Waupun Area School District Celebrates Excellence: All Three Standard-Rated Schools and the Waupun Area School District Earn “Exceeds Expectations” on 2024-25 State Report Cards.
Community Collaboration and Commitment Drive Outstanding Student Achievement
Waupun Area School District
November 12, 2025
WAUPUN — The Waupun Area School District (WASD) is proud to announce that, following the public release of the 2024-25 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) School and District Report Cards, all three of the district’s standard-rated schools have received the distinguished “Exceeds Expectations” accountability rating.
The district itself also achieved an Overall Score of 71.7, placing WASD in the Exceeds Expectations rating category. This milestone highlights the district’s comprehensive commitment to successfully educating and preparing all students for their futures.
“These results reflect the collective dedication of our entire community—students, families, staff, and supporters—working together toward excellence,” said Dr. Steven Hill, District Administrator. “Our success comes from our students, their families, our dedicated staff, and this community working together toward a shared goal. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved and excited about continuing this momentum for our students.”
The Foundation of Our Success
At the heart of WASD’s achievement is a deep commitment to collaboration and learning, grounded in the district’s “This is Who We Are” document. The district has fully embraced the Professional Learning Community (PLC) framework, where collaboration stands as a cornerstone. Staff members work as a team, bringing student work to their collaborative meetings to identify trends and guide next steps, and use data to shift the focus from teaching to learning.
Key factors driving this success include:
Early Childhood Foundation: While MVP (the district’s early childhood program) doesn’t receive a “report card,” it provides the vital introduction and beginning of reading, math, and how to be a successful student. MVP implemented changes to early literacy instruction before Act 20, and the district is reaping the rewards of their efforts.
Instructional Coaches: Staff have fully embraced instructional coaches, who support and enhance their teaching practices through ongoing professional development.
Interventionists: Dedicated interventionists work tirelessly with students who have yet to find success early in their learning of reading and math, ensuring that every child receives the support they need to thrive.
Principal Leadership: The district’s principals have been instrumental in creating structures that support excellence. Julie Schmidt, principal of the Junior-Senior High School, has made strategic changes to the schedule to create common collaborative team times, implemented AVID programming, and maintained a focus on vocabulary and literacy. Learning walks have become a regular practice for observing and supporting instruction. At Rock River Intermediate and SAGES, principals Sarah Leisses and Megan Hanni, along with Julie Schmidt, have embraced Rapid Cycle Feedback evaluation tools that work collaboratively with teachers to provide immediate feedback on areas identified by the teacher or teacher and administrator, designed to guide educator growth through focused observations and conversations.
This achievement is a testament to our exceptional staff. Our dedicated teachers bring expertise and passion to every classroom, creating engaging learning experiences that challenge and inspire students. Our professional staff, paraprofessionals, and support personnel work alongside our teachers, providing essential services that keep our schools running smoothly. Our custodians and maintenance staff create clean, safe, welcoming environments where learning can flourish. Every single person in our district plays a vital role in student success. From early childhood through graduation, every role matters in supporting student success.
Community Support Makes the Difference
The Waupun community demonstrated its unwavering commitment to students and this successful approach when voters supported the district’s April operational referendum, allowing WASD to continue the successful plan that is working. This investment has been critical in maintaining the resources, staff, and programs that drive student achievement.
“The April referendum represented our community’s belief in our students and our approach to education,” Dr. Hill noted. “That support has enabled us to maintain the instructional coaches, interventionists, and collaborative structures that are making such a profound difference for our students.”
Our parents are essential partners in this success, working alongside our staff and their children to ensure every student receives the best education possible. And our students—I love our students—have accepted our challenge to push themselves harder and achieve at higher levels. When we all work together, we accomplish great things.
Highlights of Student Success
The three schools receiving the “Exceeds Expectations” rating—Waupun Area Junior-Senior High School (JrSr), Rock River Intermediate School (RRI), and the School for Agricultural and Environmental Studies (SAGES)—demonstrated outstanding results in multiple priority areas:
Waupun Area Junior-Senior High School (Grades 7–12) demonstrated outstanding support for its students needing the most help, achieving a Target Group Outcomes Priority Area score of 78.5, a performance level that ranks the school higher than or the same as 96.0% of 6–12 schools across the state. The school achieved an Overall Score of 73.5.
Rock River Intermediate School (Grades 4–6) secured the highest overall score of the three standard-rated schools at 75.8, bolstered by an exceptional Growth Priority Area Score of 77.4, ranking higher than or the same as 88.0% of 4–8 schools statewide, reflecting rapid annual progress for its students.
The School for Agricultural and Environmental Studies (SAGES) achieved exceptional foundational reading success, with 61.1% of third-grade students achieving Meeting and Advanced performance levels, significantly exceeding the statewide rate of 50.3%. SAGES achieved an Overall Score of 73.6.
District-Wide Strengths
The overall district report card also underscored significant areas of strength, particularly in measures related to student engagement and high school completion:
- The Waupun Area School District achieved an On-Track to Graduation Priority Area Score of 83.7.
- The district’s graduation component score was 94.1 (based on the average of the 2023-24 four-year and seven-year cohort graduation rates), exceeding the statewide average of 91.9.
- The district achieved an 84.6 score for Chronic Absenteeism (100 minus the chronic absenteeism rate), which is higher than the statewide score of 80.2.
Understanding the Report Cards
Report cards are required annually by state statute and provide information to families and communities by presenting scored data across four foundational Priority Areas: Achievement, Growth, Target Group Outcomes, and On-Track to Graduation. This comprehensive evaluation ensures that WASD remains focused on maximizing positive student outcomes.
The DPI encourages caution when interpreting scores, especially when comparing 2024-25 overall scores and Achievement priority area scores to prior years, as a standard setting process led by education leaders occurred this past summer to update the rating category score ranges and establish a new baseline. However, metrics such as Growth, attendance, absenteeism, and graduation are comparable across years.
Looking Forward
“These results are particularly meaningful because they reflect not just where we are, but the collaborative culture and systems we’ve built to sustain excellence,” Dr. Hill said. “Our commitment to the PLC framework, our investment in coaching and intervention, and the trust our community has placed in us through the referendum—these are the foundations that will continue to drive student success for years to come.”
For more detailed information, parents, guardians, and the community are encouraged to review the full DPI report cards. School and district report cards can be accessed online at http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards.
Understanding the Report Cards:
The DPI encourages caution when interpreting scores, especially when comparing 2024-25 overall scores and Achievement priority area scores to prior years, as a standard setting process led by education leaders occurred this past summer to update the rating category score ranges and establish a new baseline. However, metrics such as Growth, attendance, absenteeism, and graduation are comparable across years.
For more detailed information, parents, guardians, and the community are encouraged to review the full DPI report cards. School and district report cards can be accessed online at http://dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards.
