Morgandale Elementary

Morgandale Elementary is a PK–8 neighborhood school on Milwaukee’s south side serving 624 students—the largest nearby enrollment—within Milwaukee School District. It has ranked in the bottom tenth of Wisconsin schools for years and in 2025-26 placed in the 6th percentile with zero stars, continuing a seven-year streak without a star. Yet its results track closely with its closest high-poverty peers: nearby Curtin Elementary (9th percentile), Manitoba Elementary (8th), and Lincoln Avenue Elementary (7th) serve similar high-poverty populations and post statistically similar outcomes. About 86.2% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and per-student spending is $17,695—lower than most nearby schools—with 19.3 students per teacher.

The clearest pattern is a grade-band split: in 2025-26, ELA proficiency in grades 3–5 averaged about 10.6%, roughly half the district rate, while grades 6–8 averaged about 25.8%, close to district norms. Math shows the same divide: grades 3–5 averaged about 9.7%, while grades 6–8 were essentially at district level. Grade 4 math (5.36%) and grade 3 ELA (5.88%) are the lowest spots. Chronic absenteeism has improved from 48.3% in 2021-22 to 35.6% in 2024-25—better than the district’s 46.2% but still more than double the state’s 17.3%. Nearby Whittier Elementary (9.7% absenteeism, 74th percentile) and Bay View Montessori School (3.1%, 41st percentile) show what stronger attendance and outcomes can look like, though they serve far wealthier populations.

It is a large PK–8 school with enough enrollment to sustain multiple sections and specialists; its middle grades perform near district norms, while its early elementary grades are the acute weakness. Low-income students, English language learners, and special-education students lag most. Dropout is 2.2%, below the district’s 4.0%, so students who reach upper grades tend to stay. Lowell International Elementary serves similar poverty and has reached the 21st percentile, showing better outcomes are possible nearby, but it has also declined recently. The data point to two priorities: strengthen early-grade literacy and math, and continue reducing absences. Zablocki Elementary spends far more per student and has a smaller ratio but performs similarly or lower, so dollars alone are not the answer.