Original Research by School Decision on Upgrade Media Arts Schools
UpGrade Media Arts Schools is a career and technical charter school serving students in grades six through twelve. It is the only school in the UpGrade Media Arts Schools Inc charter district. The school sits in Wauwatosa, an inner-ring suburb immediately west of Milwaukee. Wauwatosa is a mix of residential and commercial districts, anchored by the Milwaukee County Regional Medical Center, including Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and by industrial employers like Harley-Davidson. The city has a European-style village center along the Menomonee River and is served by Milwaukee County Transit. The western portions are more auto-oriented, with large retail centers around Mayfair Mall.
The school’s enrollment was very small, consistent with a focused program. Its student body was predominantly Black, with a smaller Hispanic share; no other racial or ethnic groups were reported. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available. The school was designated a career and technical/vocational school and was a charter school.
State testing results for math, English language arts, science, and social studies were all suppressed for the grades tested. Suppression typically occurs when the number of students tested is so small that results cannot be publicly reported without risking identification of individuals. A parent looking for academic performance data will find none available from state assessments. This absence likely reflects the school’s tiny enrollment rather than a judgment on quality, but it means there is no public record of how students performed on Wisconsin’s Forward exam.
No graduation rate was reported, likely for the same reason of small numbers. The school served students through twelfth grade, but with only a handful of students in the upper grades, a rate may have been suppressed or not calculated.
UpGrade Media Arts Schools operated as an independent charter district with a media-arts focus and offered dual-enrollment options, according to publicly reported sources. However, the school closed in 2025, eliminating this educational option for the Wauwatosa area. For families considering the area now, the school is no longer available. The Wauwatosa School District, which operates nine elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools, remains the primary public school system in the city.
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