Hamilton Middle

Hamilton Middle is a 6th–8th grade school in Madison, Wisconsin, serving 790 students as part of the Madison Metropolitan School District, and it ranks 21st of 643 Wisconsin middle schools in 2025–2026 — the 97th percentile with 5 stars — while the district overall sits at the 26th percentile with 1 star.

That contrast is no one-year fluke. Hamilton has earned 5 stars every year in the available history, with percentiles between 93 and 99 from 2015–2016 through 2025–2026. On the 2025–2026 Forward Exam, proficiency runs far above district and state levels: 8th grade Social Studies at 89.54% and Science at 83.19%, with 6th–8th grade ELA and math in the high 70s, compared with state rates in the mid-50s. The school also leads strong nearby peers — Kromrey Middle in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District and Savanna Oaks Middle in the Verona Area School District — across the compared subjects, and it is the top performer among all compared surrounding middle schools, including Spring Harbor Middle.

Effectiveness for specific student groups is high overall: English Language Learner students rank 2nd of 169 statewide, and most other groups land in the 93rd–98th percentile. The relative gaps worth watching are Low Socio Economic Status students (66th percentile, though improving), African American students (74th), and Asian students (76th), along with a recent dip for Special Education students to the 87th percentile. Chronic absenteeism of 16.9% is better than state and district rates, though Kromrey Middle and Savanna Oaks Middle are lower. Hamilton spends less per student ($16,988) than most nearby district middle schools such as Toki Middle and Badger Rock Middle, and has the highest student-teacher ratio in the comparison at 14.4.