Summary:
ZIP code 53204 has 14 schools—10 elementary, 1 middle, 3 high, and no alternative—serving 8,763 students, mostly in the Milwaukee School District and two in United Community Center Inc; the area is overwhelmingly high-poverty, with free/reduced lunch from 69.42% to 94.3% and a median near 86.7%. The first district ranks 418 of 432 in Wisconsin, while the second ranks 363 of 432.
The two strongest options are Bruce Guadalupe and United Community Center Acosta Middle School. The former is the largest school (1,364 students) and highest-ranked overall—27th percentile, 1 star—with chronic absenteeism of 15.9%, below the state’s 17.3% and far below the district’s 46.2%; its 7th grade ELA and math and 8th grade math are near or above state averages, though 4th grade math is 31.79% vs. 52.87%. The latter is the only middle school (188 students), ranks 24th percentile with 1 star, has 19.4% chronic absenteeism, and 7th grade math 54.17% vs. state 55.67%. La Causa Charter School is the highest-ranked district school at 11th percentile, 1 star; its 4th grade math is 67.39%, far above the district’s 19.38% and state’s 52.87%, but other grades are much lower—3rd grade math 6.9%, 5th grade math 8.47%, 7th grade math 5.56%, and 8th grade math 13.33%.
Other schools face steep challenges. South Accelerated Academy has 57 students but 100.0% chronic absenteeism, a 22.2% dropout rate vs. the state’s 1.1%, and a 54.5% graduation rate vs. the district’s 71.5% and state’s 92.0%; no test scores are listed. Kagel Elementary ranks 1st percentile with multiple 0% proficiency results and 34.6% chronic absenteeism. High school ACT results are extremely low: Bradley Technology High has ELA 4.97%, math 2.76%, science 3.87%; South Division High has ELA 4.67%, math 1.99%, science 2.67%. Forest Home Elementary spends $26,499 per student with an 11.2 ratio, and Allen-Field Elementary spends $24,551 with an 11.7 ratio, yet both show low proficiency. There are no alternative schools in the ZIP, and data limitations include missing spending for the largest school, an old spending figure for the middle school, and no test scores for the small high school.
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