Rufus King International High School, or Rufus King, is a public magnet high school located on the north side of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, part of the

Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of the 2015–16 school year, MPS served 75,568 students in 154 schools and had 9,636 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions. The system is one of the largest i ...

district. The school is ranked the 1,658th best public high school in the country by '' U.S. News & World Report'', making it the 42nd best performing public high school in the state of Wisconsin. The school offers the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

curriculum. The school was formerly named Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School. After the addition of a feeder middle years program in the 2010–2011 school year, the high school was renamed Rufus King International School – High School Campus. Fifty-five percent of the students are of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

descent (compared to the state average of 9.4%), fifteen percent of students are

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

, fifteen percent of students are

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

, and eleven percent are

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n. Seventy-five percent of students are eligible for free school lunch.

Academics

Rufus King's

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

is anchored by the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP), which was established at the school in 1979, the first such school in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and one of the first in North America.
The emphasis in the curriculum is on writing, speaking, critical thinking and independent application of knowledge. Full Diploma students are also required to write a 3,000-4,000 word original essay and volunteer at least 150 hours of service. All Rufus King students participate in pre-diploma and IB courses and more than half of the student population take at least one IB test with a success rate of 85.9% passing. 95% of graduates

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

to higher education. All students at Rufus King are required to complete four years of English, three years of Mathematics, Natural Science and Social Science, as well as two years of the same World Language. The languages offered at King are

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and French. Among the school's academic electives are

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Academic achievements

Rufus King is considered the top high school in the state of

based on '' U.S. News & World Report'' rankings that demonstrated high participation rates on International Baccalaureate exams and college readiness index ratings. In 2012, the school was ranked the 130th best high school in the nation by the magazine, putting it in the top one percent of public high schools in the country. Rufus King received the "Gold" ranking from the magazine. The school was ranked the top public high school in Wisconsin by ''

Newsweek Magazine ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev ...

'' in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2010, Rufus King was ranked the 324th top high school in the country in ''Newsweek'''s rating, though the school has not made the list since ''Newsweek'' modified its ranking method, causing some local controversy. The school has twice been designated a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence (1982–1983, 1994–1996),
and has been named a ''New Wisconsin Promise School of Excellence'' for the fifth year in a row, one of 15 schools in the State of Wisconsin achieving the title. On May 8, 2002, the school was visited by President George W. Bush, who delivered an educational policy address in which he recognized Rufus King as one of the top high schools in the country. In 2003–2004, King was selected as one of ten schools nationwide to participate in an ACT (test), ACT study, ''"On Course for Success",'' on how schools prepare students for college coursework. According to ACT, Rufus King was selected because of its diverse student body and its students' strong ACT scores in math and science. In November 2009, Eva Lam, a Rufus King and Harvard University graduate, received a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

, becoming the first within the school district. She credits her award to the education she received through Milwaukee Public Schools. On April 4, 2011, Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

Sr. visited the school to encourage juniors and seniors to participate in the April 5th municipal and statewide elections. He also confronted stereotypes about urban youth and encouraged student empowerment. On March 30, 2012, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and County Executive

Chris Abele Christopher Seton Abele (born January 28, 1967) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served as the 6th Milwaukee County Executive from 2011 to 2020. Abele is the son of American businessman John Abele, the co-founder o ...

declared March 30 "Rufus King Day" both on the city and county level. The proclamation was given because of great success by the school's academic and sports programs. On May 15, 2012, the school was ranked the 130th best public high school in the nation by ''U.S. News & World Report'', making it the highest ranked school in the State. On May 25, 2012,

announced that two Rufus King High School students, Zhenrui Liao and Ahmee Marshall-Christensen, scored perfect scores on their ACT tests. On May 22, 2013, it was announced that Rufus King was selected as the winner of the ACT national College and Career Transition Award, which honors a high school that displays "exemplary college and career readiness efforts." Rufus King was the only school in the nation to receive the award. The school received the award specifically in recognition of a nonprofit ACT preparation course started by student Zhenrui Liao. It was nominated for the award by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers ( ; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of p ...

. On May 8, 2014, the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' ranked Rufus King as one of the most challenging high schools in the country, making it in the top 50 schools in the Midwest and the third-highest in the state.

Middle school

The middle school, which began its first school year in 2010, is part of the 6–12 program of Rufus King High School. The program incorporates the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). The MYP IB Middle Years programme that is applied to every Rufus King student regardless of previous middle school which may not have IB Middle Years programme, transitioning to Rufus King High School, regardless of MYP status in any middle school, all Rufus King scholars are required to be in a MYP course from grades 6-10.

Extracurricular activities

Rufus King High School has over 55

extracurricular activities An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Although approved ...

for students to participate in, including several activities not available in other schools in the region. Honorary Societies: King has a chapter of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

, recognizing students for strong values of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. There are also other academic honorary programs including the

Spanish Honor Society Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Science National Honor Society, and the National English Honor Society. All of these honor societies participate in community service projects around the city. Forensics and Debate: Rufus King has

policy debate Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...

and a

forensics Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

team. The school participates in the national districts of the National Forensics League (NFL), regional Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association, and Wisconsin Debate Coaches Association, as well as the citywide Milwaukee Debate League. Nearly every year, King debaters qualify for both NFL and NCFL national tournaments, while placing high at state, regional, and local tournaments. Students from the school have won two NFL national championships in Student Congress (as well as the Presiding Officer Award), the NFL national championship in

Policy Debate Policy debate is an American form of debate competition in which teams of two usually advocate for and against a resolution that typically calls for policy change by the United States federal government. It is also referred to as cross-examinat ...

, the NFL national championship in

Extemporaneous Commentary Extemporaneous commentary (or extemp com for short) is a branch of normal extemporaneous speaking Extemporaneous speaking (extemp, or EXT) is a speech delivery style/speaking style, and a style used in specific forensic competitions. The competit ...

, the

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

National Congress championship, the NFL School of Excellence in Debate award, and had two consecutive sweeps of the

State Congress. In both 2012 and 2013, the team reached semi-finals at the State Debate Tournament, the latter year taking third and fifth place Best Speakers. In 2013, Rufus King became the first team in the state to sweep all of the Southern Qualifier NFL and NCFL spots, which had previously been split with other schools. Chess: The chess team participates in the Milwaukee Metro Chess League and participates city and state chess meets. In 2001, the team competed at the United States Chess Nationals in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Mathematics: The "Mathletes" competition team has won at local, state and national levels. Rufus King also has an Accounting Club that provides a link between students and business organizations in the Milwaukee area. Science: Rufus King has entered a 15-member team in the Wisconsin Science Olympiad since its beginning in 1985. Rufus King won "valued participant" at the Wisconsin Science Olympiad in 1994, advancing to the regional competition, where it placed 13th in nation. The National Science Bowl team finished fourth in the nation in 1994. Rufus King regularly enters a variety of local and national science and engineering competitions. The Chemistry Olympiad Team competes annually and has sent five students to the State Finals: Zhenrui Liao, Paul Meyers, Madison Cox, Tony Stano and Andre Quarino. Music: The school has a marching band, concert band, orchestra, jazz ensemble, chorus, and nine-time (2005–2013) city champion drumline. The drumline also competes at several national tournaments. Art: King students have received honorable mentions in the Wisconsin Regional Scholastic Art Awards Competition, the Photographic Society of America Awards Competition and the United States Congressional Art Competition. Theater: Rufus King's theater program is a partner in education initiatives with several professional companies, including Milwaukee Shakespeare, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, NextAct Theatre, Milwaukee Rep and Spiral Theater. They hold several annual school-wide plays. Academic Competitions: The school participates in an annual

Model UN Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

regional competition, a national

Quiz Bowl Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on Outline of academic disciplines, a wide variety of academic subjects. Stand ...

, the

United States Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual Student competition, high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective mult ...

and LifeSmarts. Robotics: Rufus King has a robotics program, which includes participation in the

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...

. The team won the Midwest Regional Championship 2009 and 2011. The team has traveled to the

FIRST Championship The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome ...

in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2017. Ethnic and Advocacy Organizations: Rufus King has a variety of ethnic student groups including Asian Club, Black Student Union, French Club, Interfaith, Gay-Straight Alliance, and Latinos Unidos. Every year, an event called "Ethnic Fest" is organized in which many of the ethnic and non-ethnic student groups as well as some honor societies participate in a celebration of culture. Various programs are also put on by individual student groups throughout the year. Rufus King also has a hybrid chapter of both

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

, which advocates for human rights and civil liberties issues. In 2011, the group organized a student walkout in opposition to proposed education budget cuts by Governor Scott Walker. In February 2022, King students organized a walkout in response to a shooting that injured five people, four students outside King after a basketball game in order to demand administrative action to bring an end to gun violence.

Athletics

All of Rufus King High School's athletic teams participate in the Milwaukee City Conference and WIAA Division I. The school has won five Wisconsin state boys'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

championships. The boys' basketball team achieved a #17 national ranking by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

in 2003 and #22 in 2004. The basketball team has received a 69.97 national power ranking by Sports Power. In 2012, both the girls basketball and boys basketball teams went to the state Division 1 basketball finals, though both were unsuccessful. Rufus King's traditional rival is

Riverside University High School Riverside University High School is a public high school located on the East Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a college preparatory curriculum. It is a part of the Milwaukee Public Schools system. History Pre-1912 Starting in the early 1850 ...

. It is also part of a three-way rivalry with Washington High School and Vincent High School in boys' basketball. These schools have accounted for 14 of the last 23 Division 1 boys' basketball championships in Wisconsin. RKIHS won a state championship in boys' cross country in 1942.

Notable alumni

* Janelle Adams - professional basketball player * Margaret Arney - Wisconsin state legislator, first African American city councilmember in Wauwatosa * Jeannette Bell - politician, Mayor of

West Allis West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census, making it the eleventh-most populous city in Wisconsin. His ...

, Wisconsin state representative * Cinmeon Bowers - basketball player * David Fowlkes Jr. - inventor of

Spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...

Gordon Gano Gordon James Gano (born June 7, 1963) is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American folk punk band Violent Femmes. Early life Gano was born in New York City to actor parents Norman and Faye Gano, and grew up in ...

- musician,

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza ( ...

* Warren Giese - politician, South Carolina state legislator and college football coach * Kalan Haywood - politician, Wisconsin state representative * Lance Kendricks - former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Jerris Leonard Jerris Leonard (January 17, 1931July 27, 2006) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice during the first two years of th ...

- politician, Wisconsin legislator, first head of

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) was a U.S. federal agency within the United States Department of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies and funded educational programs, research, ...

* James R. Lewis - evangelist, salesman, Republican legislator *

Peter Mulvey Peter Mulvey (born September 6, 1969) is an American folk singer-songwriter based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It ...

- musician, folk singer/songwriter * LaKeshia Myers, Wisconsin state Representative * Ronald Myers -

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister * Jordan Poole -

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball player for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

* Daniel Riemer - politician, Wisconsin state representative *

Speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

- musician,

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

Lena Taylor Lena C. Taylor (born July 25, 1966) is an American lawyer, judge, and former politician serving as a Wisconsin circuit courts, Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County, since January 2024. She previously served 19 years as a Democratic Pa ...

- politician, Wisconsin state senator * Walter L. Ward, Jr. - politician, Wisconsin state representative * Michael Weishan - landscape designer, former host of '' The Victory Garden'' * Mike Wilks -

basketball player * Leon Young - politician, Wisconsin state representative * Josh Zepnick - politician, Wisconsin state representative * Jerry Ziesmer - film actor and director

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rufus King High International School High schools in Milwaukee International Baccalaureate schools in Wisconsin Educational institutions established in 1934 Public high schools in Wisconsin Magnet schools in Wisconsin Works Progress Administration in Wisconsin 1934 establishments in Wisconsin