Best High Schools in Milwaukee, WI

The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is home to 39 high schools that serve students from grades 6-12, spanning public, public charter, and specialized schools. While the Milwaukee school district as a whole is struggling, with all 39 schools ranked in the bottom 26% of Wisconsin high schools, a few standout schools like Reagan College Preparatory High and Milwaukee School of Languages are able to achieve much higher outcomes for their students.

The data reveals a wide range in academic performance across the Milwaukee high schools. Reagan College Preparatory High stands out with strong test scores, a 91% 4-year graduation rate, and only a 1.3% dropout rate. In contrast, other schools struggle to reach even 10% proficiency in subjects like math and science. Factors like spending per student, which ranges from $8,407 to $113,843, and student-teacher ratios, which vary significantly from 5.5 to 75.1 students per teacher, suggest that resources and educational approaches are not equitably distributed across the district.

Despite the overall low performance, the consistently high graduation rates and low dropout rates across all 39 schools are a positive sign, indicating that students are persisting through high school even if academic proficiency is lacking. The high rates of poverty, as reflected in the free/reduced lunch percentages ranging from 56.12% to 98.08%, underscore the socioeconomic challenges facing many Milwaukee students and the need for holistic, community-based support to drive improvements across the Milwaukee School District.