Mitchell Elementary

Mitchell Elementary is a PK–8 neighborhood school at 1728 S 23rd St on Milwaukee’s near south side, serving 597 students in the Milwaukee School District. It has ranked between the 3rd and 6th percentile of Wisconsin schools every year since 2015-16 and earned 0 stars, placing 996th of 1,039 ranked schools in 2025-26. Average proficiency is low: 7.9% in English language arts and 9.0% in math across grades 3–8, compared with about 26% and 21% in the district and 54% in the state. About 94.3% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Resources are relatively favorable: Mitchell spends $20,347 per student and has a student-teacher ratio of 14.4.

The most striking concern is attendance. In 2024-25, 54.3% of Mitchell students were chronically absent—more than triple Wisconsin’s 17.3% rate and the highest among the eleven nearby schools reviewed. ALBA - Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes, less than a mile away, serves a similar number of students with nearly identical per-pupil spending, yet has only 4.9% chronic absenteeism, ranks in the 14th percentile, and posts much higher proficiency. Rogers Street Academy posts 30.65% in 8th-grade math where Mitchell posts 7.94%. Lincoln Avenue Elementary has 22.2% chronic absenteeism and proficiency two to four times Mitchell’s. Mitchell’s dropout rate, 2.2%, is about half the district’s 4.0% but double the state’s 1.1%.

There are real bright spots. English learners rank around the 20th percentile—about five times higher than the school overall—and special education has improved to the 13th percentile. Fifth-grade math has sometimes matched or beaten district results, and social studies is Mitchell’s strongest subject. Science is the weakest, at 8% in grade 4 and 6.35% in grade 8. Since 2022-23, average ELA and math proficiency have risen in absolute terms, but the school’s statewide percentile has not moved. For parents, the key takeaway is that Mitchell is a consistently low-ranked, high-poverty school with adequate funding and staffing but severe attendance challenges and low proficiency. The contrast with nearby ALBA - Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes suggests the biggest opportunities lie in attendance and instruction, not simply in adding resources.