Summary:
The city of Poplar, Wisconsin is home to two schools: Northwestern Elementary and Northwestern Middle, both part of the Maple School District. While the two schools have some differences in performance and student demographics, they both serve an important role in the local education system.
Northwestern Middle School stands out as a consistent top performer, ranking in the top 30% of Wisconsin middle schools over the past 3 years and earning 3-4 star ratings from SchoolDigger. The school's math proficiency rates are particularly impressive, with 68-69% of students scoring proficient or better in 6th-8th grade math. In contrast, Northwestern Elementary has generally lower proficiency rates compared to state and district averages, but there are signs of improvement, especially in 3rd grade English Language Arts (ELA) scores.
The data also reveals some differences in student demographics between the two schools. Northwestern Elementary has a higher rate of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 38.71%, compared to 31.2% at Northwestern Middle. This suggests that the elementary school may serve a more economically disadvantaged population, which could be a factor in its overall academic performance. Despite these differences, both schools have similar per-student spending, indicating that resource allocation may not be the primary driver of the performance gap.
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