Carmen High Southeast Campus

Carmen High Southeast Campus is a grade 9–12 high school at 2500 W Oklahoma Ave in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, enrolling 679 students as part of the Milwaukee School District, a district that ranks 418th of 432 statewide (3rd percentile) with a zero-star rating. The school itself has climbed from the bottom few percent of Wisconsin high schools to roughly the 11th percentile, earning its first star in 2025–26. One caveat: the statewide ranked pool grew from 431 to 533 schools that year, so part of the gain reflects a larger comparison group rather than pure improvement.

The defining feature here is a split between getting students to graduation and getting them to proficiency. The graduation rate is 86.4%, well above the district's 71.5% and within a few points of the state's 92.0%, and it has stayed between 83.6% and 88.9% for five straight years. The dropout rate is 1.3%, essentially at the state level. Yet 10th-grade proficiency runs far below state norms: 14.05% in English language arts, 14.17% in math, 18.64% in social studies, and 22.50% in science — the one subject where the school beats its district. Chronic absenteeism sits at 51.1%, roughly half the student body and nearly three times the state rate.

Comparisons to nearby schools are revealing. Pulaski High shares the same street address, and Carmen Southeast outperforms it on every measure — graduation 86.4% vs. 67.5%, absenteeism 51.1% vs. 77.7%, math 14.17% vs. 2.54% — while serving a higher-poverty population (99.26% economically disadvantaged). The most actionable comparison is Carmen High School of Science and Technology South Campus, which serves nearly identical poverty levels but posts 93.8% graduation, 25.5% absenteeism and 36.26% ELA proficiency with a 19.1-to-1 student-teacher ratio, versus 48.5-to-1 here. One bright spot: English learners rank at the 56th percentile with 3 stars, far above the school's overall standing. Special education students rank in the 1st percentile — the school's most acute weakness.