Bonduel top elementary, says report cards

State says Suring’s high school also among the elite schools for Wisconsin
By: 
NEW Media Staff

Most schools in the area are making the grade, according to the recent release of state report cards, but there are a couple that are standing out as among the elite in northeast Wisconsin.

Bonduel Elementary School achieved a five-star rating in the 2021-22 school year, topping all the schools in Shawano, Oconto and Menominee counties with a score of 84.8. To achieve a five-star rating, schools must achieve a minimum score of 83.

Principal Brad Grayvold sent an email to NEW Media expressing that the latest report card shows how his school is achieving beyond what anyone would expect from a smaller school district.

“We believe that attitude is one thing that an individual can control,” Grayvold wrote. “The attitude that we promote is to be positive, productive, and professional. Having a daily attitude that is positive can have a great impact on our individual wellness and of each person we encounter. The relationships that are developed in the school and community have a great impact on the success of the school. We believe in establishing relationships with our students and families that reach beyond the school setting.”

Schools are graded based on the level of school attendance (elementary schools) or graduation rates (high schools), along with testing scores and how well achievement gaps are improved via ethnicities and poor families.

Grayvold noted that the school’s efforts to be among the best would not stop with this year.

“The expectations of the school district and community are reinforced each day at school,” Grayvold wrote. “We look for ways to continuously improve and believe that the best is yet to come.”

While Bonduel can boast the best elementary school in CESA 8, the top high school honor goes to Suring. Suring High School was also a five-star school with a score of 84.2, beating out the other 26 high schools in the educational region.

The honor was welcome news to Oconto County Sheriff Todd Skarban.

“Looks like things are on the rise in my hometown! Great job everyone!” Skarban posted on Facebook.

Having the top high school put the Suring Public School District overall in the four-star category with a score of 74, which means the district is seen as exceeding the expectations set by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Suring Elementary School had a score of 66.4, putting it in the middle of the three-star schools.

By contrast, Bonduel just barely missed the mark of being a four-star school district with an overall score of 69.8, with 70 being the benchmark for the higher rating. Bonduel Middle School had a score of 67.1, while Bonduel High School’s score was 61.2.

Pulaski and Bowler school districts also were designated four-star schools by the state. Pulaski, which has seven schools in its district, had all of its schools in the four-star category last year, but this year, Sunnyside Elementary School and Pulaski Community Middle School’s scores slipped into the 60s, making them three-star schools.

“We are proud that overall the district exceeded expectations and almost all of our schools exceeded expectations or met expectations on the state report card used as accountability measures,” said Jennifer Gracyalny, Pulaski’s executive director of teaching and learning. “We realize this is only one measure of student achievement and must be triangulated with other state, district and classroom assessments to truly support and drive student learning in our classrooms. Our staff do an amazing job of utilizing evidence of learning and data to meet our student, curriculum and instruction needs.”

Bowler School District was able to get into the four-star category because of Bowler High School also getting four stars with a score of 76.9. The elementary school was in the three-star category with a score of 61.9.

Once again, the Shawano School District found itself squarely in the three-star passing category, but Olga Brener Intermediate School improved to a four-star school with a score of 72.3.

One of the factors incorporated into the grading of the schools is chronic absenteeism, but Shawano’s public schools recently implemented the We Need You Here program, which incentivizes school attendance for students.

The only area school district that didn’t meet the state’s standards was the Menominee Indian School District, which had an overall score of 48.4, which put it into a two-star category. Menominee Indian High School achieved a three-star rating with a score of 63.3, but the other two schools in the district were designated as failing schools by the state, with Keshena Primary School scoring 46.1 and Menominee Indian Middle School scoring 44.9.


BY THE NUMBERS

How area schools scored under the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction report cards for the 2021-22 school year:

Bonduel School District 69.8

Bonduel Elementary School 84.8

Bonduel High School 61.2

Bonduel Middle School 67.1

Bowler School District 72.3

Bowler Elementary School 61.9

Bowler High School 76.9

Gillett School District 66.4

Gillett Elementary School 72.9

Gillett High School 51.4

Gillett Middle School 78.4

Gresham School District 59

Gresham Elementary School 50.5

Gresham High School 62.9

Lena School District 61.5

Lena Elementary School 74.8

Lena High School 56.3

Lena Middle School 55.8

Marion School District 66.5

Marion Elementary School 61.5

Marion High School 69.7

Menominee Indian School District 48.4

Keshena Primary School 46.1

Menominee Indian High School 63.3

Menominee Indian Middle School 44.9

Oconto Unified School District 66.4

Bayshore Community Academy 82.1

Northeast Wisconsin Learning Academy AR

Oconto Elementary School 75.3

Oconto High School 52.2

Oconto Middle School 76.9

Oconto Falls School District 68.7

Abrams Elementary School 75.7

Oconto Falls Elementary School 68.1

Oconto Falls High School 72

Washington Middle School 66.6

Pulaski Community School District 73.1

Fairview Elementary School 71.7

Glenbrook Elementary School 73.4

Hillcrest Elementary School 79.9

Lannoye Elementary School 78.4

Pulaski Community Middle School 68.1

Pulaski High School 76.7

Sunnyside Elementary School 66.8

Shawano School District 66.9

Hillcrest Primary School AR

Leads Primary Charter School AR

Olga Brener Intermediate School 72.3

Shawano Community High School 66.1

Shawano Community Middle School 64.2

Suring School District 74

Suring Elementary School 66.4

Suring High School 84.2

Tigerton School District 64.8

Tigerton Elementary School 59.8

Tigerton High School 66

Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District 67.3

Birnamwood Elementary-Middle School 77.9

Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School 51.7

Wittenberg Elementary-Middle School 74.1