Atlas Preparatory Academy

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy

Catholic education is springing anew at St. Thomas Aquinas Academy. Six parishes pooled their resources in an effort to offer quality Catholic education. St. Paul houses 3 year-olds through fourth-graders while St. Veronica houses grades five through eight.  In the hallways hang shirts in the colors of the former schools plus a shirt of the new academy binding all together as one.  [Note: Since this article was written, STAA has moved all its students into one building at St. Veronica’s. Three year old kindergarten has been dropped.]

St. Lucas Lutheran School

St. Lucas Evangelical Lutheran School is a Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod school located just off of Kinnickinnic Avenue in the heart of Bay View. At its core is a Christian education which permeates every aspect of the curriculum. St. Lucas charges no tuition; the school is supported entirely by the parish. Parents are expected to be active members of the parish and attend adult religious instruction.

Fernwood Montessori School

Milwaukee Public Schools is one of the few school districts in the country to offer Montessori education. At Fernwood Montessori School, different students are involved in different activities all at the same time in one classroom. This is not chaos, but a highly structured classroom with well developed activities. Additional stability is created by students staying with the same teacher for three years in a row. Sign up early for Montessori schools; they fill up quickly.

Trowbridge Elementary School

Trowbridge Elementary School emphasizes math and science, but its halls and classrooms are filled with art projects. Forget the dry, abstract, boring presentations for math and science. Here it is fun and hands on. Several of Trowbridge’s teachers have their own children at the school which many see as a testament to the quality of education offered at this school.

Dover Street and Clement Avenue Elementary Schools

Both Dover Street Elementary and Clement Avenue schools are bucking the trend in MPS toward k-8 schools, instead focusing on offering quality education at lower grades. Both schools point to the excellent reputation Fritsche Middle School enjoys in the community. School officials at Dover said they would like to offer childcare for children from birth to fifth grade and are moving in that direction.

Humboldt Park K-8 School

Along with Dover, Humboldt Park K-8 School uses “Direct Instruction” as a method of teaching the basics. Language skills and math are taught by the teacher directly to the students with ongoing feedback in a highly structured program. Both parents and teachers at these schools said they believe this approach has been very effective in creating a good foundation for education.

Tippecanoe School

Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities staff takes a different approach than many; they get students to read full books as soon as possible, even as early as second grade, using project-based learning. Parents are encouraged to become involved in those projects. If it is the arts you are looking for, Tippecanoe is the place. This is one of the few elementary schools offering a full program of instrumental, drama, dance and fine arts instruction.

Choosing a School

So how are you to decide which school is best for your child? Almost every principal has the same recommendation  - visit the school!

“Stop in unannounced… see how you are greeted,” said Angela Serio, principal at Tippecanoe. “You want to see what that building is like on any given day.”

Several principals recommended talking to other parents and people in the community, but they also warned not to rely on hearsay from one or two individuals. A school may receive a bad reputation unnecessarily or a good one based upon its past glories. Attend a PTA meeting and talk to several parents. See how actively parents are involved and how they are treated by the principal and staff.

“Take into account the whole picture, not only the academic numbers from standardized testing,” says Jason Schultz, principal at St. Lucas. “Is my child going to be known personally? Are they (staff and faculty) going to be able to meet his or her specific needs?” You might think that the smallest schools are the most welcoming, but they might not work for every child.

Julie Ann Robinson, principal at St. Thomas Aquinas, sees some students who she had at a very small school last year, Sacred Heart of Jesus. Students who have few friends may have an easier time finding a peer group in a much larger school.

Some parents have even elected to send different children from their families to different schools. Parent should “think about the needs of their individual child,” says Michelle G. Lukacs, principal at Atlas. “Not every school is the right fit for every child.”

Kristi Cole, principal at Humboldt Park said, “Don’t wait until the last minute; (parents should) start (looking) prior to the year of their child attending school.”

April Swick, principal of Clement Avenue, said, “Shop around. There are a lot of good schools in the area.”

If you feel a part of the school community, chances are you child is going to feel welcomed as well. And by all means, stay involved. Your duty does not stop at the school house door. Please come inside.