Moving from Utah to WI help w/high schools/cities (Milwaukee: middle schools, live in)

[caieva]

oh my goodness no it is not just my opinion.
Wisconsin Schools - Find a Public or Private Wisconsin School - SchoolDigger.com
It is always hard to get aggregate data - this site has every individual piece of data - I know I've seen comprehensive lists that show Arrowhead, Elmbrook and KM consistantly in the the top 20 statewide.
But, just for example - 10 grade scores, important when evaluating a high school showed
Arrowhead and Elmbrook tied for 9th with KM at 15th and Mukwonago 61 with Oconomowoc not in the top 100 - and there I stop,
y'all can do your own research. I did just that, extensively, when moving my family.
The pertinent question to me was - good school, nice home in the 3-400k range.
If you have substantially more to spend and a high caliber athlete in the family I'd probably go Arrowhead, but we were very happy in the bit lowered keyed KM.
And my kids are all at Madison with friends at Stanford and Brown.
Too early to tell whether they will be affluent I suppose, but prosperous, I have no doubt

[caieva]

I take that back there is a great site for comparisons!
https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/sdpr/district-report.action
you can plug in a school and see it measured against other schools. Plus it has things like not just the ACT avg. score, but the percentage of kids taking it, which makes a huge difference.
One other thing of note - the Waukesha school district is very well known for it's arts program if that's up your student's ally!

[Pete.]

That's a great site, thanks for the link. It looks like Arrowhead and Kettle Moraine do edge out Mukwonago on most statistics.

[caieva]

I really think it is hard to go too wrong with any of the Waukesha county schools - good luck in your search!

[spaxton]

where did u end up moving? We are also looking for similar home characteristics. Very new to the area and looking for a home

[cbhmeh1]

We are still in Utah and still looking for areas with good schools. So, I'm not much help to you. We'll move at the end of the school year. Kind of looking for areas with shopping close by too. I've found the property taxes are 3 times as much in Wisconsin though. Guess that's why the schools are probably better. Our money doesn't go as far. Cost of living seems to be much more in Wisconsin than Utah.

[Snixy]

I strongly recommend Oconomowoc, Arrowhead, and Kettle Moraine school districts. I grew up in Oconomowoc and lived there until a few months ago - you shouldn't have too much trouble staying in your price range there especially if you're willing to go a bit rural. Also try nearby towns like Hartland, Delafield, Dousman, Chenequa, Colgate, Okauchee (all are in those 3 school districts, some can be quite pricey).

Last time I looked at test scores Arrowhead and Kettle Moraine were on the very top for the whole state of WI, but Oconomowoc and Mukwonago weren't far behind. I graduated from Oconomowoc about 10 years ago and it was a great school, and they recently built a large arts center. As a teacher, I've gone to Arrowhead a number of times in the past few years for workshops and cooperative programs and they do seem to have the best facilities in the area. Enrollment is high, but the campus is divided into North and South and it's never felt overwhelming or crowded while I was there. Overall, the whole Lake Country area is pretty homogenous and I would happily send my daughter to any of those schools.

[cbhmeh1]

Well, we ended up buying a house in Mukwonago! More house, less money. Shopping looks like we may have to drive a bit. I hope Mukwonago High School turns out OK. Seems like they were up there on stats too just behind Arrowhead and KM. Wish us luck!!

[Round-A-bout]

Thanks for the update. I've heard good things about Mukwanago...if you don't mind driving to things it's probably just what you were looking for. Enjoy and keep us in the loop.

[Hotbug]

Madison, milwaukee and racine public schools are complete, lavishly funded disasters. Those three were at the bottom of the last govt survey (wrote about it in the madison section here).

I'd stay outside of those areas/counties and send your children to a private school if you value their education.