Wauwatosa Montessori School, Wauwatosa WI

Original Research by School Decision on Wauwatosa Montessori School

Wauwatosa Montessori School is a public PK-8 building in the Wauwatosa School District, an inner-ring suburb of Milwaukee. The school is small in enrollment and is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its name signals a Montessori approach, though the available data does not describe how that approach is implemented. The student body is predominantly white, with a mix of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and two-or-more-race students. A small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, suggesting a comparatively affluent peer context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material, so a parent may wish to inquire directly about special education and language support.

Academically, the school performs well. On Wisconsin’s Forward assessments, proficiency rates across tested grades in math, English language arts, science, and social studies consistently fall above the median for Milwaukee County districts, and the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in the county. In several grades, particularly upper elementary and middle school, the share of students scoring proficient or advanced is substantial. Eighth graders, for instance, showed strong results in social studies, and seventh graders posted a high proficiency rate in ELA. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report; students feed into Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West high schools after eighth grade.

The school sits in Wauwatosa, a city that mixes older residential neighborhoods with major commercial corridors anchored by Mayfair Mall and the Milwaukee County Regional Medical Center, which is the area’s dominant employer. Housing values in the zip code are moderate for the Milwaukee region, and the market shows stable activity. The district recently passed a facilities and operational referendum, adopted a new science-based reading curriculum aligned with state law, and closed an elementary school as part of a consolidation plan, meaning attendance boundaries shifted for some families. Those changes may affect which schools children attend before reaching Wauwatosa Montessori.

For a family considering this school, the academic picture is a clear strength, with outcomes that compare favorably to the rest of Milwaukee County. The peer environment is one with a low share of students facing economic disadvantage, which is a characteristic for families to weigh alongside their own priorities. The setting is suburban but walkable in parts, with transit access and a village center. The school’s small size and Montessori label suggest a distinct educational model, though detailed program information was not in the data. A parent should confirm how the Montessori approach is structured and how it aligns with their child’s learning style. The school does not extend into high school, so the transition to a larger comprehensive high school is a built-in consideration for the later middle school years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 64% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 57% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 68% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 64% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 61% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 61 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 63% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 61 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 61% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 70% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Grade 673%

School 73% · District 66% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 64% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 65 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 64% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Science

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 64% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 59 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 485%

School 85% · District 76% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 79% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 63 pts above county median

This schoolWauwatosa 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.