Enrollment
153
Elementary
DISTRICT 142 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SHELL LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 551371001804
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)
271 Highway 63, Shell Lake, WI 54871 · (715) 468-7816 · Washburn County
GRADES 03–06ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL153 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 90% of Wisconsin public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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
9.6:1
16 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 9.5:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
53%
81 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 32 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 28% |
| Grade 5 | 26 | 17% |
| Grade 6 | 52 | 34% |
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · 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
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)→Shell Lake Junior/Senior High
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Shell Lake School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
63.3%
WI avg 53.1% . -0.8pp since 2023
Math
71.3%
WI avg 54.8% . -1.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 71 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Wisconsin schools, those numbers are about 53 and 55. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are down about 1 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 63.3% | 71.3% |
| 2023-24 | 64.1% | 72.4% |
% 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
68.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.2%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+23.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 45% 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 24 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 Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)'s state test result (68.8% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) this school | 153 | 52.9% | 68.8% |
| Wausaukee Elementary Wausaukee | 168 | 53.6% | 31.3% |
| Royall Elementary Elroy | 155 | 50.3% | 60.8% |
| Shell Lake Primary (K-2) Shell Lake | 131 | 53.4% | N/A |
| Warrens Elementary Warrens | 133 | 53.4% | 53.0% |
| Northwood Elementary Minong | 133 | 54.9% | 39.7% |
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 Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Washburn County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 68.8% | #213 of 982 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 71.3% | #177 of 992 ▲ 7 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 63.3% | #275 of 992 ▼ 3 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 153 | #993 of 1,157 | #2 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 52.9% | #364 of 1,064 | N/A |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.3% | #144 of 664 | N/A |
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
153
-4 (-3%) vs 2020
-49% since 1990-91, when it was 301
Student : Teacher
9.6:1
was 9.2:1
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 | 153 | 15.9 | 9.6:1 | 53% (81) |
| 2023-24 | 173 | 15.9 | 10.9:1 | 48% (83) |
| 2022-23 | 178 | 16.9 | 10.5:1 | 52% (93) |
| 2020-21 | 157 | 17 | 9.2:1 | 54% (85) |
| 2017-18 | 202 | 16.8 | 12.0:1 | 48% (97) |
| 2015-16 | 208 | 15 | 13.9:1 | 58% (121) |
| 2010-11 | 190 | 15 | 12.7:1 | 61% (115) |
| 2000-01 | 145 | 13 | 11.2:1 | 34% (50) |
| 1990-91 | 301 | 18 | 16.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Shell Lake Elementary (3-6).
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (202 to 153); teachers down 5% (16.8 to 15.9).
About Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is a small elementary school in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, administered by Shell Lake School District. Classes run from 3 through 6, and the school has 153 students. The average for elementary schools in Wisconsin is about 323 students, so this school is 53% smaller than average.
Shell Lake School District includes 3 schools. Together they enroll 584 students.
The student body at Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is 92% White. Beyond that, enrollment is 5% Hispanic. That is close to the 93% White share among all Washburn County residents. Pick two students at random and there is a 16% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Its teaching staff equals 15.9 full-time positions, a ratio of 9.6:1. On average, elementary schools in Wisconsin have 14.7:1, compared with 9.6:1 here. Around 53% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is graded A by allk12, scoring above 90% of Wisconsin public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
After accounting for student poverty, Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is in the top 10% of Wisconsin schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests of 68.8% is 23.6 points above the 45.2% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
Among Washburn County residents, the median household income is $63,441, about 26% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Besides Shell Lake Elementary (3-6), Washburn County has 15 other public schools.
The closest public school to Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is Shell Lake Primary (K-2), less than a tenth of a mile away. Counting only straight-line distance, 2 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 68.8% is above the 53.4% average for nearby schools.
For locale, NCES codes Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) as Rural: Remote.
Enrollment declined 3% from its 2020-21 level of 157.
Questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Washburn County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
16,854
Census ACS
Median income
$63,441
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
16
2,097 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Shell Lake School District
- Shell Lake Junior/Senior HighHigh · 300 students
- Shell Lake Primary (K-2)Elementary · 131 students
Other schools in Shell Lake
- Shell Lake Junior/Senior HighHigh · 300 students
- Shell Lake Primary (K-2)Elementary · 131 students
Nearby schools
- Shell Lake Primary (K-2)0.0 mi · 131
- Shell Lake Junior/Senior High0.0 mi · 300
- Spooner Middle7.0 mi · 276
- Spooner Elementary7.8 mi · 363
- Spooner High8.0 mi · 361
- Haugen Elementary11.1 mi · 83
Frequently asked questions
About Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)How many students attend Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)?
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) enrolls approximately 153 students in grades 03-06.
Is Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) an elementary, middle, or high school?
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is an elementary school covering grades 03-06.
How many teachers does Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) have?
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) employs 16 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 9.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)?
Student demographics at Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) are roughly 92% White, 5% Hispanic, 2% Two or more.
What district is Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) in?
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) is part of Shell Lake School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.