Fifth grade students scoring 95% or above on either reading or math on the Terra Nova test who are no longer in MMSD as 6th graders:

• 354 students scoring 95% or above on either reading or math (or both)
• 34 of these 354 students are no longer in MMSD = 9.6%
• Approximately 15 of these 34 students are still in Madison or surrounding communities

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Some stories from these parents:


He was at _______ Middle School (MMSD) for the whole first semester, and although he liked the teachers and the school, he said the kids who get the attention are the jocks and he doesn't fit in with them. He likes to be with kids with similar interests (especially in academics) and he didn't find that at _______. Now that he's at Eagle, his mom realizes it's the first time in his life he's working hard academically. At MMSD,he never brought any work home because he was always able to finish it school, and he never had any long-term projects the way he doesn't Eagle.

"The public schools did not meet my daughter's needs in any way."

Although her daughter had great teachers in fifth grade, her classes at _______ Middle School (MMSD) would have been large and less individualized. Mom happened to get a job at a private school so all three of her children go there now. Mom said there's no way her kids will come back to MMSD for high school. They're looking into the Virtual Academy for high school right now.

"I'm a single parent, and paying for my daughter's tuition to go to Wingra is practically breaking me. But, after she went three weeks to _______ Middle School (MMSD), I felt I had to do what it takes to have my daughter in a safe, quieter, caring environment." Mom feels _______ is a "factory" school. After three weeks, they hadn't even met the principal. The environment was loud, rushing, noisy, and just too big. Now that her daughter is experiencing learning at Wingra and she looks back on her daughter's experiences, she said her daughter didn't receive any student-directed learning at _______ .... Reflecting back on her daughter's fifth grade experience in _______ Elementary School (MMSD), she felt the curriculum was challenging enough but that her daughter didn't learn as much she could because of the disruptive behavior tolerated on the part of many other students in the classroom. Her daughter has a very "bright" friend still at _______ Middle School (MMSD), and she hates it there, envying what her friend is able to do it Wingra.

"We visited _______ Middle School (MMSD), but we didn't like what we saw there. We have moved Sun Prairie for their schools. Our daughter and ourselves are very happy with the schools there. They know her and they are challenging her."