Rice Lake Area School District

Vision

The Rice Lake Area School District will educate and prepare all students to become successful members of our society.

Mission

We will partner with students, families and community members to provide a safe learning environment to ensure our students achieve academic and personal success as they become lifelong learners. 

General Information

The Rice Lake Area School District is an exciting place in which to work and learn. We serve 2,177 students in four-year-old kindergarten through grade twelve. With an annual budget of $33 million, the District employs over 215 professional staff and 145 support personnel.

The Rice Lake School District provides:

-Parents with electronic access to their students grades, lunch balances and more
-A wide variety of extra-curricular opportunities
-Vocational and foreign language programs for middle school and high school students
-A student assistance program concerning alcohol and other drug awareness
-Gifted and Talented Programs
-Four Year Old Preschool
-A Summer School Program
-English as a Second Language
-School Breakfast
-Special Education Services
-Senior Tax Exchange Program 

The instructional cost per pupil is $11,832, as compared to the state average of $11,930.00. A tax rate of approximately $11 per thousand accounts for 44 percent of the school system's income; state aids account for 35 percent; federal monies and various miscellaneous sources make up about 15 percent.

Attendance areas include: the City of Rice Lake; the townships of Barron, Bear Lake, Birchwood, Cedar Lake, Doyle, Haugen, Long Lake, Oak Grove, Sarona, Stanfold, Stanley, Sumner; and the Village of Haugen. The area includes 840 square miles with an approximate equalization value of $1,684,975,242.

Children who are four years of age on or before September 1 are eligible for 4-year-old Kindergarten (4K). Currently, 4-year-old Kindergarten locations and hours are as follows:

Haugen Elementary: 7:40 a.m.-2:35 p.m. on Tuesday & Thursday (all day)

Hilltop Daycare Preschool: 8:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

Tainter Elementary: 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 

Elementary Profile
There are three elementary sites in the Rice Lake Area School District: Haugen Elementary, Hilltop Elementary, and Tainter Elementary. Each site provides a healthy balance of academic and social activities for its students. All students have the opportunity to engage in active learning experiences that will enrich their lives as they meet Wisconsin Adopted Standards.

All elementary sites have access to hot lunch, a snack program, a Backpack weekend food program, library resources, technology resources, Advanced Learner programming, school counseling, and special education services.

We utilize Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) in K-3rd grade. We strive to maintain class sizes of 18 students or less, when possible. We also have Literacy and Math Academic coaches who support classroom teachers in implementing research-based teaching strategies. In addition, we offer 4K programming to provide a strong foundation in social and academic skills as children begin their school experience. 

Each site has active parent groups. These groups focus on student activities and help fund-raise for special activities throughout the year. Parents and community members are strongly encouraged to volunteer.

Individual health is important. For this reason, each child will have vision and hearing screening throughout their elementary school experience. The elementary schools share one part-time nurse.

Literacy- Elementary students' reading and writing instruction is based on a structured literacy model. Using this approach to literacy, teachers provide a variety of reading and writing experiences, and integrate speaking, listening and thinking skills to help the learner grow.

Assessment- Students participate in a variety of classroom and standardized assessments. All assessments are used to evaluate growth and progress through each grade. This information is used to inform parents of student progress.

The Rice Lake Middle School offers the opportunity to build and improve academic skills as well as explore a number of other talents and abilities which will later be considered job-related qualities.

The Core Academic Program includes all of the "basics".  All fifth, sixth, seventh, and eight grade students have required classes in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, physical education, and health.

The Middle School also offers a number of exploratory classes. These classes include business, art, world cultures and technology education. Seventh and eighth grade students have the opportunity to explore other languages and can choose a full year of Spanish in eighth grade. 

Students are provided with elective opportunities while in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Fifth through eighth graders can choose to participate in band and/or choir.  In eighth grade, students can choose from the foreign languages, or rotating block classes. Students who choose the rotating block receive a trimester of technology education, a trimester of art education, and a trimester of 8th Grade Success. Students completing both the seventh and eighth grade foreign language classes are eligible for the second level of that language when they start at the high school. 

We offer several co-curricular opportunities including: cross-country running and girls' volleyball in the fall, boys'/girls' basketball, archery, boys'/girls' swimming, wrestling in the fall and winter, and track and field, golf, and tennis in the spring. There is a very active student council, an excellent forensics team, a quiz bowl team, a Math Counts team, a yearbook organization, and Skills USA club.

Middle School staff is dedicated to providing all students with a well-rounded experience including high academic expectations as well as opportunities to develop personal and social skills.

Rice Lake High School course offerings allow students to explore options and define their skills in a supportive but challenging environment. They can build a strong academic program or begin skill preparation in business, technology education, or family and consumer education. Electives and broad independent study opportunities range from human genetics to international business to engineering graphics and design. Approximately 55 percent of Rice Lake High School graduates go on to colleges or universities, while 22 percent pursue vocational/technical training.

Rice Lake High School runs on a four period block schedule with a resource period held between 3rd and 4th hour block. The block schedule offers many educational advantages and allows students to take up to 16 different classes each year, providing flexibility for students to enroll in electives such as music, world languages, and career and technical courses. The block schedule is favorable due to extended time in class allowing educators to use a variety of teaching strategies without interruption. The resource period between 3rd and 4th hour block is a three-tiered resource period designed to meet the diverse needs of students. During this 37-minute block of time, students are assigned to a level one, two, or three resource classroom; student placement into one of those levels is based on their grades, graduation status, character, and Academic and Career Plan completion. This time is utilized for a range of activities from basic academic support and skill-building to enrichment opportunities.

Advanced Placement -AP is a worldwide program of college-level courses and exams which can earn students college credit.  AP courses are offered in calculus, statistics, English literature and composition, English language and composition, art, biology, chemistry, physics and European History.

Student Services-Counselors assist all students and their parents with personal and social concerns. In addition, they advise students in the areas of: academic success, course selection, post-secondary planning, and career exploration.

Assessment/Grading-In order to graduate, a student must have accumulated a minimum of 26 credits. These credits must include the required coursework: Social Studies - 3 credits; English - 4 credits; Science - 3 credits; Mathematics - 3 credits; Physical education - 1 1/2 credits; Health -1/2 credit.

Co-Curricular Opportunities -We offer 18 competitive interscholastic athletic programs. In addition, we offer jazz, concert, and marching band, choir, Robotics, SkillsUSA, FCCLA, Forensics, FFA, FBLA, NHS,  Dance Team, HS Theatre, Math Team, Yearbook, International Club, and many more.

Student Services
The purpose of the Student Services Department is to improve outcomes for all students by providing needed supports and reducing barriers to learning. 

The Rice Lake Area School District provides special education programming for students with disabilities. We offer the full continuum of service delivery models ranging from itinerant services to fully self-contained programming at all three academic levels (elementary, middle school, high school).

The preschool options program is implemented for children ages 3-5 who have been identified with a disability. Special education may be provided in a number of settings including an early childhood classroom.

The Student Services Department also provides the services of physical therapy, occupation therapy, and adaptive physical education. The district utilizes services from the local Cooperative Educational Service Agency #11 (CESA #11) in the low incidence disability areas of hearing impairment, visual impairment, orientation and mobility, and audiology services.

School counseling services are available at each of the district's schools. Services to students include: individual and small group counseling, support group work, direct classroom instruction, and teacher consultation. In addition, the school counselor serves as the building's liaison with community-based agencies and resources. The counseling program utilizes a developmentally based approach. Counselors build self esteem and self awareness in the lower grades, while assisting students with post secondary planning in the later grades.

The district employs school psychologists who apply expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior, to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. They work as part of a team who help prevent, understand, problem solve and evaluate student needs in the school setting. The district also employs a mental health navigator who can assist families in securing additional resources in the event a student needs more intensive support than what the school can provide. Students may be connected with our own mental health practitioner, or be connected with one of the several area agencies in an effort to meet student needs.

School nursing services are provided by two registered nurses who work with students, parents, staff, and community resources. Services include protecting and promoting student health and facilitating optimal development to advance student academic success. School nurses bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, and advocate for quality student-centered care in the school setting.  

Special Features

Summer School-This program enrolls approximately 700 students in hands-on and action-filled courses, offering over 60 exciting choices at the elementary and middle school levels. The popular mix of enrichment and remedial classes is open to public, private, and home-schooled students. 

Technology-The district’s information and technology resources are an integral part of every student’s education.  A three year Information and Technology Plan is in place to ensure information and technology will work in collaboration with the educational community to empower student and staff learning through the integration of technology to assure students become effective users of ideas and information in the 21st century.

Students and staff are each assigned a device. In our 4K and Kindergarten classrooms, each student is assigned an iPad. In grades 1-12 our students are assigned a Chromebook.  Students and staff also have the option to utilize their own personal devices for access to district resources. 

The district provides access to numerous online and internal resources such as Google Apps for Education and the district’s own Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or “View Environment”.  The majority of these resources are available from any Internet connected computer, providing students and staff with access anytime, anywhere.

The district has a strong emphasis on providing technology resources that will enhance student learning and continues to strive to increase student achievement through the effective integration of information and technology.

Gifted and Talented Program-Programming for Advanced Learners (Gifted and Talented Program)-The Rice Lake Area School District provides Programming for Advanced Learners through a multifaceted process, which is both individualized and integrated. Students' needs are routinely evaluated and programming is assessed to help our classroom teachers meet the needs of advanced learners. K-12 students are identified in five areas: intellectual, academic, creativity, leadership, and the arts. The Rice Lake Area School District will provide extensions and applications for those students needing that additional challenge in their learning. 

K-4 offerings include: Chromebooks for personalized learning, IXL, Drones, Scratch, Math Exemplars, Tynker, Khan Academy, Book Clubs, VEX Bots, Beast Academy and small group learning that extends the classroom curriculum. 

Middle School Programming for Advanced Learners includes course offerings for students with high ability in Math, Algebra 1 classes, ALEKS Math, Chromebooks for personalized learning, IXL, Scratch, Tynker, Khan Academy, Writing Extensions, Club Invention, Math Counts, and Forensics. 

High School students' needs are met by Advanced Placement (AP) English, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics, as well as Youth Learning Options online or at UW-Eau Claire-Barron County and Northwood Technical College. 

For more information regarding enrichment and extension opportunities in the Rice Lake Area School District, please visit the Programming for Advanced Learners website which can be found under the Pupil Services tab.