The University School of Milwaukee (often abbreviated to USM) is an independent

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through secondary preparatory school in River Hills and

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It was founded as the result of the merger of three schools, Milwaukee Country Day School, Milwaukee Downer Seminary, and Milwaukee University School. USM is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and is a member of the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, board ...

(NAIS).

History

Milwaukee University School, the oldest of the three schools that merged as University School of Milwaukee, was founded in 1851 as the German-English Academy () by a group of Milwaukee

German Americans German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

that included Peter Engelmann and hardware wholesaler William Frankfurth. The Academy offered classes that taught the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, as well as

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. In 1891, the academy moved to the

German-English Academy Building The German-English Academy Building is a school built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1891 for the German-English Academy (founded in 1851), which later became the University School of Milwaukee. With The building is listed on the National Register ...

in downtown Milwaukee. The institution changed its name in 1917 to Milwaukee University School because of anti-German prejudice that occurred during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1964, the Milwaukee University School, the

Milwaukee Country Day School Milwaukee Country Day School (MCD) was a country day school in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States. It operated under the headmastership of A. Gledden Santer. The school was begun in 1911 and operated as a boys-only school until 1958, when gir ...

and

Milwaukee-Downer Seminary Milwaukee-Downer Seminary was a private non-sectarian private school, private girls' elementary, junior high school, junior high and high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was separated from Milwaukee-Downer College in 1910 (prior to that date it ...

merged to become the University School of Milwaukee. It operated from two campuses, North and South, one in

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield ...

and the other in River Hills. In 1985, the two combined into one campus at the River Hills location, serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Lawsuit

On Monday, April 18, 2022, Craig and Kelly Robinson filed a civil lawsuit alleging that "the school acted impermissibly to silence and to retaliate against those adversely affected by, and raising concerns about, the school's unfair treatment of students of color and underrepresented students." Earlier, the couple had given feedback towards the school based on racial and ethnic stereotypes in classroom assignments. Their children, then 9 and 11, were later removed from enrollment at the school. Craig Robinson stated, "We feel like they were retaliated against because we brought up some issues that were sensitive to the administration." The school issued a statement responding to the allegations, "USM's enrollment decisions had nothing to do with complaints of inequity or discrimination." More families later came out with allegations of discrimination.

Athletics

The school's athletic teams follow a no-cut athletic policy, which allows every student to participate in any sport. The athletic program begins in fifth grade when students become eligible for a number of teams, including basketball, track and field, football, and several intramural sports. The Middle School offers 13 interscholastic sports and intramural options. The Upper School has 24

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

s level sports, in addition to a number of junior varsity programs.

Notable alumni

* Rakesh "Raj" Bhala, international trade law and Islamic law expert and professor at the University of Kansas *

Raj Chetty Nadarajan "Raj" Chetty (born August 4, 1979) is an Indian-American economist who is the William A. Ackman Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University. Some of Chetty's recent papers have studied equality of opportunity in the United State ...

, professor of economics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Adam Ciralsky Adam Ciralsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American journalist, television and film producer and attorney. Many of his original reports have been optioned and adapted for film and television through his production company P3 Media. In 2018, Ci ...

, journalist, television and film producer, and attorney *

James Graaskamp James A. "Jim" Graaskamp (1933–1988) was an American professor and department chairman of real estate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is credited with developing a multi-faceted ethics-based curriculum. Biography Born in Milwaukee, ...

, professor of real estate analysis and appraisal *

Carl Holty Carl Robert Holty (1900–1973) was a German-born American abstract painter. Raised in Wisconsin, he was the first major abstract painter to gain notoriety from the state. Harold Rosenberg described Holty as "a figure of our art history," known ...

, painter * Bob Jake, basketball player and physician * William Kasik, businessman and member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

Robert Koehler Robert Koehler (November 28, 1850 – April 23, 1917) was a German-born Painting, painter and art teacher who spent most of his career in the United States. Biography Koehler was born in Hamburg; his family spelled their name Köhler until ...

, artist and teacher * Von Mansfield, football player *

Lane MacDonald Bradley Lane MacDonald (born March 3, 1966) is an American former ice hockey player. Playing career Born in Tulsa to father, former NHL player Lowell MacDonald, MacDonald was a prep star at the University School of Milwaukee, and grew up in Pi ...

, hockey player *

Sue Mingus Susan Mingus (née Graham, April 2, 1930 – September 24, 2022) was an American record producer and band manager. She was married to jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, and formed tribute groups to perform his music after his death. She ...

, record producer and band manager * George Rathmann, chemist and biotechnology executive, (co-founder of

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...

) * Henry Reuss, member of Congress *

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (; born 18 January 1960) is an English actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen, having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Oliv ...

, Academy Award winner for best supporting actor; stage director *

Wendy Selig-Prieb Wendy Selig-Prieb (born 1960) is an American businesswoman who was once the principal owner and president of the Milwaukee Brewers organization. She is the daughter of former MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Biography Selig-Prieb graduated from ...

, businesswoman, former president of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

James Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

, member of Congress * Erich C. Stern, lawyer and Wisconsin State Representative *

Brooks Stevens Clifford Brooks Stevens (June 7, 1911 – January 4, 1995) was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles, passenger railroad cars, and motorcycles, as well as a graphic designer and stylist. Stevens founded Br ...

, industrial designer *

August Uihlein Georg Karl August Uihlein (August 25, 1842 – October 11, 1911) was a German-Americans, German-American brewing, brewer, business executive, and horse breeder. Early life August Uihlein was born Georg Karl August Ühlein in 1842 in Wertheim am ...

, brewer and later owner of the

Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company is an United States, American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz (), was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" ...

Neal Ulevich Neal Hirsh Ulevich (born June 18, 1946) is an American photographer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for "photographs of disorder and brutality in the streets of Bangkok". Life Ulevich was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attende ...

, photojournalist,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winner * D.A. Wallach, musician and business executive *

William Morton Wheeler William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and professor at Harvard University. Biography Early life and education William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, to parents Juliu ...

, myrmecologist * Sarah P. L. Wolffe, Lady Wolffe, Outer House Senator of the

College of Justice The College of Justice () includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

* Bill Zito, general manager of the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:University School Of Milwaukee High schools in Milwaukee Educational institutions established in 1851 Private high schools in Wisconsin Private middle schools in Wisconsin Private elementary schools in Wisconsin Preparatory schools in Wisconsin 1851 establishments in Wisconsin