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Bethune Academy

Public Grades PK, KG-8
969th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,039 Wisconsin Elementary Schools
Better than 7% of Wisconsin elementary schools
Summary

Bethune Academy is a PK–8 elementary school at 1535 N 35th St on Milwaukee's near west side, serving 574 students — the largest enrollment of any school in this comparison group — inside the Milwaukee School District. Poverty is near-total, with 96.2% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch in 2024-25, and the school spends $19,435 per student with roughly 31–32 teachers at an 18.2:1 ratio.

In 2025-26, Bethune ranked 969th of 1,039 ranked Wisconsin schools (7th percentile) and has never earned a star rating in the ten years on record. That places it above its own district's 3rd-percentile position but still in the bottom tenth of the state. Among nearby schools, only Westside Academy (9th percentile) and Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- 36th Street Campus (23rd) rank higher. Averaging the reported grade-level figures across grades 3–8, Bethune sits at roughly 19% ELA and 15% math proficient — below the district (about 26% and 21%) and the state (about 54% and 54%), yet close to double the ELA and roughly triple the math results of the surrounding traditional district schools, which average about 10% and 5%.

Attendance is Bethune's clearest strength: 38.0% chronic absenteeism in 2024-25, second-lowest in the group and more than 8 points better than the district's 46.2%, with a 13-point improvement since 2021-22. English learners rank at roughly the 55th–63rd percentile with 3 stars for three years running — notable for a school ranked in the 7th percentile overall. The clearest weaknesses are 4th grade, which trailed the district in all four tested subjects, math outside of 8th grade, and services for students with disabilities, which ranked at the 3rd–9th percentile with 0 stars in all three reported years.

574
Students ?
18.2
Student/teacher ratio ?
$19,435
Per pupil spending ?
96.2%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1535 N 35th St
       Milwaukee, WI  53208-2315

(414) 934-4600

District: Milwaukee School District

Racial breakdown:

African American:
62.2%
Asian:
30.1%
Hispanic:
3.5%
more
 See top rated Wisconsin elementary schools

 Compare Bethune Academy to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 4th percentile in 2016 → 7th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Wisconsin average (20% vs 55% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (7th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (38% vs 17% Wisconsin)
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school20%
District avg25%
Wisconsin avg55%
Elementary school
969th of 1,039
Wisconsin public elementary schools ?
Bottom 7%▲ up 3 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of Wisconsin Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
577th of 643
Wisconsin public middle schools ?
Bottom 10%▲ up 8 pts since 2016
From bottom 3% (2016) to bottom 10% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Wisconsin Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
51st of 105Elementary Schools in the Milwaukee School District
418th of 432Milwaukee School District among Wisconsin districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20265.5969 of 10396.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20255.4976 of 10446.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20244.3997 of 10616.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20235.51001 of 10676.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.3988 of 10677.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20214.51006 of 10504.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20192.81006 of 10373.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20182.6996 of 10252.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20172.21045 of 10712.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20163.31033 of 10753.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20152.11054 of 10762.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20141.41054 of 10610.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20131.51043 of 10530.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20120.91025 of 10451.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20113.01019 of 10462.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20109.5982 of 10456.0%☆☆☆☆☆
200927.9876 of 103015.0%★☆☆☆☆
20086.5967 of 10215.3%☆☆☆☆☆
200734.7540 of 68921.6%★☆☆☆☆
200614.4632 of 71211.2%★☆☆☆☆
200556.0356 of 63243.7%★★☆☆☆
200435.7475 of 63325.0%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202625.5121 of 15019.3%★☆☆☆☆
202529.0103 of 14428.5%★☆☆☆☆
202427.2108 of 13721.2%★☆☆☆☆
202329.8101 of 13826.8%★☆☆☆☆
202230.393 of 13330.1%★★☆☆☆
202125.4119 of 14115.6%★☆☆☆☆
201920.4145 of 1619.9%★☆☆☆☆
201822.3144 of 16512.7%★☆☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202516.2105 of 1169.5%★☆☆☆☆
201912.9115 of 1225.7%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202648.0110 of 24555.1%★★★☆☆
202552.694 of 25563.1%★★★☆☆
202448.9119 of 26955.8%★★★☆☆
202339.6145 of 24941.8%★★☆☆☆
202251.796 of 24861.3%★★★☆☆
202125.8202 of 2229.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201934.0198 of 27528.0%★☆☆☆☆
201827.7244 of 28715.0%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20266.1921 of 9866.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20255.7940 of 10016.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20245.0950 of 10116.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.2918 of 10109.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.0939 of 10177.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20215.6964 of 10044.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20192.3988 of 10021.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20183.0969 of 9972.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20266.8920 of 9897.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20257.1926 of 10007.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20245.4950 of 10126.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20234.9965 of 10114.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.5939 of 10177.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20216.8944 of 10035.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20195.5952 of 10025.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20183.7962 of 9973.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202613.6756 of 7914.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202515.3733 of 8028.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.6764 of 7903.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202316.0714 of 7707.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202215.9696 of 7487.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202126.4582 of 74622.0%★☆☆☆☆
201914.5724 of 7422.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201815.4675 of 7216.4%☆☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20269.9577 of 64310.3%★☆☆☆☆
20256.2580 of 6287.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20246.1592 of 6417.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20236.5598 of 6406.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.5573 of 6177.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20214.9581 of 6135.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20193.1571 of 5943.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20182.8558 of 5793.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20172.5595 of 6122.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20162.5593 of 6092.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20151.5602 of 6121.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20141.7572 of 5852.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20131.2562 of 5691.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20120.3552 of 5591.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20112.5531 of 5493.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20107.6503 of 5396.7%☆☆☆☆☆
200924.7453 of 52113.1%★☆☆☆☆
200811.6474 of 5198.7%☆☆☆☆☆
200735.8290 of 36620.8%★☆☆☆☆
200630.2314 of 38217.8%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202628.296 of 12523.2%★☆☆☆☆
202521.4104 of 11711.1%★☆☆☆☆
202427.689 of 11824.6%★☆☆☆☆
202327.1109 of 13016.2%★☆☆☆☆
202230.292 of 12526.4%★☆☆☆☆
202120.6128 of 1344.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201920.8115 of 1279.4%★☆☆☆☆
201825.3101 of 12317.9%★☆☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202213.786 of 959.5%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202679.510 of 16994.1%★★★★★
202560.944 of 17875.3%★★★★☆
202459.052 of 17369.9%★★★★☆
202349.759 of 17065.3%★★★☆☆
202257.346 of 15870.9%★★★★☆
202149.157 of 13858.7%★★★☆☆
201953.051 of 15366.7%★★★☆☆
201834.7100 of 14028.6%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202610.6512 of 57210.5%★☆☆☆☆
20257.3528 of 5737.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20245.2541 of 5806.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20236.0550 of 5795.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20225.5549 of 5764.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20213.8564 of 5741.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20192.4545 of 5572.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20182.5537 of 5512.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20238.1511 of 5252.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202216.7479 of 5228.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202611.1511 of 57511.1%★☆☆☆☆
20256.5532 of 5777.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.4535 of 5858.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.4538 of 5919.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.1522 of 5779.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.9524 of 5728.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20196.4521 of 5576.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20185.1522 of 5515.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202617.9397 of 4399.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202514.3394 of 4144.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202421.5365 of 42514.1%★☆☆☆☆
202322.9380 of 43913.4%★☆☆☆☆
202218.4398 of 4215.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202120.4401 of 4378.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201918.7383 of 4147.5%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Elementary school
English Language Learner (2026)55th percentile+48 vs school
African American (2026)19th percentile+13 vs school
Asian (2025)9th percentile+3 vs school
Male (2026)7th percentile~ school
Female (2026)7th percentile~ school
Special Education (2026)4th percentile~ school
Middle school
English Language Learner (2026)94th percentile+84 vs school
African American (2026)23rd percentile+13 vs school
Male (2026)11th percentile~ school
Female (2026)10th percentile~ school
Special Education (2026)10th percentile~ school
Asian (2022)9th percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2023)3rd percentile-4 vs school
By subject vs Wisconsin (2025-2026) ?
Social Studies31%-34 vs state
Science21%-32 vs state
English Language Arts20%-35 vs state
Mathematics15%-38 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Bethune Academy

In the 2024-25 school year, 574 students attended Bethune Academy.

Students at Bethune Academy are 62% African American, 30% Asian, 3% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races, 1% White.

Bethune Academy ranks in the bottom 6.7% of Wisconsin elementary schools.

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Latest Wisconsin data All new data »
2025–26 ACT & Forward Exam scoresNewOct 1, 2026
2021–22 through 2024–25 school spending dataJul 16, 2026
2024–25 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesMar 5, 2026
2024–25 ACT & Forward Exam scoresSep 25, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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