Best High Schools in Zip Code 53233

ZIP code 53233 has two high schools serving grades 9–12 — Milwaukee High School of the Arts and Project STAY-Supporting Teachers and Youth — both part of Milwaukee School District, serving a combined 1,073 students.

The two schools are very different in size. Milwaukee High School of the Arts enrolls 959 students, about 89.4% of the combined enrollment, and is roughly 8.4 times larger than Project STAY's 114 students. The larger school has the stronger completion profile: a 90.8% graduation rate, close to the state's 92.0%, and a 1.0% dropout rate, slightly below the state's 1.1%. But chronic absenteeism is 54.3%, well above the district's 46.2% and far above the state's 17.3%, and test proficiency is low, with only 6.42% proficient in ACT Mathematics and 9.09% in ACT Science. It ranked 483rd of 533 in 2025–2026, at the 9th percentile with 0 stars.

Project STAY-Supporting Teachers and Youth spends more per student ($28,292, about 49% more) and has a lower student-teacher ratio (12.0 versus 15.2), yet faces steeper challenges: 91.1% chronic absenteeism, a 57.5% graduation rate, and a 6.6% dropout rate. Its relative bright spot is ACT Mathematics at 16.67%, above the district's 15.75%, though it reported 0% in ELA and Science and still trails the state's 42.93%. It ranked 495th of 533, at the 7th percentile with 0 stars. Both schools sit in a district ranked 418th of 432, and both remain in the bottom decile of Wisconsin high schools.