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Madison Metropolitan School District

Vision

Our district has a vision that every child will graduate from high school ready for college, career and community. To develop this vision, we talked with more than 2,500 parents, students, educators and community members about their hopes and dreams for Madison’s children. What do we want our future leaders to know and be able to do? What kind of people do we want them to be?

From these conversations emerged a picture of strong young people graduating from high school, with the skills and abilities they need to be successful in their lives.

We'd love to hear from you, answer your questions or schedule a school visit. Please contact us at (608) 663-1879 or mmsd@madison.k12.wi.us.

High School Graduates

Focused, personalized teaching and learning strategies

Madison public school teacher and students
  • In Madison schools, all children are held to high expectations for academics. We customize instruction to meet your child’s unique needs with coherent, standards-based and differentiated core instruction in every classroom.

  • Our rigorous curriculum reflects students’ interests, cultural identities and languages.

  • We educate the whole child, teaching fundamental social and emotional skills for life.

  • Tuition-free four-year-old kindergarten — offered throughout Madison in public and private settings — offers play-based learning, preparing little ones for 5K.

  • We’re giving students more say in how they access challenging curriculum through the strategic integration of digital devices. Students in grades 5-8, as well as La Follette High School students, now take their digital devices home.

"We would still choose Madison public schools even if we had to pay full price and it cost slightly more than private schools in our area. Thank you for running a great school."
– Parent Charles Gervasi

Innovation -Innovative and specialized programming

Madison public school student planting rain garden
  • Outdoor learning spaces, school gardens and a school forest with guided field study opportunities extend learning beyond the classroom to benefit children’s social, psychological, academic and physical health.

  • Our K-12 dual-language immersion (DLI) programs help students develop high levels of bilingualism, biliteracy and intercultural skills.

    • Spanish-English DLI: Allis (5K-2nd), Chávez, Anana (5K-1st), Henderson, Leopold, Lincoln (3rd-5th), Midvale (5K-2nd), Sandburg, Schenk (5K-2nd), Nuestro Mundo, Cherokee Heights, Jefferson (6th-7th), Sennett, Sherman, La Follette and West (9th) 

    • Hmong-English DBE: Lake View (5K-1)

  • In addition to dual-language immersion, students can learn world languages in middle and high school classes and participate in international cultural exchange. Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and American Sign Language are among the languages offered in our four comprehensive high schools.
     

 

Opportunities - Unmatched depth and breadth of in-school and out-of-school opportunities for growth

Madison public middle school students
  • A variety of schools offer co-curricular science-focused activities — middle school Science Olympiad, and high school Robotics and Engineering Clubs among them.

  • Students who show an exceptional level of performance look to our Advanced Learning Division to challenge them and help them achieve their full academic, intellectual and creative potential.

  • Visual and Media Arts: ceramics and sculpture, drawing and painting, art metals, photography and graphic design.

  • Performing Arts: choir, band, orchestra, jazz band, guitar, music theory, contemporary music studies and theater.

  • Summer enrichment options include field biology and zoology.

  • High school students have access to 22 Advanced Placement courses — music theory, physics, environmental science, French, Spanish, economics, government, English literature and composition among them.

Pathways - Emerging high school pathways to academic and career exploration

Madison East High School graduation ceremony
  • Our AVID College Readiness System — offered at our four comprehensive high schools — challenges students in grades 7-12 with rigorous coursework and provides strong academic support.

  • District-wide student leadership development opportunities include Student Senate and an annual High School Student Leadership Conference.

  • In Personalized Pathways, students take core classes (classes like science, social studies and English) in a smaller “learning community” made up of other students in the pathway and a small group of teachers who know each student well and meet regularly, focused on their development.