“All eyes fixed on Hi-Mount,” the newspaper headline read. The school was “the city’s showcase of school reform,” the story said.
That was then – November 1995, to be specific. The story on Hi-Mount Community School, which I wrote, was part of an extensive project by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel examining the state of Milwaukee Public Schools. Why did we single out the school? Because at that time, the kindergarten through fifth-grade school near North 49th Street and West North Avenue was pioneering ways to create vibrant school culture. The school had high energy and positive involvement.
This is now: Almost no eyes are on Hi-Mount, and pretty much every indicator of student and school success is much lower than three decades ago. A school showing progress and promise has become a school with a “one-star” rating in Wisconsin’s school report grades, the lowest category. Overall student success and school vitality are worrisome.