Enrollment
218
Wisconsin · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 550003902153 Charter school
Downtown Montessori — Milwaukee, WI
Federal NCES profile for Downtown Montessori, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 37/100.
👥 Class size 36
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 45
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
The verdict
Downtown Montessori earns an F Resource Investment Index (37/100), with class sizes larger than 81% of Wisconsin schools.
- F
- Resource Index · 37/100
- 16:1
- large classes for Wisconsin
- 15.0%
- free-lunch eligible
- 218
- students enrolled
School address
District: Downtown Montessori Academy Inc. · Wisconsin
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
15.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
16:1
vs 15.1:1 Wisconsin avg
+6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
15.0%
vs 38.5% Wisconsin avg
-61% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Downtown Montessori compares with Wisconsin and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Downtown Montessori reports 218 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 15.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 16:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 6% above the Wisconsin state mean of 15.1:1, signalling larger average class loads than peers in the same state. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.7:1, it is 2% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 15.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 61% below the Wisconsin average and 71% below the national baseline. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 22.0% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 37/100 (F), calculated from 3 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Downtown Montessori compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Wisconsin state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Wisconsin | Wisconsin avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 16:1 | ▲ 6% | 15.1:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 15.0% | ▼ 61% | 38.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 218 | top 34% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
Class size vs. every US school
Students per teacher (lower means more individual attention)
16 smaller classes than 39% of 92,598 US schools
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US schools. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education — NCES Common Core of Data · 2024-25
School size vs. every US school
Total enrollment — where this school sits by size (neither large nor small is 'better')
218 larger than 22% of 95,891 US schools
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US schools. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education — NCES Common Core of Data · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
15.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 61% below the Wisconsin average of 38.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
16:1
students per teacher
— 6% above state mean
Top 81% in Wisconsin — lower ratio than 19% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
22.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 0 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 218 Top 34% in Wisconsin — larger than 66% of 2,205 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 15.0
Students per teacher 16:1 +6% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 15.0% -61% vs state
NCES ID 550003902153
Student demographics
White 64.5%
Hispanic or Latino 21.2%
Two or More 8.8%
African American 3.7%
Asian 1.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.5%
Largest group: White at 64.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 0.0
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 22.0%
In-school suspensions 0
Out-of-school suspensions 0
Similar other schools in Milwaukee
6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Hapa-Hmong American Peace Academy K3-12
Standard public school
1,974 students 28.6:1 students per teacher
Milwaukee Academy of Science
Standard public school
1,711 students 20.3:1 students per teacher
Bruce Guadalupe
Standard public school
1,364 students 14.9:1 students per teacher
Obama School of Career and Technical Education
Standard public school
1,294 students 29.8:1 students per teacher
Golda Meir School
Standard public school
1,192 students 19.6:1 students per teacher
Milwaukee School of Languages
Standard public school
964 students 14.5:1 students per teacher
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Downtown Montessori
How many students attend Downtown Montessori?
Downtown Montessori has 218 students enrolled. It is a other school in Milwaukee, WI.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Downtown Montessori?
The student-teacher ratio at Downtown Montessori is 16:1, which is 6% higher than the Wisconsin average of 15.1:1 and 2% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Downtown Montessori?
15.0% of students at Downtown Montessori are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Wisconsin average of 38.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Downtown Montessori?
The largest demographic group at Downtown Montessori is White at 64.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in Milwaukee, WI.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Downtown Montessori?
Downtown Montessori has a Resource Investment Index of 37/100 (F) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.
Is Downtown Montessori a good school?
Downtown Montessori earns an F Resource Investment Index (37/100), with class sizes larger than 81% of Wisconsin schools. The Resource Investment Index reflects staffing, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance reported to NCES, not test scores or academic outcomes, so treat it as a resource snapshot rather than an overall rating.