These 13 schools could potentially close, merge as part of proposal on MPS facilities plan (2024)

These 13 schools could potentially close, merge as part of proposal on MPS facilities plan (1)

Thirteen schools could potentially close, or merge with others as part of Milwaukee Public Schools' long-term plans for its facilities, according to data released Friday.

Specific details about the future of each MPS school have not been decided.

But, on Friday, MPS released a list of its schools broken into categories: Schools that could potentially close or merge with others, get a new academic program or building investment, or expand. Others are still being evaluated and monitored.

"Please understand that no recommendations or decisions about any schools have been made," the district told families on Friday. "This information will be used to inform the development of a 10-year (long-range facilities master plan)."

School-specific information released Friday is part of a progress report on the facilities planning process, which the Board of School Directors will review on Tuesday. Perkins Eastman, a consulting firm hired by MPS, created that report after working with the district for months to analyze data and gather public input.

Closing some schools and upgrading others is necessary, the district argues, because 1 in 4 of its schools are not being used to their full capacity. Another 1 in 4 have too many students. In-demand academic programs are not evenly distributed across the city, and many students don't attend the school closest to where they live.

Meanwhile, overall enrollment in the district has fallen by one third over the past two decades.

More:Future of MPS could include school closures, improved programming under long-range facilities plan

Schools that could close, or be merged with a nearby school:

  • Brown Street Academy
  • Clarke Street Academy
  • Siefert School
  • Starms Discovery Learning Center
  • Auer Avenue School
  • Hopkins Lloyd Community School
  • Jackson Elementary School
  • Dr. George Washington Carver Academy
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes School
  • Andrew S. Douglas Middle School
  • Keefe Avenue School
  • Robert M. LaFollette School
  • William T. Sherman School

Schools that could get new academic programs, or other building upgrades:

  • A.E. Burdick School
  • Browning School
  • Cass Street School
  • Clement Avenue School
  • Congress School
  • Frederick J. Gaenslen School
  • IDEAL School
  • Lancaster School
  • Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne School
  • Neeskara School
  • Ralph H. Metcalfe School
  • River Trail School of Agricultural Science
  • Riverwest Elementary School
  • William George Bruce School
  • Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
  • Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes
  • Albert E. Kagel School
  • Allen-Field School
  • Audubon Middle and High School
  • Bay View Montessori School, upper campus
  • Craig Montessori School
  • Forest Home Avenue School
  • Golda Meir School, lower campus
  • Green Tree Preparatory Academy
  • Lincoln Avenue School
  • Lloyd Barbee Montessori School
  • Milwaukee German Immersion School
  • Milwaukee Parkside School for the Arts
  • Milwaukee School of Languages
  • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, lower campus
  • Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, upper campus
  • Obama School of Career and Technical Education
  • Richard Kluge School
  • Victory K-8 and Milwaukee Italian Immersion School
  • Albert Story School
  • Benjamin Franklin School
  • Byron Kilbourn School
  • Clara Barton School
  • Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Science
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School
  • Engleburg School
  • Fifty-Third Street School
  • Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center
  • Grant Gordon Learning Center
  • Grantosa Drive School
  • Hampton School
  • Hartford Avenue University School
  • Henry David Thoreau School
  • James E. Groppi High School
  • Louisa May Alcott School
  • Lowell P. Goodrich School
  • Manitoba School
  • Maple Tree School
  • Milwaukee Sign Language School
  • Morse Middle School
  • Parkview School
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson School
  • Samuel Clemens School
  • Thurston Woods Campus
  • Townsend Street School
  • Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies

Schools that could be expanded:

  • Academy of Accelerated Learning
  • Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School
  • Eight-First Street School
  • Escuela Vieau
  • Greenfield Bilingual School
  • Honey Creek Charter School
  • Humboldt Park School
  • James Fenimore Cooper School
  • Jeremiah Curtin Leadership Academy
  • Mary McLeod Bethune Academy
  • Morgandale School
  • Ninety-Fifth Street School
  • Whittier School

Schools that will continue to be monitored and evaluated, or have other 'unique circumstances' that are being analyzed:

  • Alexander Hamilton High School
  • Anna F. Doerfler School
  • Bay View High School
  • Casimir Pulaski High School
  • Clement J. Zablocki School
  • Edward A. MacDowell Montessori School
  • Elm Creative Arts School
  • Golda Meir School, upper campus
  • Hamlin Garland School
  • Hayes Bilingual School
  • James Whitcomb Riley School
  • Milwaukee French Immersion School
  • North Division High School
  • Riverside University High School
  • South Division High School
  • Wedgewood Park International School
  • Bay View Montessori School, lower campus
  • Bradley Technology and Trade School
  • Fairview School
  • Fernwood Montessori School
  • Gilbert Stuart School
  • H.W. Longfellow School
  • Hawley Environmental School
  • La Escuela Fratney
  • Lowell International Elementary School
  • Luther Burbank School
  • Marvin Pratt Elementary School
  • Maryland Avenue Montessori School
  • Milwaukee High School of the Arts
  • Reagan College Preparatory High School
  • Rogers Street Academy
  • Rufus King International High School
  • The Alliance School of Milwaukee
  • Hi-Mount Community School
  • James Madison Academic Campus
  • Lincoln Center of the Arts
  • Milwaukee Marshall High School
  • Project STAY High School
  • Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School
  • Rufus King International Middle School
  • Transition High School
  • Washington High School of Information Technology
  • Westside Academy
  • William Cullen Bryant School

More:Future of MPS could include school closures, improved programming under long-range facilities plan

How did MPS decide which category a school should be put into?

It's complicated.

But there are some main questions MPS, and consulting firm Perkins Eastman are asking that help determine which category a school falls into:

  • Are there enough students enrolled to use the entire school building? This is called the building's "utilization rate," based on comparing student enrollment versus building capacity.
  • Has the school seen growing enrollment in the past five years?
  • Does the school have a "specialty" academic program? Those programs are: Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, gifted and talented, or college support programs; community schools, arts-focused schools and Montessori schools; language immersion, English as a second language and bilingual education; Project Lead the Way and career and technical education programs.
  • What is the condition of the physical building?
  • Is the school within 1 mile of an underutilized school?

There are several other factors being evaluated. For example, that includes whether the school has amenities, like an elevator or an athletic field, and how big its classrooms are; details about where the school is located, like if there any neighborhood safety concerns, if it's close to a highway, an industrial site or public park, among other considerations.

The categories that a school is placed into currently "do not represent any final strategy decisions" and are not permanent, according to information released Friday.

These 13 schools could potentially close, merge as part of proposal on MPS facilities plan (2)

More:15 Milwaukee schools and 1 Racine school on Fordham Institute list of 'underachieving and underenrolled' schools nationwide

What about school closures?

Schools that are marked for potential closure or merger share a few specific traits:

  • They have a 50% or below utilization rate, meaning at least half of the physical space in the building is not being used;
  • They have seen declining enrollment over the past five years;
  • They are within 1 mile of another underused school.

MPS does not plan to close or merge any schools in the 2024–25 or 2025–26 school years, the district told families and staff on Friday.

Several schools were initially going to be marked for potential closure or merger, but were "reassigned," according to information released Friday. They are still being evaluated.

Those schools are: Hi-Mount Community School, James Madison Academic Campus, Lincoln Center of the Arts, Milwaukee Marshall High School, Project STAY High School, Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School, Rufus King International Middle School, Transition High School, Washington High School of Information Technology, Westside Academy and William Cullen Bryant School.

More:Teachers, parents want details about potential school closures in MiIwaukee

MPS school board meeting on Tuesday will include more details

These 13 schools could potentially close, merge as part of proposal on MPS facilities plan (3)

On Tuesday, the MPS school board will review a progress report on the facilities planning process created by Perkins Eastman consulting.

After that, MPS says it plans to gather more feedback from students, families, staff and others before a draft of the final long-term facilities plan makes its way to the school board for approval.

The meeting on Tuesday is open to anyone. It is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at 5525 W. Vliet St., the district's Central Services Building.

"Our goal is to take a data-informed approach, not a data-driven approach; therefore, feedback from the community will continue to be extremely important in the development of any plan that could move forward," the district told families and staff on Friday.

Cleo Krejci covers education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Contact her atCKrejci@gannett.comor follow her on Twitter@_CleoKrejci.For more information about Report for America, visitjsonline.com/rfa.

These 13 schools could potentially close, merge as part of proposal on MPS facilities plan (2024)

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