Holmes Elementary

Holmes Elementary is one of the compact K-5 schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of Milwaukee School District, with 260 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8.

Milwaukee School District runs 155 schools in total, collectively educating 65,835 students. Holmes Elementary is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Holmes Elementary lists that 90% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority; the rest consists of 5% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 26% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Holmes Elementary has 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 14.7:1 average. About 98% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Milwaukee County's rate of about 64%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Holmes Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 17.2%; this one delivers 16.0%.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Milwaukee County put the typical household earns roughly $64,435 per year, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Milwaukee County runs 284 public schools (combined enrollment of about 122,496 students), of which Holmes Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: King International Baccalaureate Middle, around 0.4 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Holmes Elementary comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 17.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 16%: 310 students in 2018 compared to 260 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment decreased from 95% to 90% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 20.5:1 in 2018 to 13.5:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.