It was once the premier creative arts school in the Milwaukee area, drawing students from as far away as Elkhorn and Cedarburg.
Now, the staffers at Roosevelt Middle School talk about the size and number of fights they endure.
Former teacher Caryl Davis remembers a Thursday afternoon in 2012, when a fight started among students. The disruption spread, and Davis saw a group of eighth-grade boys rush around a corner.
She put her arms out to slow them down, and one boy twisted her arm painfully behind her back, Davis told police. The incident resulted in a torn rotator cuff, she said, and the trauma ultimately prompted her to resign.
Few who attended Roosevelt in its prime would recognize the place it has become. The school, at 800 W. Walnut St., has 627 students in sixth through eighth grades. Last month, Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton called for an emergency reorganization next year, eliminating the sixth-grade class entirely so staff could get a handle on the seventh and eighth grades for a year.