Thoreau Elementary, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Thoreau Elementary

Thoreau Elementary is a regular public school in Milwaukee, serving students from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Milwaukee School District, the state’s largest system. Because the school does not include high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report; state testing data is available for grades three through eight, which are the tested grades.

Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city, a lakefront port and industrial center with a diverse economy anchored by Fortune 500 headquarters in financial services, manufacturing, and health care. The city’s population has declined over several decades, and it remains one of the most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the country, a legacy of redlining. The neighborhood around Thoreau Elementary sits within the broader urban fabric, not a separate suburb. Housing in the school’s ZIP code is valued well below the national median, and the area’s rents are also below the national benchmark, reflecting the relative affordability of this part of Milwaukee relative to the city’s pricier lakefront neighborhoods.

Thoreau Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, white, Asian, and multiracial students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the school’s high level of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the sources used for this profile, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those services.

Academic performance on Wisconsin’s Forward assessments is low across every grade and subject. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced ranged from zero in fourth grade to roughly one in five in eighth grade. Reading and English language arts results were similar, with most grades showing fewer than one in four students meeting proficiency. Science and social studies results, tested only in fourth and eighth grades, were also low. Compared to other schools in Milwaukee County, Thoreau Elementary’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile among districts, a gap that families will want to weigh carefully.

The school offers the standard public school curriculum for its grade span. Programs such as art, music, physical education, or extended learning are not detailed in the data; a parent interested in enrichment should ask the school what is currently offered. As a regular public school, Thoreau does not operate as a charter or magnet, so there is no special admissions process or theme-based curriculum.

At the district level, Milwaukee Public Schools is navigating a period of financial pressure and physical plant changes. Voters approved a referendum to fund accessibility improvements in aging buildings, a long-term investment that will affect many school sites. The district is also projecting a budget deficit tied to declining enrollment and the end of federal pandemic relief, which may bring staffing reductions or program cuts. A long-range facilities plan could lead to school closures or consolidations, so the school’s long-term future is something a family may want to monitor.

For a family considering Thoreau Elementary, the picture is straightforward. The student body is almost entirely low-income, and test scores are well below the county median. The school sits within a large urban district that faces structural budget and enrollment challenges. The surrounding community offers relatively affordable housing compared to much of the county, but the economic context of the neighborhood is modest. Parents who prioritize high academic attainment measures on state tests will find that Thoreau’s results do not show that strength; parents who are looking for a neighborhood school in a district that is investing in facilities and may see reorganization in coming years will want to visit, talk with staff, and ask about supports and programming that go beyond the numbers available here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 24% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 19% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 54 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 18% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 18% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 22% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 19%

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

English language arts

Grade 322%

School 22% · District 22%

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

Grade 45%

School 5% · District 22% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 21% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 66%

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

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

Grade 711%

School 11% · District 28% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 29% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 20% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 22% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 32% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 47 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 36% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 15 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.