Townsend Street Elementary, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Townsend Street Elementary

Townsend Street Elementary is a regular public school in Milwaukee serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It sits in a mid-sized brick building on Sherman Boulevard, one of many neighborhood schools within the Milwaukee School District. The enrollment is modest for a PK-through-eight building, and the student body is overwhelmingly Black, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and white students. A very large share of families qualify for free or reduced-price meals, placing the school in a high-poverty context.

The state assessment results from the most recent testing year show proficiency rates that are very low across every subject and every grade level tested. In mathematics, no students reached the proficient or advanced level in third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or eighth grade, and only a tiny fraction of seventh graders did. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: the percentage of students scoring proficient or above hovers in the single digits across all grades, and in fifth grade none did. In science and social studies, which are tested in fourth and eighth grades, the results are equally sparse. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages the rates across tested subjects and grades, is in the bottom quartile when compared with the set of all districts in Milwaukee County. A parent looking at these numbers would want to ask the school directly about the academic supports in place and what interventions are being used to move the needle.

Because Townsend Street Elementary does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, course access, and discipline were not available in the information provided, so a family considering this school would need to seek those details from the district or the school itself.

The school sits within Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city and the county seat of Milwaukee County. Milwaukee is a city shaped by its industrial past and its position on Lake Michigan, with a downtown core, a network of rivers, and a mix of older neighborhoods. It remains one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States, a legacy of historic redlining, and it has experienced population decline over successive censuses. The city has a significant healthcare and financial sector, anchored by several Fortune companies, but also substantial economic disparities: median household income is well below the national figure, and a notable share of residents live below the poverty line.

The Milwaukee School District, which operates Townsend Street Elementary, is navigating some significant structural challenges. Voters recently approved a referendum that will fund accessibility upgrades to aging school buildings, signaling a long-term investment in physical infrastructure. At the same time, the district is projecting a sizable budget deficit for the coming school year, driven by declining enrollment and the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds. That deficit could lead to staffing reductions or program cuts. The district is also implementing a long-range facilities plan that may involve school closures or consolidations as it rightsizes its footprint.

For a family, Townsend Street Elementary serves a community with deep needs, and its academic results are a clear area of concern. The school’s size is small, and its grade span means a child could attend from pre-kindergarten through middle school without switching buildings. The surrounding housing market in the zip code reflects affordability relative to the broader metro area, with home values and rents below the county median. But the district-level financial pressures and the possibility of future school reconfigurations are realities that any family would want to understand before making a commitment. The data available here paints a straightforward picture: this is a school where proficiency rates are very low, and a parent would be wise to visit, talk with the principal, and learn what academic programs and supports are actually in place day to day.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 24% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 56 pts below state median · ▼ 28 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 50%

School 0% · District 18% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 18% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 74%

School 4% · District 22% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 80%

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

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 37%

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

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

Grade 44%

School 4% · District 22% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 21% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 65%

School 5% · District 24% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 74%

School 4% · District 28% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 48 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 29% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Science

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 20% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 22% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 32% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 65 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 36% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 53 pts below state median · ▼ 26 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.