Craig Montessori School, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Craig Montessori School

Craig Montessori School sits in Milwaukee’s Washington Heights neighborhood, serving children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It is a regular public school within Milwaukee Public Schools, not a charter or magnet, and carries the Montessori name, indicating a pedagogical approach centered on self-directed learning, mixed-age classrooms, and hands-on materials. The school is small, drawing a student body that is overwhelmingly Black, with smaller shares of children identifying as two or more races, Hispanic, white, or Asian. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of many families in the attendance area.

State testing results, drawn from the Wisconsin Forward Exam, show that overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places this school in the bottom quartile relative to districts across Milwaukee County. In math, the share of students scoring at proficient or above hovered in a range that is low across every tested grade, with the highest rate seen in eighth grade. In English language arts, results were similarly low, and in third grade no tested student reached the proficient threshold. Science and social studies results, available for fourth and eighth grades, also showed limited proficiency. A parent considering this school will want to understand the academic support structures in place, what interventions the school uses, and how the Montessori model is being implemented to address these results. The school’s small size means grade-level cohorts are measured in the low tens, so year-to-year swings in a single grade’s performance can be large, and one or two students can shift a rate notably.

Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available in this record. Information on special education and English learner populations was also missing from the data provided. A parent may wish to ask the school directly about its staffing, class sizes, and how it serves students with diverse learning needs.

Milwaukee, the city this school calls home, is Wisconsin’s largest city and a historically industrial port on Lake Michigan. Its economy is anchored by a set of Fortune-ranked corporate headquarters in financial services, technology, staffing, and energy, alongside a legacy brewing industry and major healthcare systems. The city has a defined downtown with a riverwalk and lakefront cultural institutions, but many outlying neighborhoods are more car-dependent, and the city remains one of the most racially segregated in the country, a consequence of early-twentieth-century redlining. The population has declined at every census count for decades, and the regional economy, though large, coexists with significant poverty. For families living in this part of the city, the school is a neighborhood option that offers a Montessori approach through the middle grades.

The district that runs the school, Milwaukee Public Schools, is navigating several changes that could affect Craig Montessori directly. In spring 2024, voters approved a referendum to fund accessibility upgrades in aging school buildings, signaling a sustained investment in physical infrastructure. The district is also implementing a Long Range Facilities Plan that may involve school closures or consolidations as it addresses excess capacity and aging facilities. A projected budget deficit for the coming school year, driven by declining enrollment and the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds, has led the district to consider program cuts and staffing reductions. Any of these could affect the resources and stability at Craig Montessori, and a parent may want to track how the district’s planning evolves.

The school’s identity as a Montessori school is its most distinctive feature, but the data provided does not include detail on program offerings such as advanced coursework, arts, or extracurriculars. A family drawn to the Montessori philosophy will want to visit, observe classrooms, and ask how the model is adapted for the school’s context and student population. The academic results suggest that for a family whose priority is high tested proficiency, this school may not be a strong fit without significant additional support at home. For a family seeking a small, neighborhood-rooted school with a distinctive educational approach in a city of stark contrasts, Craig Montessori offers a clear option worth investigating firsthand.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 19% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 18% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 22%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 19% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 22% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 53 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 48%

School 8% · District 22% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 21% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 23 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 24% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 28% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 20% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 22% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 32% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 36% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolMilwaukee School District, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income0%Higher-income0%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income50%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income17%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income25%Higher-income22%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income17%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income33%24 pp gap