21st Century Preparatory School

21st Century Preparatory School operates as a moderately sized elementary-level community in Racine, Wisconsin, part of Racine Charter One Inc. Current enrollment sits at 438 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. Compared to the state average of about 323 students per school, that is 36% above typical.

21st Century Preparatory School is a school of Racine Charter One Inc, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

In terms of who attends, 21st Century Preparatory School reports that 63% of the student body identifies as Black. Beyond that, the school logs 20% Hispanic, 13% multiracial, 5% White. The wider county runs roughly 11% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, 21st Century Preparatory School has 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.3:1. The state averages around 14.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 63% of students at 21st Century Preparatory School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is higher than Racine County's rate of about 48%.

After controlling for student poverty, 21st Century Preparatory School falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 38.9%; this one comes in at 14.3%, -24.5 points off the demographic line.

Across the wider county, census data for Racine County shows the typical household earns roughly $78,096 per year, about 28% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, Racine County runs 54 public schools (combined enrollment of about 25,901 students), of which 21st Century Preparatory School is one.

The closest other public school is Julian Thomas Elementary, roughly 0.3 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), 21st Century Preparatory School ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 29.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area. 21st Century Preparatory School is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at 21st Century Preparatory School has fell 18%, going from 536 students in 2018 to 438 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment rose from 48% to 63% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 16.5:1 in 2018 to 18.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for 21st Century Preparatory School typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.