James Williams Middle

As a reasonably sized middle school in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, James Williams Middle caters to 454 students from grades 6 through 8, one of the schools within Rhinelander School District.

Rhinelander School District comprises 6 schools with combined enrollment of 2,224 students; James Williams Middle is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, James Williams Middle records that nearly all students (87%) are White; the rest breaks down as 5% multiracial, 3% Hispanic, 2% Black.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.2:1 students per teacher. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 46% of students at James Williams Middle qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, James Williams Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 49.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 46.9%.

Across the wider county, census data for Oneida County shows median household earnings sit near $69,371, roughly 29% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Oneida County runs 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,949 students), of which James Williams Middle is one.

Nearest neighbor: Rhinelander High, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 4 other public schools cluster around James Williams Middle. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), James Williams Middle ranks 8th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 57.3%.

The campus sits in a town-center setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 9%: 500 students in 2018 compared to 454 in 2025. The White share of enrollment declined from 91% to 87% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 14.9:1 in 2018 to 12.2:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.