Summary:
ZIP code 53204 contains 10 elementary schools — nine in Milwaukee School District and one, Bruce Guadalupe, operated by United Community Center Inc. Most serve PK–8, while Forest Home Elementary and Allen-Field Elementary serve PK–5. Together they enroll 6,547 students, from 292 at Kagel Elementary to 1,364 at Bruce Guadalupe. The area is overwhelmingly high-poverty: average free/reduced lunch is about 86%, and eight of ten schools are above 85%. Chronic absenteeism averages 35.9%, more than double the state rate of 17.3%, and only Bruce Guadalupe is below the state average.
Bruce Guadalupe stands out on nearly every measure: the largest enrollment, the best 2025–26 rank percentile (27th), the lowest chronic absenteeism (15.9%) and dropout rate (0.4%), and the only multiple grade-level scores above state averages, including 7th ELA 58.33 vs 55.33 and 8th math 59.81 vs 53.67. La Causa Charter School improved from the 5th to the 11th percentile and posted 67.39% proficient in 4th-grade math, far above district and state. At the other end, Kagel Elementary ranks 1st percentile with roughly 8.1% average proficiency and exact 0% in 5th-grade math and 4th-grade science, while Mitchell Elementary has the highest free/reduced lunch (94.3%), highest chronic absenteeism (54.3%), and highest reported dropout rate (2.2%). Forest Home Elementary spends the most ($26,499) with the lowest student/teacher ratio (11.2), yet proficiency is only about 15.5%; Vieau Elementary has the lowest poverty rate (69.42%) but still only about 18.7% average proficiency.
Overall, spending and class size do not explain results, and the ZIP's academic performance sits far below state benchmarks. Excluding Bruce Guadalupe and La Causa, every school's 2025–26 rank percentile is in the single digits, and all nine Milwaukee School District schools carry a district rating of 418/432 with 0 stars. Even the ZIP's strongest school remains below the state median.
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