Fox Cities News

There were 66 Black students enrolled in Waupaca County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 6.5% more than the previous year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Data showed that Waupaca County schools welcomed 7,433 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 0.9% of the student body to be the fourth most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 25 schools in Waupaca County, New London High School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 13 students.

According to the Nation’s Report Card 2022 results, Black fourth-graders in Wisconsin scored an average of 40 points lower than their white colleagues in both math and reading.

Data also showed that Black students were three times as likely to fail the reading test than white pupils in the state. The gap is even larger in mathematics, with Black students failing five times more than white students.

These achievement gaps are also reflected in graduation rates. According to recent US Census data, nearly 95% of white students in the state successfully graduated in 2021.

Meanwhile, graduation rates for Black and multiracial students lagged behind white students by 10%. Even further behind, only 71.6% of Hispanic students completed their high school education during the same period, one of the lowest graduation rates in the state.

School name	% of Black students enrollment	Total Enrollment
Catalyst Academy	4.2%	24
Chain Exploration Center	1.5%	133
Clintonville High School	1%	397
Clintonville Middle School	1.3%	232
Iola-Scandinavia Elementary School	0.3%	299
Iola-Scandinavia High School	0.4%	283
Lincoln Elementary School	1.9%	266
Longfellow Elementary School	0.8%	513
Marion High School	0.5%	216
New London High School	1.9%	685
New London Middle School	1.6%	563
Parkview Elementary School	1.1%	274
Readfield Elementary School	1.5%	136
Waupaca Community 4-Year Old Kindergarten	0.8%	121
Waupaca High School	0.7%	605
Waupaca Learning Center Elementary	0.7%	620
Waupaca Middle School	0.4%	536
Weyauwega Elementary School	0.4%	259
Weyauwega High School	1.1%	283
Weyauwega Middle School	1.3%	154