Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- Lloyd Street, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- Lloyd Street

Milwaukee College Preparatory School -- Lloyd Street is a charter school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the city's central core. As a charter school within Milwaukee Public Schools, it operates with more autonomy than a traditional district school while remaining publicly funded and tuition-free. The school sits in the 53205 ZIP code, a neighborhood on Milwaukee’s near north side, an area shaped by the city’s history of industrial decline, redlining, and concentrated poverty.

The student body is almost entirely Black, with a very small Hispanic population and a negligible number of white students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context. The enrollment is moderate for a K-8 school, with roughly balanced class sizes across grade levels. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Because it is a charter, families choose to enroll rather than being assigned by address, meaning parents have actively selected this academic environment.

On state assessments, proficiency rates vary notably by subject and grade level. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above rises steadily from the lower elementary grades through the middle school grades, with the highest rates in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. English language arts proficiency is lower overall, with a similar pattern of improvement in the upper grades but still a minority of students reaching proficiency. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth and eighth grades; in both subjects, fewer than half of students reached proficiency. When compared with other districts in Milwaukee County, the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint. This means that in the county context, academic performance is on the weaker side, and a parent may want to talk with the school about academic support strategies and how the school plans to raise outcomes.

The school’s location in Milwaukee places it in Wisconsin’s largest city, a place of significant economic and racial contrasts. The city has major corporate employers like Northwestern Mutual and Fiserv, a strong healthcare sector, and cultural assets like the lakefront and Summerfest, but it also has a history of racial segregation, a declining population, and high poverty rates. Housing in the broader Milwaukee market has seen modest price increases, and the median home value in the ZIP code is below both the state and national benchmarks, reflecting the area’s affordability challenges. Rents are also relatively low compared to county averages. The neighborhood around the school is primarily residential and car-dependent, with limited walkable amenities compared to downtown Milwaukee.

The school’s parent district, Milwaukee Public Schools, is in a period of financial strain. The district projects a substantial budget deficit for 2025-26, driven by declining enrollment and the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds, and is considering program and staffing cuts. At the same time, voters approved a referendum to fund building accessibility projects, signaling a long-term investment in school facilities. The district is also implementing a long-range facilities plan that may lead to school closures or consolidations. These district-level pressures could affect the school’s resources or operations, though as a charter it has some insulation from direct district management.

This is a school for families in Milwaukee seeking a charter option that serves the full elementary and middle school span in a single setting. The peer environment is homogeneous in race and economic background, and the academic results suggest room for growth, particularly in the early grades. A family considering this school would want to understand how the school supports students who are below grade level and what its plan is for improving literacy and math outcomes. The absence of high school means families will need to plan for a transition after eighth grade, likely to another Milwaukee charter, a district high school, or a private option. The school’s college preparatory name signals an academic aspiration, but the test data indicates that achieving that goal will require continued attention to foundational skills.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 19% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 18% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 18% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 22% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 19% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 22% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 22% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 21% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 24% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 28% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 29% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 20% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 22% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 32% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 36% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above 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 6Lower-income16%Higher-income50%34 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income33%0 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income56%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income50%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income17%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income56%16 pp gap