National city placement
Middle-of-corpus city profile
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Appleton has more public-school enrollment than 90% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Appleton sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.
Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio
21 of Appleton's 39 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
Governance mix is central to a fair comparison
12 of 39 listed Appleton campuses are reported as charters, so district-run and charter records occupy substantial shares of the same city view. They may follow different governance, enrollment, and program structures even when their mailing city matches. The 45-point gap between Woodland Intermediate and Wisconsin Connections Academy should be read within that context, not as a single-system league table. Check charter status and district affiliation before comparing two nearby schools, and verify current admissions rules with the operator.
