Milwaukee Environmental Science Academy, Milwaukee WI

Original Research by School Decision on Milwaukee Environmental Science Academy

Milwaukee Environmental Science Academy is a charter school within Milwaukee Public Schools, serving prekindergarten through eighth grade. The school’s name signals an environmental science theme, though no specific program details are available from the data to describe what that looks like in practice. Enrollment is small for a PK–8 school, and the student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a modest Latino presence and very small shares of white, Asian, and multiracial students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a high-poverty context.

State assessment results from the most recent testing year show very low proficiency rates across every subject and grade level tested. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced is in the low single digits in third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, with several grades reporting no proficient students at all. English language arts results are similarly low, with proficiency rates in the low single digits across all tested grades. Science and social studies scores are somewhat higher but still well below typical benchmarks. Participation rates on the state assessments are high, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. The school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Milwaukee County. Because the school ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available.

The school is part of the Milwaukee School District, which covers a large, racially and economically diverse city. Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest city, a former manufacturing hub on Lake Michigan with a mix of industrial areas, lakefront parks, and distinct neighborhoods shaped by decades of immigration and segregation. The city remains one of the most racially segregated in the country. The public school district has been navigating significant fiscal challenges, including a projected budget deficit driven by declining enrollment and the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds. Voters recently approved a referendum for building accessibility improvements, but the district is also considering program cuts and staffing reductions that could affect schools like this one. Families in the district may face changes to school assignments as the district works to right-size its footprint.

Housing in the area around the school is more affordable than the state and national medians, typical of central Milwaukee neighborhoods. Rents have been rising, but the cost of buying or renting remains below the wider metropolitan average.

For a parent considering Milwaukee Environmental Science Academy, the picture is straightforward. The school serves a high-needs population in a district under financial strain, and academic attainment on state tests is well below typical levels across all subjects. Families who value the environmental science theme or the small, charter-school setting would want to look closely at how the school addresses core academic instruction and whether it provides the supports students need to meet grade-level benchmarks. The absence of program details or enrichment offerings in the available data means a conversation with the school is the best next step.

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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 45%

School 5% · District 19% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 49 pts below state median · ▼ 19 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 64%

School 4% · District 18% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 50 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 77%

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

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

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 19% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 34%

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

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

Grade 45%

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

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

Grade 54%

School 4% · District 21% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 64%

School 4% · District 24% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 74%

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

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

Grade 87%

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

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Science

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 20% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 22% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 46%

School 6% · District 32% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 36% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 18 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.