Summary
Maple Tree Elementary is a PK–5 school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving 235 students as part of the Milwaukee School District. The district ranks 418th of 432 in Wisconsin (3rd percentile, 0 stars), and Maple Tree Elementary tracks that struggling profile: in 2025–2026 it ranked 968th of 1,039 schools statewide (7th percentile, 0 stars). That is actually the best percentile in its available 10-year history — earlier years sat at the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th percentile — though it remains in the bottom decile of Wisconsin elementary schools.
Two factors stand out. Maple Tree has a 94.89% free/reduced lunch rate — the highest among nearby comparison schools — and chronic absenteeism of 51.4%, above the district's 46.2% and roughly three times the state's 17.3%. Per-student spending is $22,931, up about 59% from $14,460 in 2019–2020, and the student-teacher ratio has improved to 17.8 from 20.4 in 2022–2023.
On 2025–2026 Forward Exams, proficiency averaged 17.75% in English language arts and 14.47% in math across grades 3–5, well below state averages and lower than several nearby schools. There are bright spots: 5th grade ELA reached 31.82%, above the district's 25.23%, and 3rd grade math hit 25%, above the district's 22.62%. Fourth grade is the clear weak spot (14.29% ELA, 4.76% math, 19.05% social studies, 9.52% science), and subgroup rankings are low across the board. Notably, Bruce Elementary has nearly identical poverty (94.81%) and lower spending but far higher proficiency and much lower absenteeism (33.7%), while Goodrich Elementary combines lower poverty, lower spending, 22.3% absenteeism, and stronger results — suggesting attendance and school practices, not poverty alone, drive the gap. Reducing chronic absenteeism and addressing 4th grade are the most actionable priorities.
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