School District of Wausaukee

08/21/2026

Crop Cooler is FULL!! Come and get it!!

08/21/2026

Happy Friday Ranger Nation! The topic of Finance Friday this week is Open Enrollment

Enrollment is perhaps the most important lever in the state’s complex school funding formula. The more students a district has, the more revenue they can generate. Unfortunately, like 70% of districts across the state, Wausaukee is experiencing declining enrollment.

One way to boost enrollment is through the state’s “Open Enrollment” program. This program allows families to apply to attend any public school district outside of their resident district. This is different from the “Parental Choice Programs” discussed earlier that allow families who meet income requirements to receive vouchers to attend private or parochial schools.

Across the state, student transfers have grown since the Open Enrollment program began in 1998-99. At that time, 2,464 students attended districts outside of where they live. By 2024-25 that number grew to 75,126 students, 9.3% of all Wisconsin’s public school students. But many districts, including Wausaukee have a net loss of students in the program having more students going out than coming in. We are working to reverse this trend with all the great things that we have to offer:

* Wausaukee Little Learner’s Daycare - Play based learning to prepare for success in school

* Small class sizes K-12

* Strong student services

* NWTC Partnership allows students to graduate with a high school and technical school diploma

* Unlimited access to college credits while in high school at no cost to families

* Multiple club, co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities

See what students and staff have to say about what a great place this is to be:

Discover what makes the School District of Wausaukee truly special....

08/21/2026

Attention Ranger Nation! We are excited to officially welcome Mrs. Karla Koester as our new Wausaukee Elementary/Middle School Principal!

Mrs. Koester brings a wealth of passion, dedication, and expertise to our school family. Her heart for education and commitment to student success makes her a perfect fit to lead our elementary and middle school teams. We can’t wait to see the incredible energy and vision she brings to our hallways!

Join us in giving her a big Ranger Welcome!!

08/19/2026

What a fantastic Tech Camp!

Our students had an incredible hands-on experience exploring automotive, welding, crime scene investigation, and emergency medical services! They got to dive into changing tires, making metal art, and learning real-world life-saving skills.

A huge thank you to all the amazing community partners and instructors who took the time to teach, inspire, and guide the next generation:
🚨 Wausaukee Rescue Squad 🚒 Wausaukee Fire Department
🚔 Marinette County Sheriff's Department 🚗 Mark Verba – NWTC Auto Instructor
⚡ Jake Thonne – NWTC Welding Instructor

We appreciate your support in helping our students Imagine. Create. Grow.

08/19/2026

☀️ Important Summer School Reminder & Thank You! ☀️

Tomorrow is officially the last day of summer school! To celebrate a fantastic few weeks, we are holding a Water Day tomorrow for our Kindergarten through 3rd-grade students. 💦🎉

What to pack for tomorrow:

*A full set of extra clothes to change into

*A towel

*A plastic bag for wet items

Optional: Water toys to share in the fun! 💧

We also want to take this opportunity to send a huge THANK YOU to all of our incredible parents and amazing students. You have made this summer school session truly special, and we are so proud of all the learning and fun we shared together!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

08/17/2026

🎉 SURPRISE! WE'RE CELEBRATING 10 AMAZING YEARS! 🎉
Can you believe it? Wausaukee Little Learners is celebrating 10 years of learning, growing, laughing, and making memories with our wonderful families!
Over the past decade, we've had the privilege of caring for so many incredible children, watching them reach milestones, build friendships, and grow into amazing young people. We couldn't have done it without the support of our wonderful families, dedicated staff, and our amazing community. Thank you for trusting us to be part of your children's journey!
To celebrate this special milestone, we would love for you to join us for a FREE family celebration!
🎈 10-Year Anniversary Celebration 🎈
📅 Tuesday, August 18
🕒 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
📍 Wausaukee Little Learners
Come enjoy an afternoon filled with:
🎂 Birthday Cake
🍔 Cheeseburgers & Food
🏰 Bounce Houses
🎯 Games & Activities
🎉 Fun for the Entire Family!
Whether your family is currently with us or you were part of our Little Learners family years ago, we'd love to celebrate this milestone together. Come reconnect, make new memories, and help us celebrate 10 wonderful years of serving the Wausaukee community!
Here's to the next chapter of learning, laughter, and growing together. ❤️
We can't wait to celebrate with you!

08/14/2026

Happy Friday Ranger Nation!

At the regular school board meeting on Wednesday, August 12th, the board of education passed a resolution for an operational referendum in November.

Our last referendum was back in 2008 and was for a period of 10 years. We are proud of the fact that we were good stewards of your tax payer dollars and we were able to make that referendum last 17 years. Unfortunately, the funding for schools has not kept pace with inflation and we have begun a period of deficit spending. The only means the District has to increase funding to accommodate inflation and maintain our programming for our students is to go to the public for their blessing via an operational referendum.

Stay tuned for dates of listening sessions where we will answer any questions you have.

08/07/2026

Happy Friday Ranger Nation! The topic of Finance Friday this week is School Choice

Wisconsin has three school choice programs that cover students who meet family income eligibility in Milwaukee, Racine and the rest of the state. A fourth choice program funds special needs students statewide, regardless of family income. Statewide, 60,972 students, or about 46% of all private school students, received vouchers for the 2025-2026 school year.

Private school choice (voucher) costs in Wausaukee are not as high as in other districts, but they have been rising. In the 2025-26 school year, taxpayers paid $202,949 for vouchers for students attending private schools. That is up 15% from the prior year’s $176,523 and represents about 5% of the total tax levy. Total statewide private school voucher costs have risen to more than $700 million, including $336.3 million for the Milwaukee choice program. For 2025-26, our per-pupil revenue limit was $11,762 for K-12 students, compared to private school vouchers of $10,877 for K-8 students and $13,371 for high school students.

Private school choice is different from public school choice, which is called open enrollment. Open enrollment allows students to apply to attend a public school district outside of their home district. We will share more about open enrollment in a future post.

08/06/2026

First week of summer school: complete! From diving into great books and playing fun games to exploring the playground during Insect Week, it was an action-packed start. The biggest highlight was when students spotted two real walking sticks outside! Great investigating, everyone!