Portage High

Located at 301 E Collins St, in Portage, Wisconsin, Portage High is a mid-sized senior high that caters to 600 students (grades 9 through 12), operated by Portage Community School District. That puts it 26% above the typical public school in Wisconsin, which averages around 475 students.

Across the 8 schools in Portage Community School District (1,956 students total), Portage High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Portage High shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (83%). Other groups include 10% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 91%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 31% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

After controlling for student poverty, Portage High falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 58.9%; this one comes in at 32.4%, -26.5 points off the demographic line.

In the area at large, census data for Columbia County shows median household income runs about $85,351, 26% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. In all, Columbia County runs 31 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,498 students), of which Portage High is one.

Muir Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 6 other public schools cluster around Portage High. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Portage High at 5th of 5; the average score across the group is 51.9%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Portage High has contracted 24%, going from 787 students in 2018 to 600 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 90% to 83% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.2:1 in 2018 to 13.6:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.