b"MB-906 2020-21 Relo - Single Page_MB-706.qxd2/19/20209:55 AMPage 55SCHOOLS: PUBLIC & PRIVATEstudents to become future leaders, faith-filled disciples and year. However, if the student will be entering middle school,engaged citizens. In 86 elementary and 16 high schools junior high school, or high school, parents should call the schoolthroughout the 10-county area, Catholic school educators are district to find out if they will be required to reapply.committed to delivering academic excellence rooted in therecognition that each student is a unique human being CHARTER SCHOOLSprogressing through various stages of growth and development. Charter schools are public schools that are granted greaterEvery day, nearly 30,000 students are encouraged to grow in freedom in their operation so that they can develop innovativemind, body and spiritin safe, supportive environments. programs and curricula that could improve education as aActivities inside and outside the classroom guide students to whole. State lawmakers drafted charter school legislation inembrace a life grounded in the Gospel and prayer, creating 1993 to foster an environment of creativity. Wisconsin chartercommunities of love and service. The fully accredited curriculum schools are non-religious, free to the public, and open to allin Catholic schools adheres to all state and federal standards, children in the state. They are created through a contract, orwith students exceeding the national average on standardized charter, between the schools operator and the authorizer,tests at all grade levels. In addition to individual schools, Seton which is typically a school board, technical college or university. Catholic Schools (setoncatholicschools.com), with 10 sites in Although charter schools are exempt from many of the stateMilwaukee County, and Siena Catholic Schools laws and rules that govern public schools, they are required to(sienacatholicschools.org), with six campuses in Racine have a licensed instructional staff, participate in the stateCounty, share resources while serving a broad spectrum of student testing program and school performance report, andstudents from all faiths and backgrounds. must comply with student health and safety regulations. PublicCatholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee charter school students take the state tests required of all other86 elementary schools, 16 high schoolspublic school students. Charter schools do not charge tuition. ItDistrict Office: 3501 S. Lake Dr., Milwaukee 53207is paid with money collected through property taxes and stateFind a school at archmil.org/schools. funding. For more information, call the DPI at (800) 441-4563 orvisit dpi.wi.gov/sms/charter-schools.Public Schools Virtual Charter SchoolsWisconsins public schools are noted for their excellence in Virtual charter schools provide all or a portion of their instructioneducation. They were among the first to develop vocational through the internet. The students and instructional staff areprogramming and have been leaders in the development of typically located in different geographic areas. Like other charterSTEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curricula to schools, virtual schools are publicly funded, nonsectarianprepare students for the jobs of tomorrow. Students schools exempt from many regulations that apply to traditionalconsistently outperform the national averages for college public schools. Pupils typically attend from their homes andtesting, as well as math and reading proficiency in grade school communicate with teachers using e-mail or online discussions. and middle school. The state promotes excellence in educationby offering parents flexibility in choosing the schools wheretheir children attend. HOW SCHOOLS COMPAREOPEN ENROLLMENT The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction producesWisconsins public school open enrollment allows parents to report cards for every publicly funded school and district insend their children to any public school district in the state. The the state. The report cards include data on multipleopen enrollment application period is the only tuition-free indicators across four priority areas: Student Achievement,opportunity for most parents to apply for their children to attend Growth, Closing Gaps, and On-track and Post-secondarya public school in a school district other than the one in which Success. A school or district's overall performance placesthey live. The application period runs from early February it into one of five categories:through the end of April. Transportation is generally the Significantly Exceeds Expectations 83-100responsibility of the parent. Parents can apply online directlyfrom the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) website Exceeds Expectations 73-82.9(dpi.wi.gov/open-enrollment) or by completing paper Meets Expectations 63-72.9applications available from the DPI or public school district.Meets Few Expectations 53-62.9Parents may submit applications to up to three nonresident Fails to Meet Expectations 52.9school districts for each child during the open enrollmentapplication period. Parents may apply for their children to attend The charts on the following pages provide the4-year-old kindergarten if the resident school district also offers performance score for school districts. Performancea K4 program for which the child is eligible. Most students who scores for individual schools within the district areattended a nonresident school district under open enrollment available at: dpi.wi.gov/accountability/report-cards.last year are not required to reapply for the following school@discoverMKE.com / discovermilwaukee.com 55"