Enrollment
218
Wisconsin · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Milwaukee, WI
Downtown Montessori
Federal NCES profile for Downtown Montessori, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 39/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 550003902153Charter school
👥 S:T ratio 42
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 45
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Downtown Montessori earns 39/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Wisconsin median.
- #34 of 135
- schools in Milwaukee · Resource Index
- 39
- Resource Index · Typical
- 14.5:1
- students per teacher
- 15.0%
- free-lunch eligible
Downtown Montessori has class sizes near the Wisconsin median. Computed live against every Wisconsin school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Downtown Montessori ranks #34 of 135 schools in Milwaukee, WI.
School address
District: Downtown Montessori Academy Inc. · Wisconsin
NCES ID 550003902153 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
15.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
14.5:1
vs 14.4:1 Wisconsin avg
+1% 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
What stands out at Downtown Montessori
Scale and staffing sit near the state mainstream
Downtown Montessori is neither an extreme outlier in enrollment nor in student-teacher ratio among Wisconsin schools. Its profile therefore turns on the other dimensions rather than on scale alone: economic need, counselor coverage, program access, attendance, and district finance. This middle placement is useful because it prevents the campus from being mislabeled as unusually large, small, crowded, or teacher-dense when the federal comparison does not support that claim.
Lower measured need does not translate into broad resources
Downtown Montessori's free-meal eligibility sits below much of the Wisconsin distribution, yet its Resource Investment Index also lands in the lower tier. That breaks the common assumption that a lower-need intake automatically produces stronger reported capacity. The component scores below are therefore more useful than a socioeconomic shortcut: staffing, counselors, gifted access, and attendance determine where the composite is being lost.
A combined-grade campus has a different support burden
Downtown Montessori serves a combined grade span rather than a conventional elementary, middle, or high-school band. That structure can require the same campus to cover transitions, counseling needs, and programs for students at substantially different developmental stages, so a single staffing ratio deserves more caution than it would at a narrower-grade school. Federal totals show the available people and programs, but not how those resources are divided among grade levels.
Downtown Montessori is a lower-poverty, mid-sized charter combined-grade school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, enrolling 218 students.
Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 14.5:1 puts it in the larger third of Wisconsin schools by student-teacher ratio.
Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 15.0% free-meal eligibility runs 61% below the Wisconsin average.
Enrollment of 218 puts it in the smaller third of Wisconsin schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 2,202 scored Wisconsin schools.
Among 248 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Wisconsin schools statewide, it ranks #185, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.
Its student body is led by White (65%) and Hispanic or Latino (21%) (diversity index 53/100).
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 22.0% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Among Milwaukee's public schools, it stands alongside Hapa-Hmong American Peace Academy K3-12 (1,974 students): Downtown Montessori is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (14.5:1 vs 30.8:1).
Downtown Montessori Academy Inc. is a single-school charter district, so Downtown Montessori operates independently rather than alongside district-mates.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Downtown Montessori compares
Downtown Montessori on the metrics families compare, against Wisconsin and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Wisconsin | Wisconsin avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 14.5:1 | ▲ 1% | 14.4:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 15.0% | ▼ 61% | 38.5% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 218 | top 66% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
14.5:1
Leaner classes than 52% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
218
Bigger than 22% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
15.0%
free-lunch eligible
- 61% below the Wisconsin average of 38.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
14.5:1
students per teacher
- 1% above state mean
Top 66% in Wisconsin - lower ratio than 34% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
22.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling 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.
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.
Student-body diversity index 53.0/100
Simpson diversity index - at 53.0, Downtown Montessori is more mixed than the Wisconsin school average of 35.7.
Programs
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 30.8:1 students per teacher
Milwaukee Academy of Science
Standard public school
1,711 students 24.8:1 students per teacher
Bruce Guadalupe
Standard public school
1,364 students 15:1 students per teacher
Obama School of Career and Technical Education
Standard public school
1,294 students 27.5:1 students per teacher
Golda Meir School
Standard public school
1,192 students 19.9:1 students per teacher
Milwaukee School of Languages
Standard public school
964 students 14.2:1 students per teacher
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Wisconsin, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~218 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~14.5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Downtown Montessori's federal record.
- Compare Downtown Montessori against another school. Compare schools
- Downtown Montessori Academy Inc.'s spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Downtown Montessori
How many students attend Downtown Montessori?
Downtown Montessori has 218 students enrolled. It is a public school in Milwaukee, WI.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Downtown Montessori?
The student-teacher ratio at Downtown Montessori is 14.5:1, which is 1% higher than the Wisconsin average of 14.4:1 and 8% lower 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% of enrollment, in Milwaukee, WI. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 53.0/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Downtown Montessori?
Downtown Montessori has a Resource Investment Index of 39/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Downtown Montessori rank among schools in Milwaukee?
By Resource Investment Index, Downtown Montessori ranks #34 of 135 schools in Milwaukee, WI. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Milwaukee on the city page.
What other schools are in Downtown Montessori Academy Inc.?
None; Downtown Montessori Academy Inc. is a single-school charter district, and Downtown Montessori is its only campus.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.