1
What tradition at Bethune Academy should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
574
Elementary
DISTRICT 370 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MILWAUKEE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 550960001256
Bethune Academy
1535 N 35th St, Milwaukee, WI 53208 · (414) 934-4600 · Milwaukee County
GRADES PK–08ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL574 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.8:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
552 students
DISTRICT 84% · STATE 42%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 28 | 5% |
| Kindergarten | 45 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 53 | 9% |
| Grade 2 | 55 | 10% |
| Grade 3 | 63 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 63 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 69 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 70 | 12% |
| Grade 8 | 66 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (45) is 32% smaller than its 8th grade class (66).
Student demographics
52%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · STATE 54% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
18.6%
WI avg 53.1% . +2.5pp since 2023
Math
11.6%
WI avg 54.8% . +1.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Wisconsin schools, those numbers are about 53 and 55. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 1 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.6% | 11.6% |
| 2023-24 | 16.1% | 10.6% |
% Meeting or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Forward Exam. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
16.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
18.6%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 19% typical for Wisconsin schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Wisconsin's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Bethune Academy
Bethune Academy's state test result (16.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethune Academy this school | 574 | 96.2% | 16.6% |
| Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language Milwaukee | 499 | 91.0% | 11.2% |
| Parkview Elementary Milwaukee | 335 | 84.2% | 24.1% |
| Stuart Elementary Milwaukee | 322 | 77.3% | 27.6% |
| Burbank Elementary Milwaukee | 552 | 83.9% | 14.5% |
| Goodrich Elementary Milwaukee | 312 | 92.6% | 18.9% |
Matched among Wisconsin elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Bethune Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Milwaukee County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.6% | #915 of 982 | #116 of 171 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 11.6% | #935 of 992 ▲ 12 | #130 of 174 ▲ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.6% | #910 of 992 ▲ 16 | #113 of 174 ▲ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 574 | #76 of 1,157 | #21 of 180 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.2:1 | #851 of 901 | #131 of 158 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.0% | #294 of 901 | #73 of 158 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.2% | #13 of 1,064 | #11 of 174 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.1% | #200 of 240 | #28 of 33 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
574
-36 (-6%) vs 2020
-3% since 1990-91, when it was 593
Student : Teacher
18.2:1
was 19.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 574 | 31.5 | 18.2:1 | 96% (552) |
| 2023-24 | 525 | 34 | 15.4:1 | 98% (514) |
| 2022-23 | 549 | 29.9 | 18.3:1 | 94% (514) |
| 2020-21 | 610 | 32 | 19.1:1 | 99% (605) |
| 2017-18 | 562 | 24.9 | 22.5:1 | 98% (549) |
| 2015-16 | 487 | 21 | 23.2:1 | 86% (417) |
| 2010-11 | 462 | 26 | 17.8:1 | 96% (444) |
| 2000-01 | 328 | 25 | 13.1:1 | 69% (226) |
| 1990-91 | 593 | 33 | 18.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bethune Academy.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (562 to 574); teachers up 26% (24.9 to 31.5).
About Bethune Academy
Students in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, attend Bethune Academy, a large elementary school. It is open to students in pre-K through 8 and enrolls 574 students. By comparison, elementary schools in Wisconsin enroll about 323 students on average.
Milwaukee School District includes 155 schools. Together they enroll 65,835 students.
Black students are 62% of those enrolled at Bethune Academy. Other reported shares: 30% Asian, 3% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. That compares with about 26% Black among all Milwaukee County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 52%.
There are 31.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Bethune Academy, giving a ratio of 18.2:1. Elementary schools in Wisconsin average 14.7:1, 3.5 fewer students per teacher than here. A total of 552 students, or 96%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Milwaukee County average 64%.
Bethune Academy scores 16.6% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 18.6%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Milwaukee County show that median household income comes to about $64,435, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 13%. Milwaukee County counts 284 public schools with about 122,496 students.
Bethune Academy's nearest public school is Transition High (about 0.3 miles). The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On average proficiency, Bethune Academy is 3rd of 6 nearby schools with test data.
Bethune Academy is coded as City: Large in federal locale data.
Enrollment fell 6% over 4 years, reaching 574 in 2024-25.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Bethune Academy. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Milwaukee County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
926,331
Census ACS
Median income
$64,435
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
284
122,496 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Milwaukee School District
- HAPA-Hmong American Peace Academy K3-12Combined · 1,974 students
- Hamilton HighHigh · 1,472 students
- Reagan College Preparatory HighHigh · 1,372 students
- King InternationalHigh · 1,308 students
- Obama School of Career and Technical EducationCombined · 1,294 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,240 students
Other schools in Milwaukee
- HAPA-Hmong American Peace Academy K3-12Combined · 1,974 students
- Milwaukee Academy of ScienceCombined · 1,711 students
- Hamilton HighHigh · 1,472 students
- Reagan College Preparatory HighHigh · 1,372 students
- Bruce GuadalupeElementary · 1,364 students
- King InternationalHigh · 1,308 students
Other Bethune Academy schools
One other US public school is named Bethune Academy. Bethune Academy is the largest of the 2.
- BETHUNE ACADEMYHAINES CITY, FL · 430 students
Nearby schools
- Transition High0.3 mi · 90
- Westside Academy0.4 mi · 159
- Groppi High0.6 mi · 105
- Woodlands School - State Street Campus0.6 mi · 175
- Story Elementary0.7 mi · 365
- Metcalfe Elementary0.7 mi · 296
Frequently asked questions
About Bethune AcademyHow many students attend Bethune Academy?
Bethune Academy enrolls approximately 574 students in grades PK-08.
Is Bethune Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
Bethune Academy is an elementary school covering grades PK-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bethune Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Bethune Academy is approximately 18.2:1 (31 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Bethune Academy?
Bethune Academy reports a student body of 1% White, 3% Hispanic, 62% Black, 30% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Bethune Academy in?
Bethune Academy is part of Milwaukee School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.