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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at South Milwaukee High?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
920
High
DISTRICT 448 · STATE 475
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH MILWAUKEE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 551404001832
South Milwaukee High
801 15th Ave, South Milwaukee, WI 53172 · (414) 766-5100 · Milwaukee County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL920 STUDENTS
·
allk12 Grade
Not graded
This school has no state test results for 2023-24 or 2024-25 to grade, which is common for schools that end before third grade. How grades work
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
67 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.5:1 · STATE 14.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
47%
430 students
DISTRICT 52% · STATE 42%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 209 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 237 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 248 | 27% |
| Grade 12 | 226 | 25% |
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 60% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within South Milwaukee School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
26.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.0%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-22.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 49% typical for Wisconsin schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 South Milwaukee High
South Milwaukee High's state test result (26.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Milwaukee High this school | 920 | 46.7% | 26.1% |
| North High Waukesha | 911 | 43.1% | 35.5% |
| Harborside Academy Kenosha | 572 | 46.5% | 49.8% |
| Tremper High Kenosha | 1,417 | 44.2% | 31.6% |
| Walden III High Racine | 692 | 42.1% | 36.3% |
| The REAL Sch Sturtevant | 538 | 42.0% | 36.9% |
Matched among Wisconsin high 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 South Milwaukee High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Milwaukee County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.1% | #365 of 402 | #17 of 40 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 920 | #103 of 532 | #20 of 59 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #118 of 325 | #4 of 40 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.8% | #44 of 325 | #15 of 40 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 46.7% | #108 of 418 | #37 of 47 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.0% | #36 of 203 | #8 of 26 |
Ranked against other public high 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
920
-102 (-10%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 1,045
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
was 14.6:1
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 | 920 | 67.2 | 13.7:1 | 47% (430) |
| 2023-24 | 979 | 69.1 | 14.2:1 | 51% (504) |
| 2022-23 | 988 | 73.1 | 13.5:1 | 51% (501) |
| 2020-21 | 1,022 | 70 | 14.6:1 | 49% (502) |
| 2017-18 | 1,150 | 72.7 | 15.8:1 | 43% (497) |
| 2015-16 | 1,162 | 69 | 16.8:1 | 45% (522) |
| 2010-11 | 1,201 | 69 | 17.4:1 | 34% (403) |
| 2000-01 | 1,210 | 75 | 16.1:1 | 24% (290) |
| 1990-91 | 1,045 | 67 | 15.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Milwaukee High.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (1,150 to 920); teachers down 8% (72.7 to 67.2).
About South Milwaukee High
Located in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, South Milwaukee High is a large high school. Its grade span covers grades 9 through 12, with 920 students on the rolls. Across high schools in Wisconsin, the average enrollment is about 475.
South Milwaukee High falls under South Milwaukee School District, which has 6 schools enrolling 2,686 students.
More than half of enrollment at South Milwaukee High is White: 56%. The remaining shares are 27% Hispanic, 8% Black, and 7% multiracial. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 60%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at South Milwaukee High is 13.7:1, based on 67.2 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for high schools in Wisconsin, 14.6:1, is higher. South Milwaukee High counts 47% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 64% average for public schools in Milwaukee County, the school's rate is lower.
After accounting for student poverty, South Milwaukee High is in the bottom 10% of Wisconsin schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results of 26.1% is 22.9 points below the 49.0% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
Looking at the county, Milwaukee County, the median household earns about $64,435 a year, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 13% of people live in poverty. Milwaukee County has 284 public schools with about 122,496 students, including South Milwaukee High.
South Milwaukee High is about 0.1 miles from South Milwaukee Middle, its nearest public school. South Milwaukee High has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. South Milwaukee High's average proficiency of 26.1% compares with 45.5% for its nearest scored neighbors.
NCES assigns South Milwaukee High the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, South Milwaukee High enrolled 1,022 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 920.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 South Milwaukee School District
- South Milwaukee MiddleMiddle · 610 students
- Rawson ElementaryElementary · 371 students
- Blakewood ElementaryElementary · 314 students
- Lakeview ElementaryElementary · 274 students
- E W Luther ElementaryElementary · 197 students
Other schools in South Milwaukee
- South Milwaukee MiddleMiddle · 610 students
- Rawson ElementaryElementary · 371 students
- Blakewood ElementaryElementary · 314 students
- Lakeview ElementaryElementary · 274 students
- E W Luther ElementaryElementary · 197 students
Nearby schools
- South Milwaukee Middle0.1 mi · 610
- Rawson Elementary0.4 mi · 371
- E W Luther Elementary0.8 mi · 197
- Mitchell Elementary1.0 mi · 403
- Jones Elementary1.3 mi · 171
- Lakeview Elementary1.5 mi · 274
Frequently asked questions
About South Milwaukee HighWhat is the total enrollment at South Milwaukee High?
South Milwaukee High enrolls approximately 920 students in grades 09-12.
Is South Milwaukee High an elementary, middle, or high school?
South Milwaukee High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at South Milwaukee High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at South Milwaukee High is approximately 13.7:1 (67 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at South Milwaukee High?
Student demographics at South Milwaukee High are roughly 56% White, 27% Hispanic, 8% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is South Milwaukee High public or private?
South Milwaukee High is a public K-12 school, overseen by South Milwaukee School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.