Longfellow Elementary

Longfellow Elementary is one of the large K-5 schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, run under Milwaukee School District, with 773 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 139% above the state mean of about 323.

Longfellow Elementary is one of 155 schools operated by Milwaukee School District, a district that teaches 65,835 students overall.

On demographics, Longfellow Elementary lists that 79% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 17% Black. By comparison, Milwaukee County as a whole is about 17% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Longfellow Elementary has 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 19.1:1. The state averages around 14.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 90% of students at Longfellow Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of Milwaukee County's rate of about 64%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Longfellow Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 22.6%; this one delivers 15.5%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Milwaukee County indicate median household earnings sit near $64,435, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 13%. In all, Milwaukee County runs 284 public schools (combined enrollment of about 122,496 students), of which Longfellow Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Mitchell Elementary, roughly 0.6 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Longfellow Elementary. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Longfellow Elementary ranks 5th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 15.0%.

Geographically, the school is in an inner-city area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Longfellow Elementary has contracted 9%, going from 845 students in 2018 to 773 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 20.3:1 in 2018 to 19.1:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.