The University School of Milwaukee (often abbreviated to USM) is an independent

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

preparatory school in River Hills and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded as the result of the merger of three schools, Milwaukee Country Day School, Milwaukee Downer Seminary, and Milwaukee University School. USM is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

History

Milwaukee University School, the oldest of the three schools that merged as University School of Milwaukee, was founded in 1851 as the German-English Academy () by a group of Milwaukee German Americans that included

Peter Engelmann Peter Engelmann (January 24, 1823May 17, 1874) was a German American immigrant, educationist, writer, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the founder of the collection which became the Milwaukee Public Museum, and was also founder of the influential "G ...

and hardware wholesaler William Frankfurth. The Academy offered classes that taught the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

and literature, as well as English. In 1891, the academy moved to the German-English Academy Building in downtown Milwaukee. The institution changed its name in 1917 to Milwauk