The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is a public school district headquartered in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...

. It serves the cities of Madison and Fitchburg, the villages of Shorewood Hills and Maple Bluff, and the towns of Blooming Grove and

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman Monarchy of Ireland, Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had ...

. The school district includes six

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, 12

middle schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and 32 elementary schools.

General information

As of the 2020-2021 school year, the district serves 26,121 students, making it the second largest in Wisconsin. It has 52 schools, including 32 elementary schools (grades K-5), 12 middle schools (grades 6–8), four comprehensive high schools and two alternative high schools. The district also has early childhood programs and alternative programs at the secondary level. The district covers about , including all or part of the cities of Madison and Fitchburg, the villages of Maple Bluff and Shorewood Hills, and the towns of Blooming Grove and Burke. In an effort to encourage the involvement of students, the Madison Student Senate (MSS) was formed. It allows eight representatives from each high school (including affiliated alternatives) to meet bi-weekly with members of the board to discuss and change district policies for the benefit of Madison students.

History

The first school in Madison held classes in 1838 in a room of the home of Isaac H. Palmer, with schoolteacher Louisa Brayton.Reuben Gold Thwaites.
The Story of Madison
'. Madison, Wis.: J. N. Purcell, 1900, p. 8. The school district was recognized by the territorial government in December 1841. Following the incorporation of the city of Madison in 1856, a board of education was organized and the first superintendent was chosen: Damon Kilgore, a teacher who had begun teaching in Madison two years earlier.

First high school

According to the Dane County Historical Society, the county’s first public high school ( Madison Central High School (Wisconsin)) began in 1853 in the basement of a Methodist Church, with 90 students and just one teacher. In ensuing years, it had several names, starting as Madison High School, with graduates including noted architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. Then in 1922 it was renamed as Madison Central High School after a new school --

Madison East High School Madison East High School is one of four comprehensive four-year high schools in Madison, Wisconsin. It was established in 1922, making it the oldest public high school still operating in Madison. The school mascot is "Peppy Purgolder", an animal ...

—became the city's second high school. Noted artist

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

attended Central High School. In 1965, the name was changed to Central-University High School until its closure in 1969.

Desegregation

In December 1983, the Madison School Board adopted a desegregation plan that was implemented on August 28, 1984. The plan aimed to reduce the disproportionate number of minority students at Lincoln and Franklin elementary schools, both on the south side of Madison, to approximately 30%. Franklin Elementary was paired with Randall Elementary and Midvale Elementary with Lincoln Elementary. Since then, Lapham Elementary School and Marquette Elementary School have also joined as sister schools. Franklin, Midvale and Lapham serve grades K-2, and Randall, Lincoln and Marquette serve grades 3–5. The district allows students to use the pronouns they prefer, something the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

upheld.

Schools

High schools

* Vel Phillips Memorial High School (formerly James Madison Memorial High School) *

Madison West High School Madison West High School is a comprehensive four-year high school in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1930. Its athletics teams compete in the WIAA Big Eight Conference. Madison West serves students from four municipalities: Madison, the town of M ...

* Malcolm Shabazz City High School (alternative high school) * Robert M. La Follette High School

Middle schools

*Black Hawk Middle School (formerly Gompers Middle School) *Cherokee Heights Middle School *Velma Hamilton Middle School (formerly Van Hise Middle School) *Thomas Jefferson Middle School *Georgia O'Keeffe Middle School *Ray F. Sennett Middle School *Sherman Middle School *Spring Harbor Middle School *Akira R. Toki Middle School *Annie Greencrow Whitehorse Middle School (formerly Schenk Middle School) *James C. Wright Middle School (originally named Middle School 2000) *Badger Rock Middle School (agro-urban charter)

Elementary schools

*Frank Allis Elementary School *Milele Chikasa Anana (formerly Philip H. Falk Elementary School) *César Chávez Elementary School *Crestwood Elementary School *Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary School *Emerson Elementary School *Franklin Elementary School *Samuel Gompers Elementary School *Hawthorne Elementary School *Henderson Elementary School (formerly Glendale Elementary School) *Ray W. Huegel Elementary School *John F. Kennedy Elementary School *Lake View Elementary School *Lapham Elementary School *Aldo Leopold Elementary School *Abraham Lincoln Elementary School *Charles Lindbergh Elementary School *Lowell Elementary School *Marquette Elementary School *Mendota Elementary School *Midvale Elementary School *John Muir Elementary School *Nuestro Mundo Community School *Paul J. Olson Elementary School *Orchard Ridge Elementary School *Randall Elementary School *Carl Sandburg Elementary School *Schenk Elementary School *Shorewood Hills Elementary School *Glenn Stephens Elementary School *Thoreau Elementary School *Van Hise Elementary School

Leadership

Board of Education

The district is run by a seven-member school board. Members are elected in April for staggered three-year terms. The superintendent of the district is chosen by the Board.

Partnerships

The Madison Metropolitan School District has man
partnerships
in the area. "At Home In Madison" is a partnership of business, community, school and city leaders that provides information to home buyers and relocating families about Madison's schools, neighborhoods and resources for home ownership. Several before and after school programs are offered by local business and organizations. The local YMCA provides services for several of the local schools, including before and after school programs at Elvehjem, Gompers, Kennedy, Sandburg, and Schenk Elementary schools. Madison School and Community Recreation (MSCR) offers after school programs known as The Safe Haven Community and Learning Center, to which students must apply in order to participate. The Playful Kids Learning Clubhouse offers after school programs at Crestwood and Muir Elementary schools, and the Red Caboose does so at Lapham and Marquette Elementary schools. The Wisconsin Youth Company offers both before and after school at specific locations. Madison Metropolitan School District also has a partnership with the local universities and colleges

is a partnership between Madison Metropolitan School District and UW-Madison’s School of Education. As well, students from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

University of Wisconsin–Whitewater The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UW–Whitewater) is a public university in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System. Student enrollment in the 2014–2015 academic year was more than 12,000. The universit ...

Edgewood College Edgewood College is a private Dominican college in Madison, Wisconsin. The college occupies a campus overlooking the shores of Lake Wingra. History The Edgewood College property was bought in 1855 by Mr. Ashmead from Governor Leonard J. Farwe ...

, and Madison Area Technical College are welcomed into the classrooms of several schools within MMSD as a part of their degree program. Additionally, the schools are a resource for research and information for the universities.

Controversies

In February 2020, the school district was sued by a group of parents, represented by the

Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) is a nonprofit conservative law firm based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The group was founded by lawyer Rick Esenberg in 2011. Activities The organization has defended right-to-work laws. In 2016, ...

, alleging that new policies regarding "

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

" were a violation of federal law. The new policy instructs teachers how to assist children as young as five in " social transition" to another gender, and prohibits notifying the parents without the child's permission. This assistance could involve using different names and pronouns, or could include allowing access to opposite sex restrooms, changing rooms, and sports. The plaintiff parents allege this is a violation of parental rights and ''

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA or the Buckley Amendment) is a United States federal law that governs the access to educational information and records by public entities such as potential employers, publicly funded ...

'' (FERPA), particularly given that the teachers received instructions on how to avoid triggering FERPA requirements. In September 2020, a Dane County judge issued an injunction prohibiting MMSD from implementing the policy in a way that "allows or requires District staff to conceal information or to answer untruthfully in response to any question that parents ask about their child at school." In 2021, a controversy developed around an East High School teacher's use of hidden surveillance cameras in hotel bathrooms on a field trip. In early 2022, a controversy happened at La Follette High School when a teen was attacked by a group of kids and the school administration did not act appropriately.

References

External links

* {{Authority control School districts in Wisconsin Education in Madison, Wisconsin School districts established in 1856 1856 establishments in Wisconsin