Summary
Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language is a PK–8 school serving 499 students at 2430 W Wisconsin Ave in Milwaukee, part of Milwaukee School District. Families should know it ranks near the very bottom of Wisconsin schools: 1013th of 1039 in 2025–26 (3rd percentile, 0 stars), with no year in the past decade above the 8th percentile. Recent rankings were 5th percentile in 2024–25, 5th in 2023–24, and 4th in 2021–22, so this is a long-standing pattern rather than a recent drop.
Achievement is low in every subject. On the 2025–26 Forward Exam, grade-by-grade ELA proficiency ranged from 0% to 19.05%, averaging roughly 9.7%, and math ranged from 4.44% to 10.34%, averaging roughly 7.4% — math is the weaker subject. Social studies averaged about 17.0% and science about 12.5%, all far below district and state averages. About 90.98% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and chronic absenteeism was 42.5% in 2024–25 — improved from 64.5% in 2021–22, but still more than double Wisconsin's 17.3% rate. Per-student spending rose from $14,403 in 2019–20 to $19,009 in 2024–25 without sustained proficiency gains.
Nearby schools offer useful context. Highland Community School, just 0.58 miles away and in the same district, ranks in the 43rd percentile with 2 stars (around 63.7% ELA, 47.8% math), showing much stronger results are possible nearby. Several MPS neighbors with even higher poverty, including Bethune Academy (96.17% FRL) and Longfellow Elementary (89.65% FRL), post higher proficiency, while higher-spending Siefert Elementary ($25,929) and Westside Academy ($26,113) perform similarly or lower. MACL's absenteeism is better than Siefert (63.7%), Brown Street Academy (55.3%) and Elm Creative Arts Elementary (61.4%), similar to Story Elementary (42.5%), and worse than Highland (15.0%). Among state-reported student groups, the school's African American students rank highest relative to its own results (21st percentile, 1 star in 2025–26), while its low-income subgroup ranks at the 0th percentile.
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