Best High Schools in Zip Code 53218

ZIP code 53218 in Milwaukee is home to three public high schools — Carmen High Southeast Campus (grades 9–12), Carmen Mid/High Northwest Campus (grades 6–12), and James Madison Academic Campus (grades 9–12). All three belong to the Milwaukee School District, which ranks near the bottom statewide, and together they serve roughly 1,673 students in a community where nearly all families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Carmen High Southeast Campus is the relative standout. It has the highest graduation rate (86.4%), the lowest dropout rate (1.3%, close to the state's 1.1%), the lowest chronic absenteeism of the three (51.1%), and it is the only school here that improved its statewide rank, moving from the 2nd to the 11th percentile. Carmen Mid/High Northwest Campus is a school of two halves: its 8th graders post the strongest proficiency in this entire data set — 41.82% in social studies, above the district — but those same students fall sharply by 10th grade. James Madison Academic Campus is weakest on every measure: a 72.4% graduation rate, 7.9% dropout, 88.0% chronic absenteeism, and reported 0% proficient in 10th-grade math.

The most important pattern for parents is that graduation rates and test scores tell different stories: Carmen Southeast graduates most of its students, yet only about 14% are proficient in reading and math. Also note spending is not a guarantee — Madison spends the most per student ($23,107) and has the smallest student-teacher ratio (14.6), yet the weakest results. Chronic absenteeism is the shared challenge across all three schools, far above the state's 17.3%.