Carmen Middle School South, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Carmen Middle School South

Carmen Middle School South is a charter school serving grades six through eight in Milwaukee, part of the Carmen Schools network that also includes a high school campus. The school is located in the city’s south side on South 15th Street, in a densely populated and historically industrial part of the city. As a charter school, it operates with its own enrollment process and is not tied to a traditional neighborhood attendance boundary.

The student body is large enough to offer a middle school experience with distinct grade-level cohorts. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the majority of the student population is Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students and a very small number of White students and students of two or more races. State testing data for the school year was reported, and the school participated fully in Wisconsin’s Forward assessments across grades six, seven, and eight. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was near the midpoint among the county’s districts in math and English. In math, proficiency rates were in a similar range which placed the school below the midpoint of the county’s districts.

The school offers a science and technology-focused program. A parent may want to look into what the school’s specific science and technology offerings look like at the middle school level and how they connect to the high school programs. The Carmen network recently merged its two south-side high schools into a single Southgate campus, which could change the feeder pathway for families planning ahead. Publicly reported information on the school’s special education and English learner populations, discipline rates, and course access was not available, so a family with a student who has an Individualized Education Program or who is an English learner should ask the school directly about those supports.

Housing values in the area are below the state and national median. Rents are also below the national index, and year-over-year changes in both the housing market and rental market have been modest, suggesting a relatively stable cost environment for the neighborhood.

Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city and a major economic center with a strong manufacturing and financial services base, but it also has notable economic disparities. The city’s population has been declining slowly, though the downtown and riverfront areas have seen redevelopment. The city remains one of the most racially segregated in the country, a pattern with deep historical roots. For a family considering this school, understanding the fit involves looking at the school’s charter structure, its science and technology focus, its relatively small middle school size, and how it connects to the Carmen high school campuses, as well as the broader city context in which the school operates.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Science

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolCarmen High School of Science and Technology Inc, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.