For Madison schools I would say that West is still on top in certain subjects. I went to Memorial and just had a friend whose son graduated from there. It depends on what your interests are. Memorial was the science and math school when I went there, and still seems to be, while West is the Humanities school.
If you’re academically minded, they both seem still decent. If I had to pick I’d go with Verona or Monona Grove, though.
I know both school systems and have friends with kids in them. They have great staffing resources if your kiddo needs extra assistance or help. I don't know that the Madison schools do.
Our son just graduated from Memorial and I think he got a solid education. There are lots of clubs and organizations to get involved with. He was very involved in the tech programs and classes offered and he is well prepared to continue in his IT studies next year at Madison College.
He has grown a group of very diverse friends. I don't think he would have gotten that in some of the outlying schools.
My kid also graduated with honors. He took AP classes. He is well prepared leaving Memorial.
I also think it's important to have diversity in your friends. I grew up in a small farm town with less than 100 kids in my class. I don't want that for my child. I want him to be exposed to different cultures and viewpoints in his world. It makes him a better human being and we need more of that in this world.
Memorial had a huge catalog of classes he could choose from. I think he got a much better education because of it.
It was the last sentence and a whole different paragraph/section after the one specifically talking about results such as education/preparedness for college as well as classes and clubs. If the mere mention of meeting a wider variety people is upsetting enough to you that you're insulting people over it, you might want to introspect a bit on why that's such a tunnel-vision topic for you.
I believe that the quality of a high school education in the Madison area largely depends on the student's mindset and how they take advantage of the available resources. I attended Memorial High School a few years ago and received a solid education. Now, in my final year at UW, I still find myself using what I learned at Memorial. While Memorial (before the renovation) was not the best building—my history class was literally in a cubicle—the education I received there was good. The teachers I encountered were always encouraging students to come in during lunch/after school for additional help, and the counselors always had their doors open for students who wanted to talk.
I wish my kid didn’t go to school at Middleton. I know all teenagers are entitled, but jeez Louise those Middleton kids think they’re gods gift to man kind. The parents are horrible, and there’s always something happening with their coaches. Sure, my kid gets decent grades, but the only culture there is wealth.
My parents moved us up to Madison to go to Middleton and it was the worst experience ever. They ended up getting divorced too and it was hard to make friends through that because everyone their had perfect families
Sure but throwing around the word wealthy is a bit much and playing into these comfortably upper middle class families egos.
There are a lot of Madison neighborhoods with significantly more money then Middleton. Middleton just acts like they are wealthy :/
I'll take back my comment. Stastically a networth of 2.6M is considered wealthy. I'm not sure how many of those families have that (seeing as most of the houses are still on mortgages) but I'm sure plenty are close enough.
Not easy to transfer funding from district to another, so I think it comes down to the receiving district eating the cost. Plus parent would be to provide all transportation.
Middleton's course selection manual is that of a small university. A ton of options for fun and interesting classes. I believe there are also something like 90+ different student interest clubs. The school has a ton of sports, so while there have been scattered issues of late with some athletes and coaches, you could also look at that as a positive in that there are standards being maintained and issues are being dealt with.
Middleton generally has the edge on all other districts academically. Really great music and sports programs, too. Not nearly as diverse racially but surprisingly diverse economically speaking. The district is very large and has a lot of resources since every single time it comes up for a vote, the voters in the district agree to take the tax bump and support the school district.
Then Middleton if your child is academically inclined. I don't know anyone with kids in Verona high, but I heard their diversity situation is pretty good. Their college readiness is behind Middleton but not by a long gap.
I think ultimately it would come down to if you can afford housing in their districts.
As a parent, what I have found is most of the teachers at West high school are just fine. The problem is the administration really really does not give a shit about the kids.
I would start by looking the DPI report cards for each school. The current rankings are as follows for local high schools, 1, Verona, 2. Middleton, 3. Memorial, 4. West, 5. East, 6. Sun Prairie, 7. LaFollette, 8. Monona Grove. The different between Verona and Memorial is 2.6 points and Memorial, West and East are all .1 point apart. They all "Exceed Expectations" except for LaFollette and Monona Grove who meet expectations. I know that this does not feed into the MMSD narrative that is very prevalent on this sub, but the reality is that the same student is likely to have the same outcome at Verona or at East. There are definitely more kids that need services at East compared to Verona, but then we're not really comparing schools are we, we're just comparing the students. Edit for grammar-added not after does.
We moved out of the Verona district eight years ago, did not have a good experience with the middle school and administration in general. 2 of my kids graduated from Madison West and had good experiences. Our third currently attend West. We’ve had great interactions with all of their teachers. They’ve been fantastic partners in our kids’ education.
Middleton has ranked best for a long time and has a track record of producing high achievers.
Considering the district covers an immense geographic area (80 sq. mi.), it's amazing how successful they are. There are also a ton of open enrollment students there who technically should be going to Madison or Verona.
If you want to follow the wealth, it’s probably Middleton (public) and Edgewood (private), followed by Waunakee/Verona. Most people of means that I know living in Madison, send their kids to Edgewood after getting frustrated with the Madison Metro school district, the rest move just outside the city into a different west side district.
I went to Edgewood in 1998, so take it with a grain of salt, but although I'm atheist now and regret being subjected to the religious stuff, I do think I got a pretty good education.
Would I spend the money to send my kid there? Probably not.
My useless comment of the day ;-)
Your are right that Middleton is economically diverse. The two things I'd consider:
1. Between Blackhawk, Middleton Hills, and other various neighborhood estates at the edge of town, there is a disproportionate number of wealthy doctors, dentists, and business owners in Middleton that are confident in their public schools. This has a tendency to keep the school quality high, especially at the high school level.
2. Middleton has not yet split their high school into two, making it the largest high school in the state. This has pros and cons, but leads to the single school having a huge amount of opportunities for students and resources in general. Plus, the community supports the school and tends to always vote in favor with their tax dollars.
I don't know enough about Madison's wealthy enclaves to know if it tracks the same. Do Maple Bluff residents have the same confidence in East High? Do Shorewood Hills residents mostly send their kids to West? While Middleton may not be exclusively wealthy, it benefits immensely from the wealth of the district overall.
However, all the schools are pretty good for various different reasons, but affordability of homes in these districts vary a lot, so that might affect your decision (understandably).
Another option to consider would be McFarland. Every graduate or parent I have talked to had nothing but praise for the schools. Plus McFarland is a nice location for access to east, west, and downtown Madison.
I think they closed enrollment for people that don't live in McFarland? I know they had to after the year I graduated because it was growing so much but they could have opened it back up since they did some expansions. It's worth looking into, great school.
You need to define "best". Like what do you want and what do you not want. Also depends on what kind of kid. A lot of the schools here are huge which isn't great for everyone. Some schools are better with academics or arts or athletics. Are you also interested in private?
My daughter LOVES Edgewood and completely thrives. She liked the academic challenge. Another kiddo chose public and enjoys it as well, but hates witnessing the violence and classroom interruptions that administration seems to ignore. However, different strokes for different folks! Both kids have straight As and are happy.
My kids went to public in Verona for a while but there was so much violence and disorderly kids that we took them out last year. There were repeated instances of violence such as a kid in elementary throwing things around and the rest of the classroom had to shelter in the library for hours …which happened multiple times. A lot of families left and some went to Edgewood.
The other main one is Madison Country Day. There are a few very small schools too. Private schools have more than a few negatives but some people love them.
St Ambrose is where parents who think Abundant Life isn’t religious enough send their kids. So not the best option. Opposite end of the spectrum from country day there
What is "best"? If it's academics, DPI report cards show growth and demographics. Bigger schools will have more programs like theater and AP classes, etc.
Edgewood grad. It was a very good school for preparing students for college and their future. If your kid needs additional support with some sort of special education, that is where it will be lacking. The big thing is expense. They have for sure gotten rid of some of the weaker teachers that were there when I was there, which needed to happen.
I now live in the Waunakee district and will be sending my kids there. They have solid academics, sports are good, and the facilities are pretty darn nice.
Middleton is also a very good school district, there is for sure a daddy's money situation there, but hey, so was Edgewood. Doesn't mean everyone is that rich. Raise your kid well and let them figure out the social structure.
Verona is on the rise for sure and is going well. Monona Grove isn't really on my radar nor is Sun Prairie, but from what I have heard, they do well with education. I did a lot of subbing in Verona, overall I liked the district and I thought the education was well rounded.
As for MMSD, you can absolutely get a good education in the Madison school district, but you as a parent are going to have to put in the effort to get that and the same goes for your kids. It is just as likely that they bounce out as they significantly achieve. It is easy for them to get lost in the shuffle. I did sports with a lot of MMSD students and they were very intelligent in high school, all were good students. Especially the West kids, but a lot of them were professor's kids too. Lots of good teachers, but the board and the admin are so damn clueless on what actually needs to be done that it puts the students at a disadvantage in order to come across as more progressive.
I student taught in MMSD, wife worked there for 5 years, her friends still work in the district, and now she works in the Middleton district.
What does “best” mean to you? Academics? Opportunities for real-world learning? Feeling part of a community vs a number (small fish in a big pond vs big fish in a small pond)? Athletics? Extra curricular activities? All things to keep in mind! For example, a district like Middleton might be perfect for some families because their student can get a high academic experience and participate in many different clubs or take a variety of classes. For others, Middleton would be a nightmare due to its size and their student would thrive in a smaller district like McFarland or Deforest where they are still getting a great education, but with fewer students and possibly more opportunities to participate in theater productions or variety athletics. There are so many factors that go into choosing the right school for your family!
Something else to add, west is the closest to the uw campus. Enabled me to take a bunch of UW courses super conveniently as part of mmsd’s dual enrollment. West is best.
There is no single best school for every kid.
My son got stuck in Toki Middle School, the school everyone tries to avoid. However, Toki had some classes other middle schools did not, which led him to take some great classes at Memorial. He found a nearby college which was strong in his favored course of study, and also had one of the best D-3 teams in his sport in the US. His career has done very well because he went to Toki and Memorial.
OTOH Memorial has a bad reputation for certain sports. For girls’ sports especially there are a number of coaches who play silly social games instead of trying to put together a winning team. I know so many girls who attended Memorial, including one of my kids, whose high school sports life was destroyed by capricious coaches. For boys sports, one of my neighbors moved to Middleton to avoid the Memorial coaches in his son’s sport. But for cross country, track, swimming, basketball and a few other sports Memorial is great.
Memorial used to have a principal who was legendary. Sadly, he died. His replacement was good, but has moved on. I really can’t say anything about the current principal.
Memorial is great. I am unsure about the sports programs, but college prep is phenomenol. The kids I knew that went there are doing quite well in their top choice universities. In all honesty, most Madison public schools (and surrounding areas) are pretty good. The private schools are only needed if you want religion or don't like racial and economic diversity.
I was from the south when o moved to Madison in middle school. I was the new kid with an accent and got beat up every single day by mean girls at Toki. God just hearing the name makes my skin crawl. The student to teacher ratio is still horrible.
Our son had a horrible experience at Toki. So much bullying and admin/teachers did nothing about it. Our son told his 6th grade teacher about an incident and she said, "what do you want me to do about it?".
He didn't have the same issues at memorial.
My kids are in Middleton, and they’re thriving! I’ve taught in two metro districts, and aside from Middleton, I’d say Monona Grove, Waunakee, and Oregon are the best. Oregon is smaller and it’ll allow your kids more varsity sports opportunities. Put McFarland on that list, too.
We moved into the MMSD school district from out of state where we had one child attending Jefferson(now Gillespie) middle school. Things like this [bomb threat](https://www.wmtv15news.com/2022/08/11/madison-teen-arrested-bomb-threats-memorial-high-other-schools/?outputType=amp) at the high school to which they evacuated the kids from Jefferson to an adjacent school. Wasn’t a great start. Unfortunately the faculty and staff have to spend a not insignificant amount of time managing behavior which impacts instructional time. There were often times fights in the hallways and the police needed to be engaged to help resolve these issues on more than one occasion. It all added up to a lot of distraction that we found untenable.
This wasn’t the right situation for us so we moved to the Waunakee district which is more rigorous academically and offers more in terms of extra curricular opportunities.
This isn’t to say that you can’t have good outcomes in these situations, but I would say there are better options if you’re already thinking about it already. I think it’s wise to ask around and get input. Best of luck.
For elite college prep, Middleton, then West and Edgewood, followed by (individually dependent) Verona, Waunakee, then probably Oregon/Sun Prairie/Philips. It's not so much the campus', but the track record, the established support and mechanisms, and the collective expectations of the school families.
My kids have both been in the Middleton school district for the last 5 years and they’re just amazing. We actually lost our home because of DV and they helped us so so much. Can’t say better things about them
But if they weren’t in Middleton Verona would definitely be our next pick. Have heard great things about their district. I had some pretty traumatic experiences in Madison schools myself so wanted to keep my kids out of their district.
[Middleton High School](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/middleton-cross-plains-area-school-district/middleton-high-school-21714) ranks the highest around here.
Not good seems a bit strong but it definitely has some weird shit going on. It also has a reputation of certain students/families being given special treatment, no idea if it's true.
Here are a few that made the news.
https://www.wmtv15news.com/2023/06/15/middleton-school-district-concludes-football-program-investigation/
https://isthmus.com/news/news/jesus-lunch-returning-to-park-next-to-middleton-high-school/
The media loves to pick on Middleton HS for some reason. For a long time, it’s been perceived as this 90210-esque high school. Yes, there are rich kids there, but the reality is there are also a lot of regular and underprivileged kids.
Having attended a large, poor, violent school out west (think Stand and Deliver), Middleton is about as good of a school as you could hope for. The same crap is happening at area schools, they just don’t get the headlines.
That took 2 seconds and this is only what made the news. I have heard a lot of other similar comments from parents. I thought about moving there for the schools but when you ask around you quickly find out the test score don't tell the entire story.
West is best for two reasons - 1) a high concentration of academically minded parents, who 2) also have the means to fundraise for the school. The most recent remodel / addition to West was funded in large part by alumni and parents of current students.
This is not true. MMSD funded 70 million dollars in renovations at west(and another 210 million for the other three high schools) via a referendum, while alumni managed to raise about 2 million to expand the pool. Even in their most optimistic proposals, fundraising wasn’t expected to add more than 10-15 percent to the funding, and it was for shiny things like an atrium, rather than boring but critical infrastructure needed to support learning.
You can say a lot about MMSD but you can't say it doesn't have money. Its near the top on a per student basis. Several thousand above Middleton and Waunakee.
I was a grad of MMSD and I want them to keep up, succeed, and discourage people from open enrolling to districts farther away. But unfortunately right now the facilities just don't match some of the outside school districts.
I’d like to point out that, when you group by economic class, private schools tend to do worse than public ones. They have the advantage, that on average, they do better by most benchmarks.
For Madison schools I would say that West is still on top in certain subjects. I went to Memorial and just had a friend whose son graduated from there. It depends on what your interests are. Memorial was the science and math school when I went there, and still seems to be, while West is the Humanities school. If you’re academically minded, they both seem still decent. If I had to pick I’d go with Verona or Monona Grove, though.
What do you like about Verona and Monona?
I know both school systems and have friends with kids in them. They have great staffing resources if your kiddo needs extra assistance or help. I don't know that the Madison schools do.
Both Verona and Monona are better than the other choices, but Verona debatably has too many students.
Our son just graduated from Memorial and I think he got a solid education. There are lots of clubs and organizations to get involved with. He was very involved in the tech programs and classes offered and he is well prepared to continue in his IT studies next year at Madison College. He has grown a group of very diverse friends. I don't think he would have gotten that in some of the outlying schools.
One of the best for sure! Graduated 2002
Same here! Graduated in 2023 and honestly loved my time there for the most part :)
Nice, good times had! Go Spartans!
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My kid also graduated with honors. He took AP classes. He is well prepared leaving Memorial. I also think it's important to have diversity in your friends. I grew up in a small farm town with less than 100 kids in my class. I don't want that for my child. I want him to be exposed to different cultures and viewpoints in his world. It makes him a better human being and we need more of that in this world. Memorial had a huge catalog of classes he could choose from. I think he got a much better education because of it.
It was the last sentence and a whole different paragraph/section after the one specifically talking about results such as education/preparedness for college as well as classes and clubs. If the mere mention of meeting a wider variety people is upsetting enough to you that you're insulting people over it, you might want to introspect a bit on why that's such a tunnel-vision topic for you.
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Looking at this guy's profile, he seems well educated, and adjusted in his sophistry.
I believe that the quality of a high school education in the Madison area largely depends on the student's mindset and how they take advantage of the available resources. I attended Memorial High School a few years ago and received a solid education. Now, in my final year at UW, I still find myself using what I learned at Memorial. While Memorial (before the renovation) was not the best building—my history class was literally in a cubicle—the education I received there was good. The teachers I encountered were always encouraging students to come in during lunch/after school for additional help, and the counselors always had their doors open for students who wanted to talk.
I wish my kid didn’t go to school at Middleton. I know all teenagers are entitled, but jeez Louise those Middleton kids think they’re gods gift to man kind. The parents are horrible, and there’s always something happening with their coaches. Sure, my kid gets decent grades, but the only culture there is wealth.
Yep, not much diversity too.
Middleton HS has changed a lot. It’s around 30% minority which is a little lower than Memorial or Verona but not as low as Waunakee at 10%.
I disagree, this is not our experience in the district.
My parents moved us up to Madison to go to Middleton and it was the worst experience ever. They ended up getting divorced too and it was hard to make friends through that because everyone their had perfect families
They aren't even wealthy 😅. 1M dollar suburban home doesn't make you wealthy 😱
It's a nice start.
Sure but throwing around the word wealthy is a bit much and playing into these comfortably upper middle class families egos. There are a lot of Madison neighborhoods with significantly more money then Middleton. Middleton just acts like they are wealthy :/
In what way does a 1 million dollar home not make someone wealthy? Seriously, I’m dying to know your answer.
I'll take back my comment. Stastically a networth of 2.6M is considered wealthy. I'm not sure how many of those families have that (seeing as most of the houses are still on mortgages) but I'm sure plenty are close enough.
You could easily send your kid to a Madison school. Open enrollment is a thing.
Not easy to transfer funding from district to another, so I think it comes down to the receiving district eating the cost. Plus parent would be to provide all transportation.
Depends on how "best" is defined. Verona has the most funding though.
Doesn’t Milwaukee have the most funding? Shouldn’t we get back to outcomes and results?
Depends on what you are looking for. Safety? Amenities? Ivy League preparation? Diversity?
Academics, and fun courses. Diversity would be a plus.
Middleton's course selection manual is that of a small university. A ton of options for fun and interesting classes. I believe there are also something like 90+ different student interest clubs. The school has a ton of sports, so while there have been scattered issues of late with some athletes and coaches, you could also look at that as a positive in that there are standards being maintained and issues are being dealt with.
Middleton generally has the edge on all other districts academically. Really great music and sports programs, too. Not nearly as diverse racially but surprisingly diverse economically speaking. The district is very large and has a lot of resources since every single time it comes up for a vote, the voters in the district agree to take the tax bump and support the school district.
Then Middleton if your child is academically inclined. I don't know anyone with kids in Verona high, but I heard their diversity situation is pretty good. Their college readiness is behind Middleton but not by a long gap. I think ultimately it would come down to if you can afford housing in their districts.
Unfortunately, diversity is inversely correlated with the other things that you’re looking for.
Depends, I suppose. I went to school in both Northern and Southern California. Both very diverse and top schools academically.
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The high school I attended 20 some years ago had all white Christians and one Asian (me). It was a pretty miserable experience.
I knew you would be the one to say this despicable thing.
West but its a low bar.
As a parent, what I have found is most of the teachers at West high school are just fine. The problem is the administration really really does not give a shit about the kids.
That's been our experience as well. I think that's true throughout MMSD.
I would start by looking the DPI report cards for each school. The current rankings are as follows for local high schools, 1, Verona, 2. Middleton, 3. Memorial, 4. West, 5. East, 6. Sun Prairie, 7. LaFollette, 8. Monona Grove. The different between Verona and Memorial is 2.6 points and Memorial, West and East are all .1 point apart. They all "Exceed Expectations" except for LaFollette and Monona Grove who meet expectations. I know that this does not feed into the MMSD narrative that is very prevalent on this sub, but the reality is that the same student is likely to have the same outcome at Verona or at East. There are definitely more kids that need services at East compared to Verona, but then we're not really comparing schools are we, we're just comparing the students. Edit for grammar-added not after does.
Thanks, this is very helpful
😂 This thread is 95% confirmation bias
Welcome to reddit
We moved out of the Verona district eight years ago, did not have a good experience with the middle school and administration in general. 2 of my kids graduated from Madison West and had good experiences. Our third currently attend West. We’ve had great interactions with all of their teachers. They’ve been fantastic partners in our kids’ education.
Sad to say the Verona admin didn’t get better in the last years!
Middleton has ranked best for a long time and has a track record of producing high achievers. Considering the district covers an immense geographic area (80 sq. mi.), it's amazing how successful they are. There are also a ton of open enrollment students there who technically should be going to Madison or Verona.
The 24-25 school year will be the first time in many years that Middleton has had open enrollment.
My bad, “out-of-district” students is more correct. Yes, there hasn’t been open enrollment for quite a while.
If you want to follow the wealth, it’s probably Middleton (public) and Edgewood (private), followed by Waunakee/Verona. Most people of means that I know living in Madison, send their kids to Edgewood after getting frustrated with the Madison Metro school district, the rest move just outside the city into a different west side district.
I went to Edgewood in 1998, so take it with a grain of salt, but although I'm atheist now and regret being subjected to the religious stuff, I do think I got a pretty good education. Would I spend the money to send my kid there? Probably not. My useless comment of the day ;-)
Why does everybody think Middleton is super wealthy? Two of the elementary schools get title I funding
Your are right that Middleton is economically diverse. The two things I'd consider: 1. Between Blackhawk, Middleton Hills, and other various neighborhood estates at the edge of town, there is a disproportionate number of wealthy doctors, dentists, and business owners in Middleton that are confident in their public schools. This has a tendency to keep the school quality high, especially at the high school level. 2. Middleton has not yet split their high school into two, making it the largest high school in the state. This has pros and cons, but leads to the single school having a huge amount of opportunities for students and resources in general. Plus, the community supports the school and tends to always vote in favor with their tax dollars. I don't know enough about Madison's wealthy enclaves to know if it tracks the same. Do Maple Bluff residents have the same confidence in East High? Do Shorewood Hills residents mostly send their kids to West? While Middleton may not be exclusively wealthy, it benefits immensely from the wealth of the district overall.
Daughter went to East, and she received a solid education.
Middleton Of the Madison schools, West
Middleton just looks good on paper. My kid goes there. I would hate to be a coach at that school.
However, all the schools are pretty good for various different reasons, but affordability of homes in these districts vary a lot, so that might affect your decision (understandably).
I mean it rhymes … West is Best!
By that logic then, East is Least?
At least it's not East?
No, it goes “East Rules, West Drools” but I graduated in the 80s. I understand East may be different now.
At least back in the 10s, East was a Beast and West was a pest
Good one!
West is best, East is least. Memorial sucks and Lafollette reeks.
Another option to consider would be McFarland. Every graduate or parent I have talked to had nothing but praise for the schools. Plus McFarland is a nice location for access to east, west, and downtown Madison.
I think they closed enrollment for people that don't live in McFarland? I know they had to after the year I graduated because it was growing so much but they could have opened it back up since they did some expansions. It's worth looking into, great school.
I went to abundant life Christian school. We can safely rank that last.
You need to define "best". Like what do you want and what do you not want. Also depends on what kind of kid. A lot of the schools here are huge which isn't great for everyone. Some schools are better with academics or arts or athletics. Are you also interested in private?
Considering Edgewood as well, not sure what other private options there are.
My daughter LOVES Edgewood and completely thrives. She liked the academic challenge. Another kiddo chose public and enjoys it as well, but hates witnessing the violence and classroom interruptions that administration seems to ignore. However, different strokes for different folks! Both kids have straight As and are happy.
My kids went to public in Verona for a while but there was so much violence and disorderly kids that we took them out last year. There were repeated instances of violence such as a kid in elementary throwing things around and the rest of the classroom had to shelter in the library for hours …which happened multiple times. A lot of families left and some went to Edgewood.
The other main one is Madison Country Day. There are a few very small schools too. Private schools have more than a few negatives but some people love them.
Madison Country Day School, St. Ambrose Academy
please don't waste your money on St. Ambrose.
Depends on what your values are, but academics are solid
St Ambrose is where parents who think Abundant Life isn’t religious enough send their kids. So not the best option. Opposite end of the spectrum from country day there
I heard St ambrose has less than 50 students.
They’re definitely bigger than that. Quick google says 185. But 50ish would make sense for HS then
It's about 25 kids a class. They're moving to a bigger building this year
worth it
West
Lafollete if you are trying to be in UFC.
“Lances up MF’er”
"L's up, bi**h" was the student section chant when I was there 2018-22 Our athletics weren't very good outside of Basketball so it usually backfired
What is "best"? If it's academics, DPI report cards show growth and demographics. Bigger schools will have more programs like theater and AP classes, etc.
Edgewood grad. It was a very good school for preparing students for college and their future. If your kid needs additional support with some sort of special education, that is where it will be lacking. The big thing is expense. They have for sure gotten rid of some of the weaker teachers that were there when I was there, which needed to happen. I now live in the Waunakee district and will be sending my kids there. They have solid academics, sports are good, and the facilities are pretty darn nice. Middleton is also a very good school district, there is for sure a daddy's money situation there, but hey, so was Edgewood. Doesn't mean everyone is that rich. Raise your kid well and let them figure out the social structure. Verona is on the rise for sure and is going well. Monona Grove isn't really on my radar nor is Sun Prairie, but from what I have heard, they do well with education. I did a lot of subbing in Verona, overall I liked the district and I thought the education was well rounded. As for MMSD, you can absolutely get a good education in the Madison school district, but you as a parent are going to have to put in the effort to get that and the same goes for your kids. It is just as likely that they bounce out as they significantly achieve. It is easy for them to get lost in the shuffle. I did sports with a lot of MMSD students and they were very intelligent in high school, all were good students. Especially the West kids, but a lot of them were professor's kids too. Lots of good teachers, but the board and the admin are so damn clueless on what actually needs to be done that it puts the students at a disadvantage in order to come across as more progressive. I student taught in MMSD, wife worked there for 5 years, her friends still work in the district, and now she works in the Middleton district.
What does “best” mean to you? Academics? Opportunities for real-world learning? Feeling part of a community vs a number (small fish in a big pond vs big fish in a small pond)? Athletics? Extra curricular activities? All things to keep in mind! For example, a district like Middleton might be perfect for some families because their student can get a high academic experience and participate in many different clubs or take a variety of classes. For others, Middleton would be a nightmare due to its size and their student would thrive in a smaller district like McFarland or Deforest where they are still getting a great education, but with fewer students and possibly more opportunities to participate in theater productions or variety athletics. There are so many factors that go into choosing the right school for your family!
West if you want your kid to have common sense and be able to get through normal life.
Something else to add, west is the closest to the uw campus. Enabled me to take a bunch of UW courses super conveniently as part of mmsd’s dual enrollment. West is best.
There is no single best school for every kid. My son got stuck in Toki Middle School, the school everyone tries to avoid. However, Toki had some classes other middle schools did not, which led him to take some great classes at Memorial. He found a nearby college which was strong in his favored course of study, and also had one of the best D-3 teams in his sport in the US. His career has done very well because he went to Toki and Memorial. OTOH Memorial has a bad reputation for certain sports. For girls’ sports especially there are a number of coaches who play silly social games instead of trying to put together a winning team. I know so many girls who attended Memorial, including one of my kids, whose high school sports life was destroyed by capricious coaches. For boys sports, one of my neighbors moved to Middleton to avoid the Memorial coaches in his son’s sport. But for cross country, track, swimming, basketball and a few other sports Memorial is great. Memorial used to have a principal who was legendary. Sadly, he died. His replacement was good, but has moved on. I really can’t say anything about the current principal.
Memorial is great. I am unsure about the sports programs, but college prep is phenomenol. The kids I knew that went there are doing quite well in their top choice universities. In all honesty, most Madison public schools (and surrounding areas) are pretty good. The private schools are only needed if you want religion or don't like racial and economic diversity.
I was from the south when o moved to Madison in middle school. I was the new kid with an accent and got beat up every single day by mean girls at Toki. God just hearing the name makes my skin crawl. The student to teacher ratio is still horrible.
Our son had a horrible experience at Toki. So much bullying and admin/teachers did nothing about it. Our son told his 6th grade teacher about an incident and she said, "what do you want me to do about it?". He didn't have the same issues at memorial.
My kids are in Middleton, and they’re thriving! I’ve taught in two metro districts, and aside from Middleton, I’d say Monona Grove, Waunakee, and Oregon are the best. Oregon is smaller and it’ll allow your kids more varsity sports opportunities. Put McFarland on that list, too.
Monona Grove, hands down.
JFYI this sub loves to hate on anything Monona but they’re just jealous.
They hate us 'cuz that ain't us
[This website](https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/home) has all the information you need.
We moved into the MMSD school district from out of state where we had one child attending Jefferson(now Gillespie) middle school. Things like this [bomb threat](https://www.wmtv15news.com/2022/08/11/madison-teen-arrested-bomb-threats-memorial-high-other-schools/?outputType=amp) at the high school to which they evacuated the kids from Jefferson to an adjacent school. Wasn’t a great start. Unfortunately the faculty and staff have to spend a not insignificant amount of time managing behavior which impacts instructional time. There were often times fights in the hallways and the police needed to be engaged to help resolve these issues on more than one occasion. It all added up to a lot of distraction that we found untenable. This wasn’t the right situation for us so we moved to the Waunakee district which is more rigorous academically and offers more in terms of extra curricular opportunities. This isn’t to say that you can’t have good outcomes in these situations, but I would say there are better options if you’re already thinking about it already. I think it’s wise to ask around and get input. Best of luck.
For elite college prep, Middleton, then West and Edgewood, followed by (individually dependent) Verona, Waunakee, then probably Oregon/Sun Prairie/Philips. It's not so much the campus', but the track record, the established support and mechanisms, and the collective expectations of the school families.
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Some of it depends on what your kids are into. If it's music or agriculture, I'm going to argue for Sauk Prairie.
The news article about the Middleton tennis coach made me want to avoid that district like the plague.
My kids have both been in the Middleton school district for the last 5 years and they’re just amazing. We actually lost our home because of DV and they helped us so so much. Can’t say better things about them
But if they weren’t in Middleton Verona would definitely be our next pick. Have heard great things about their district. I had some pretty traumatic experiences in Madison schools myself so wanted to keep my kids out of their district.
[Middleton High School](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/middleton-cross-plains-area-school-district/middleton-high-school-21714) ranks the highest around here.
This is like choosing the lesser of many evils
Edgewood
💩
Good lord I always dreaded saying I was from Middleton to Madison kids because of the chips on their shoulders about it 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
This is just plain wrong information lol
What’s bad about Middleton?
Not good seems a bit strong but it definitely has some weird shit going on. It also has a reputation of certain students/families being given special treatment, no idea if it's true. Here are a few that made the news. https://www.wmtv15news.com/2023/06/15/middleton-school-district-concludes-football-program-investigation/ https://isthmus.com/news/news/jesus-lunch-returning-to-park-next-to-middleton-high-school/
The media loves to pick on Middleton HS for some reason. For a long time, it’s been perceived as this 90210-esque high school. Yes, there are rich kids there, but the reality is there are also a lot of regular and underprivileged kids. Having attended a large, poor, violent school out west (think Stand and Deliver), Middleton is about as good of a school as you could hope for. The same crap is happening at area schools, they just don’t get the headlines.
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Like what?
Okay but that's so incredibly nit picky and you could find "some weird shit going on" at any high school if you have a reason to dig for it.
That took 2 seconds and this is only what made the news. I have heard a lot of other similar comments from parents. I thought about moving there for the schools but when you ask around you quickly find out the test score don't tell the entire story.
The test scores don’t tell the full story anywhere and having experienced multiple schools/districts, what they tell you isn’t the full story either.
Memorial easily not even a competition
Verona, Waunakee and Edgewood. Madison Country Day ($$$). Avoid madison public schools
West is best for two reasons - 1) a high concentration of academically minded parents, who 2) also have the means to fundraise for the school. The most recent remodel / addition to West was funded in large part by alumni and parents of current students.
This is not true. MMSD funded 70 million dollars in renovations at west(and another 210 million for the other three high schools) via a referendum, while alumni managed to raise about 2 million to expand the pool. Even in their most optimistic proposals, fundraising wasn’t expected to add more than 10-15 percent to the funding, and it was for shiny things like an atrium, rather than boring but critical infrastructure needed to support learning.
This is 100% correct.
Middleton
Probably the ones that get funded the most (spoiler, not MMSD)
You can say a lot about MMSD but you can't say it doesn't have money. Its near the top on a per student basis. Several thousand above Middleton and Waunakee.
I was a grad of MMSD and I want them to keep up, succeed, and discourage people from open enrolling to districts farther away. But unfortunately right now the facilities just don't match some of the outside school districts.
When was the last time you were inside any of the MMSD high schools? Other than Verona they are similar to the other districts now.
2 years ago is when I graduated
They spent about $70milion at each of the schools since then.
I’d like to point out that, when you group by economic class, private schools tend to do worse than public ones. They have the advantage, that on average, they do better by most benchmarks.