I’ve written a number of times about how impressed I am with South Milwaukee schools, and that belief is stronger than ever.
It starts with passing the “eye test” — what you see first-hand and every day in how they educate kids and prepare them for future. It’s a difficult test to pass, but what I see from my Rawson Elementary first-grader shows me a lot of what I need to know about our local schools.
Add in the district’s commitment to long-range planning — devising solutions to some of the major problems all area schools face — and my dealings with what I view as a first-class leadership team, and they pass the “eye test” with ease.
But that’s one person’s opinion. It’s nice to see it validated by a (somewhat) scientific report in a respected local publication.
Milwaukee Magazine rated the area’s 33 K-12 school districts in its most recent edition. You can see the story here.
Admittedly, the overall ranking of the South Milwaukee district — based on factors like test scores, spending per pupil and student-teacher ratio — is a bit disappointing. The magazine ranks the district 28th out of the 33.
Then you read more of the article … and see the strongly positive results for our local schools.
- For starters, the overall rankings are clearly influenced by local economics. More low-income communities fared worse. So that is instantly strike one against the South Milwaukee School District.
- But dig deeper, and you see clear signs of hope. According to the piece, our local schools were called perhaps the area’s biggest “After-School All-Star … ranking first in the academic category (among 33 area K-12 districts),with 37 offerings per school, second in athletics with another 37 and third in music with 11.” The quote from Superintendent Rita Olson: “We’ve taken a funding hit like everybody else but we’ve really tried to protect athletics and music and keep the clubs going. In some cases, we rely on volunteers, and a number of teachers are leading clubs without compensation.”
- Then dig even deeper. And the article rates South Milwaukee High School the No. 2 “overperformer” in the area — using statistics that compare districts only to those with similar economic standing.
So, I give South Milwaukee’s showing in the magazine article a solid B. Let’s hope that others read it and recognize that our schools are strong — and a real reason to love living here. They’re certainly at the top of my list.
Of course, I’d like to know what you think about this. Read the article, and check out more on MilwaukeeMagazine.com, and then post your comments below!
South Milwaukee Blog 
Erik thanks for sharing this article. We moved to South Milwaukee because we felt our school system was excellent. In the end, our two sons graduated from SM schools and have done excellent in their post high school education. My oldest son is at the number one public policy school in the world and he believes his education at SM helped to become a very successful student. In the end, he was able to secure 100k in scholarships for undergrad and 120k for grad school. My other son made a decision to stay in Milwaukee and attend a private small local college. After two years he transferred to UWM-Milwaukee and is getting double degrees in Fiance and Accounting. So in the end if students at SM study, take AP classes and get engaged in music and sports they all have a chance of success! We must sell the best kept secret in SE Wisconsin our schools, park and location. Our school is beautiful and the environment is wonderful. Keep sharing the good news.
My daughter received $58k in scholarship money for undergrad and then moved south to go on for her grad degree in law and is a practicing attorney in Georgia, passing that State’s bar exam the first time taking it.
28 out of 33? Looks to me like we have a lot of work to do….this is very disappointing and should be a reminder to all involved to pull up their boot straps, get to work, and do better. No excuses necessary…