Enrollment
139
Elementary
DISTRICT 291 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUPACA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 551584003091
Chain Exploration Center
N3160 Silver Lake Dr, Waupaca, WI 54981 · (715) 258-4151 · Waupaca County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY41-RURALCHARTERREGULAR SCHOOL139 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 93% of Wisconsin public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Wisconsin public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
12 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.1:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
33%
46 students
DISTRICT 43% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 18 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 18 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 17 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 18 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 19 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 20 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 15 | 11% |
| Grade 7 | 3 | 2% |
| Grade 8 | 11 | 8% |
This year's kindergarten class (18) is 64% larger than its 8th grade class (11).
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 25% · STATE 54% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Chain Exploration Center→Waupaca High
Based on grade levels within Waupaca School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
72.2%
WI avg 53.1% . -4.6pp since 2023
Math
69.6%
WI avg 54.8% . -2.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 70 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Wisconsin schools, those numbers are about 53 and 55. Reading and writing scores are down about 5 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 2 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 72.2% | 69.6% |
| 2023-24 | 76.8% | 72.0% |
% Meeting or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Forward Exam. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of WI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
74.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
57.3%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+17.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 57% typical for Wisconsin schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Wisconsin's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Chain Exploration Center
Chain Exploration Center's state test result (74.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain Exploration Center this school | 139 | 33.1% | 74.7% |
| Monticello Elementary Monticello | 131 | 34.4% | 54.1% |
| North Lakeland Elementary Manitowish Waters | 158 | 34.2% | 80.1% |
| Argyle Elementary Argyle | 150 | 36.7% | 69.7% |
| Pepin Elementary Pepin | 115 | 33.9% | 56.8% |
| John Hustis Elementary Hustisford | 117 | 35.0% | 67.0% |
Matched among Wisconsin elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Chain Exploration Center ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Waupaca County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.7% | #106 of 982 | #1 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 69.6% | #214 of 992 ▼ 20 | #3 of 10 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 72.2% | #116 of 992 ▼ 56 | #1 of 10 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 139 | #1,015 of 1,157 | #9 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 33.1% | #687 of 1,064 | #10 of 11 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
139
+13 (+10%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
was 12.6:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 139 | 11.7 | 11.9:1 | 33% (46) |
| 2023-24 | 133 | 11.2 | 11.9:1 | 26% (34) |
| 2022-23 | 131 | 11.8 | 11.1:1 | 31% (40) |
| 2020-21 | 126 | 10 | 12.6:1 | 34% (43) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Chain Exploration Center.
About Chain Exploration Center
Families in Waupaca, Wisconsin, are served by Chain Exploration Center, a small elementary school. Students in pre-K through 8 attend the school, which enrolls 139 students. For comparison, elementary schools in Wisconsin average about 323 students.
Waupaca School District enrolls 2,043 students, and its 5 schools include Chain Exploration Center.
Chain Exploration Center's enrollment is 91% White. The next largest groups are 6% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. County-wide, about 93% of residents are White. The school's diversity index is 17%, meaning two students picked at random have a 17% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Its 11.7 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 11.9:1. This ratio sits 2.8 below the 14.7:1 average for elementary schools in Wisconsin. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 33%. That is 10 points below the 43% average for public schools in Waupaca County.
allk12 grades Chain Exploration Center an A. The grade compares the school only with Wisconsin public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. Chain Exploration Center beats its 57.3% prediction with 74.7%, a top-10% result in Wisconsin.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Waupaca County show that the median household income is $72,830, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Chain Exploration Center is one of 26 public schools in the county.
Nearby, Waupaca Community 4-Year Old Kindergarten is less than a tenth of a mile away. Within five miles of Chain Exploration Center, there are 3 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Chain Exploration Center ranks 1st of 8 on average proficiency.
Federal data place Chain Exploration Center in the Rural: Fringe locale, which means it is in rural territory close to an urban area. The school is classified as a charter school in federal data.
Enrollment is up 10% from 2020-21, when Chain Exploration Center had 126 students, to 2024-25, when it had 139.
To ask about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Waupaca County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
51,569
Census ACS
Median income
$72,830
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
7,466 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Waupaca School District
- Waupaca HighHigh · 623 students
- Waupaca Learning Center ElementaryElementary · 602 students
- Waupaca MiddleMiddle · 546 students
- Waupaca Community 4-Year Old KindergartenElementary · 133 students
Other schools in Waupaca
- Waupaca HighHigh · 623 students
- Waupaca Learning Center ElementaryElementary · 602 students
- Waupaca MiddleMiddle · 546 students
- Waupaca Community 4-Year Old KindergartenElementary · 133 students
Nearby schools
- Waupaca Community 4-Year Old Kindergarten0.0 mi · 133
- Waupaca High3.1 mi · 623
- Waupaca Middle4.9 mi · 546
- Waupaca Learning Center Elementary5.2 mi · 602
- Amherst High9.0 mi · 349
- Amherst Middle9.0 mi · 257
Frequently asked questions
About Chain Exploration CenterWhat is the total enrollment at Chain Exploration Center?
Chain Exploration Center enrolls approximately 139 students in grades PK-08.
What age range does Chain Exploration Center serve?
Chain Exploration Center serves students from grade PK through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Chain Exploration Center?
Approximately 11.9:1 students per teacher at Chain Exploration Center.
What is the student diversity at Chain Exploration Center?
Student demographics at Chain Exploration Center are roughly 91% White, 3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Two or more.
Is Chain Exploration Center public or private?
Chain Exploration Center is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by Waupaca School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.