Schools in SW Madison (Middleton, Jefferson: school district, tax, vs)

[nrich32]

We are moving our family to SW Madison this summer and my children will be going to Stephens and Jefferson. Does Anyone have any opinions on the schooling. I went to greatschools.net and both of the schools were rated low, hoping to hear from people that actually have children that have gone to the school.

[ajo]

My kids went to Stephens until recently (we were redistricted to Crestwood). It is a very good school if your kids have support at home. The 4th/5th grade teachers are stupendous, the 2nd/3rd less wonderful. Jefferson is a big middle school. Many people are very happy there. That is certainly the preferred middle school over Toki for Memorial kids. Spring Harbor is generally the most preferred, but you have to lottery into it, so wouldn't work for you older child(ren). The younger ones would have that opportunity later.

[mrsincredible]

My son just finished K at Stephens and I don't really have any complaints. I wouldn't consider the scores low. Three years ago, when I was first researching the schools here, it had a 92% rating. Granted, that's not the highest in the area but in general, I'd consider the schools in Madison to be pretty decent over all. I chose Stephens specifically for it's diversity. My kids are half asian and half white and I wanted them to not feel like they were in a sea of white. Middleton had schools rated in the high 90s but they also have 98% white student body population. I just wanted something different for my kids.

[Chelito23]

I went to Jefferson way back when...it is still a decent middle school. The MMSD isn't what it used be, the demographics have shifted radically from as little as 10 years ago when it was predominantly white and had close to a 20% minority population....fast forward to 2010 and it's about half minority, about half of the students are from impoverished families...so the resources are redirected and with this economy, budget cuts, tax issues and a student body with more needs vs the virtually all upper to middle class student body it used to have, priorities have changed. It's still a good school district but no where is perfect and the MMSD offers a good balance of good education in a truelly diverse environment.

Bottom line is Glen Stepehns is a good elementary school and Jefferson serves it's purpose.