Madison Metropolitan School District

Madison Metropolitan School District is a large district of 52 schools — 32 elementary, 12 middle, and 8 high schools — serving about 24,536 students, from West High (2,222 students) down to Metro School (12). Overall, the Madison Metropolitan School District ranks 321 of 432 Wisconsin districts (26th percentile, 1 star), and its 84.6% graduation rate, 29.6% chronic absenteeism, and 1.2% dropout rate trail the state's 92.0%, 17.3%, and 1.1%. Some schools serve only PK-2 grades or very small populations, so they have no test scores or rankings — that is a reporting gap, not a sign of weakness.

There are genuine islands of excellence. Shorewood Hills Elementary ranks 6 of 1,039 elementary schools (99th percentile, 5 stars), with math and ELA proficiency at or above 80%. Hamilton Middle (97th percentile) and Spring Harbor Middle (89th) are the strongest middle schools, while West High ranks 34 of 533 high schools (94th percentile) with an 89.1% graduation rate. Van Hise Elementary reaches the 92nd percentile with the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (16.67%) and modest spending of $16,268. Improvement is real too: East High climbed from the 17th to the 50th percentile, and Lowell Elementary, Crestwood Elementary, Cesar Chavez Elementary, and Milele Chikasa Anana Elementary School also moved up.

Challenges are widespread. Chronic absenteeism runs high across the district — East High 45.8%, LaFollette High 42.3%, and even top-ranked West High 37.8% — against 17.3% statewide. Capital High is the extreme case: 2nd percentile, 0 stars, math 0%, chronic absenteeism 81.3%, yet an 87.7% graduation rate, showing graduation alone doesn't capture school health. Math generally trails ELA. Spending is not a simple fix: Shabazz-City High spends the most per student ($33,129) but ranks in the 26th percentile, while high-spending Lindbergh Elementary (12th percentile) and lower-spending Hamilton and Van Hise rank near the top.