Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 53222

ZIP code 53222 has four PK–5 elementary schools—three in Milwaukee School District and one in Wauwatosa School District—serving a mix of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa neighborhoods with widely different enrollment, poverty, absenteeism, spending, and test-score outcomes. Milwaukee German Immersion is the clear standout: it ranks 157/1039, the 85th percentile, with 4 stars, and its 2025-26 unweighted average proficiency is about 71.7%, compared with 54.75% statewide and 23.48% in MPS. It is above the state in every reported 2025-26 subject/grade, has the group’s lowest chronic absenteeism at 7.6%, and improved from the 63rd percentile in 2023-24. Its Social Studies score is 82.35% and Science is 72.06%, while ELA ranges from 67.19% to 74.24% and Math from 56.25% to 75%.

Among the other schools, Eisenhower Elementary is notable for a sharp drop: its rank fell from 511/1044, 51st percentile, 3 stars in 2024-25 to 748/1039, 28th percentile, 1 star in 2025-26, and its average proficiency fell from 56.24% to 44.84%. Ninety-Fifth Street Elementary ranks 928/1039, the 11th percentile, with 1 star, and its 2025-26 average proficiency is 24.26%—only slightly above the MPS average but far below the state. Eighty-First Street Elementary is the lowest performer, ranking 1011/1039, the 3rd percentile, with 0 stars; its average proficiency is about 10.0%, with Math at 8.16% in 3rd grade, 5.41% in 4th, and 2.27% in 5th, and Science at 5.41%.

The contrasts are large: Milwaukee German Immersion’s average is about 61.7 percentage points higher than Eighty-First Street’s. Chronic absenteeism tracks with performance—7.6% at German Immersion, 14.2% at Eisenhower, 34.9% at Ninety-Fifth, and 46.6% at Eighty-First. Poverty context also differs widely: free/reduced lunch is 27.32% at German Immersion, 34.32% at Eisenhower, 79.91% at Ninety-Fifth, and 81.79% at Eighty-First. Resource metrics do not tell a simple story: Eighty-First spends the most per student at $21,727 but has the lowest proficiency, while German Immersion spends less than Eighty-First and Ninety-Fifth yet performs far higher; Eisenhower has the best student/teacher ratio at 11.2 but still declined. Grade patterns matter, too: Ninety-Fifth’s math falls from 33.9% in 3rd grade to 10.42% in 5th, and Eighty-First is very low across grades.