Summary:
ZIP code 53224 has five elementary schools serving about 1,319 students: four PK–5 schools in Milwaukee School District — Stuart Elementary, Goodrich Elementary, Bruce Elementary, and Maple Tree Elementary — plus one PK–8 school, Darrell Lynn Hines Academy, which forms its own district, Darrell L Hines Academy Inc. These schools serve a high-poverty population, with free/reduced lunch rates above 90% at four of the five schools, and all of them score well below Wisconsin averages. The highest overall proficiency in the group, Bruce at 27.55%, is still more than 27 points under the state elementary average of 54.75%.
Bruce Elementary is the strongest relative performer, with the top overall proficiency average among the PK–5 schools and the biggest improvement, rising from the 3rd percentile in 2023–2024 to the 12th percentile in 2025–2026. Goodrich Elementary has the lowest chronic absenteeism in the group at 22.3% — far below the MPS rate of 46.2% — the smallest classes at 15.0 students per teacher, and the best math results at 24.08%. Both earned 1 star in 2025–2026, while the other three schools earned 0 stars.
The most acute needs appear at Maple Tree Elementary, which has the lowest MPS proficiency average at 15.65% and the highest chronic absenteeism at 51.4%, and at Darrell Lynn Hines Academy, which has the lowest rank in the group (5th percentile), the highest student-teacher ratio at 23.0, a dropout rate of 3.1% versus 1.1% statewide, and several 0% proficiency results in 2025–2026. Notably, higher spending did not mean higher results: Maple Tree spends the most per student among the MPS schools ($22,931) yet posts the lowest MPS proficiency, while Bruce and Maple Tree have nearly identical free/reduced lunch rates (94.81% and 94.89%) but very different outcomes — a reminder that attendance and classroom factors appear to matter as much as funding.
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