds to the uncertainty. A parent should treat those figures as suggestive rather than definitive. The school’s overall proficiency index, combining all reported subjects and grades, places it in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Marathon County. That comparison comes with a strong caveat: most of the school’s data was suppressed, so the index is built on very little reported information.
There is no graduation rate available in the data. The reason is not stated, though a virtual program that serves a small population may not report that metric in the same way a traditional building does. A family considering this school for high school should ask about on-time graduation rates and postsecondary plans for its seniors.
Wausau sits on the Wisconsin River in central Wisconsin and serves as the county seat of Marathon County. It is a regional hub for manufacturing, insurance, paper production, and healthcare, with a significant Hmong American community. Downtown has a traditional grid street pattern anchored by a grassy public square, a performing arts theater, and an art museum. The community offers outdoor recreation including a whitewater kayak course, a ski area, and a mountain bike trail system. The city is a crossroads for highways running north-south and east-west. Housing values in the area are below both the state and national benchmarks, and the typical estimated monthly mortgage payment falls noticeably below the cost of renting, which could be relevant for a family relocating.
The Wausau School District, which oversees this virtual charter, went through a recent elementary school consolidation. The district proposed closing roughly half of its elementary buildings and restructuring middle school grade configurations, and the current school count suggests that consolidation did happen. A parent with younger children should confirm current feeder patterns and building assignments, as the district’s physical footprint has shifted.
For a family, this school fits a search for a full-time virtual education option within a public school framework. It is small, it serves all grade levels, and it is part of a district that has been actively reshaping its facilities. The limited testing data leaves a lot of questions unanswered about academic performance, and the cost, for a parent, of choosing this school is that there is not much public evidence to evaluate outcomes. A parent who values the flexibility of an online program and is willing to investigate those gaps directly with the school may find the fit right. A parent who wants the standard bundle of comparative test results and peer benchmarks will find the picture incomplete.
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