Rural Virtual Academy

Rural Virtual Academy, a heavily attended unified-grade school in Medford, Wisconsin, one of the schools within Medford Area Public School District, enrolls 2,259 students, covering grades pre-K through 12. Compared to the state average of about 272 students per school, that is 731% above typical.

Across the 5 schools in Medford Area Public School District (4,282 students total), Rural Virtual Academy accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Rural Virtual Academy shows that 85% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Beyond that, the school shows 7% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Taylor County as a whole is about 94% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Rural Virtual Academy has 85 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 26.7:1. The state averages around 25.6:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 31% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Taylor County) shows that median household earnings sit near $69,350, about 17% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Rural Virtual Academy is one of 11 public schools in Taylor County (combined enrollment of about 5,123 students).

Medford Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.7 miles from this campus. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The campus sits in an outlying setting. As a public charter, Rural Virtual Academy runs on public funding but with greater curricular and operational autonomy than a typical district school. Rural Virtual Academy delivers learning online rather than in a traditional classroom setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Rural Virtual Academy's enrollment has grew 318% since 2018, when it stood at 540 (now 2,259). Class-load math has fell: from 29.5:1 in 2018 to 26.7:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.