Bruce-Guadalupe Community School

2007

School Demographics

Location: Milwaukee, WI
Community Type: Urban
School Population: 802
Grade Range: K3-8
Free/Reduced Lunch: 82%
School District: Milwaukee Public School
School District Population: 90,000

Bruce Guadalupe Community School (BGCS) is a public charter school, operated by the United Community Center at the United Community Center (UCC) campus in the Walker‘s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee.

Bruce Guadalupe Community School started as a parish school in the later half of the 1800s. Since 2000, it has operated as a charter school with Milwaukee Public Schools. Located on the near south side of downtown Milwaukee, it serves over 700 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The school operates within UCC, which houses the school in two of its buildings. The dynamics of the school are difficult to find in a traditional school. This is thanks to BGCS unique affiliation with UCC, which has created a unique community-based, multi-service, educational model.

The history of this unique partnership is worthy of note. In the 1980‘s the school was struggling financially and lacked a permanent home. The school‘s Board members recognized that merging with UCC would stabilize the school financially, offer a permanent home, and provide a wider range of services and opportunities to students, families, and teachers. As a result, the school merged with UCC in 1991 and in the process it became one of Milwaukee‘s first "voucher " or "choice" schools before receiving charter school status in 2000.

Two schools currently are located on the UCC campus the Bruce-Guadalupe Preschool and Elementary School and the Bruce Guadalupe Middle School. The schools have a combined attendance of more than 700 students. About 97 percent of the schools‘ students are Hispanic, and about 80 percent come from low-income families. Most of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. 42 percent of students‘ parents have a middle school education or less and 58 percent have completed high school.

However, the two schools have achieved great academic success given their commitment to developing the whole child. In September 2007 the school was selected by the State Department of Public Instruction as a New Wisconsin Promise School of Recognition. Eligibility for the honor is subject to being in the top quartile of the state for free/reduced lunch percentages, qualifying for Title I status, high tests scores in reading and mathematics and meeting adequate yearly progress indicators for two or more consecutive years. This award comes on the heels of outstanding student results on the 2006-2007 state tests (WKCE-CRT) where BGCS significantly outperformed Milwaukee Public Schools, State, and State-Wide Hispanic Population in 8th Grade Tests.

An Expanding Campus

As a result of this unique merger between the school and UUCC the students and families at the two schools have access to state-of-the-art facilities that are spread out over five city blocks. The campus includes the main UCC building that houses Bruce-Guadalupe Preschool and Elementary School, the Latino Arts Auditorium and Art Gallery. Other buildings house the Cesar Pabon Fitness Center, the El Centro De Salud Health Center, Café El Sol restaurant, and the Latino Geriatric Center. In addition there are separate buildings on campus for the Bruce-Guadalupe Middle School, the Sixth Street Academy (an alternative middle school), Human Services (Mental Health and AODA services), the UCC US-Bank Village (subsidized housing for seniors), as well as three large gymnasiums.

The design of the campus offers a rich array of educational, social, civic, and artistic opportunities to the broader community that has helped the community become more involved with the school and agency. The facilities are open daily for public use from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Facilities open for community use includes an extensive after-school program, a fitness center, several gymnasiums and a senior citizen center. The Columbia College of Nursing provides on-site health care, dental screenings, and preventive services. Outpatient, day, and residential treatment for alcohol and drug abuse issues are also available on the campus. The Milwaukee Area Technical College also offers adult basic education classes on campus.

One of the prime considerations of a multi-service educational model is the safety of the children. Security cameras monitor all locations including multiple parking lots. All visitors have to enter through the main lobby. All other entrances are secured with only certain staff and personnel having access to key cards. All staff and volunteers are screened through a background check and drug test prior to hiring.

School officials believe, however, that the large array of youth programs offered on site provides healthy alternatives to delinquency. Some programs offered to BGCS students and community youth include youth prevention programs such as Safe and Sound; leadership programs such as the Achievers Academy; service learning through the Youth Volunteer Corps; college and career exploration through the Pre College Program; art, music, and theatre programs and the Youth Orchestra and Mariachi Juvenile Band through Latino Arts., and athletic opportunities through the many leagues and athletic facilities available on site.

A Growing Partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

This success of co-locating such a wide array of services has led to other collaborations and programming opportunities including a growing collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) which keeps a UWM staff member on site to promote collaborations between the two entities. Joint grants for promoting student graduation, research on childhood obesity and other projects have been awarded. The UWM is also a collaborator in the Latino Geriatric Center project along with the Alzheimer’s Institute of Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeast Wisconsin.

The growing collaboration with the University had led the school to make a decision to switch its charter from Milwaukee Public Schools to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2009-'10.

In a recent newspaper article about the switch Ricardo Diaz, director of the United Community Center, noted that the University uses the center as one of its hubs for recruiting Hispanic students and that the direct connection to the college sends a strong message about going to college.

Capital Campaign after Capital Campaign

In a neighborhood where the average wooden-frame house was constructed over 100 years ago, the two BGCS buildings are relatively new structures. Even so, the design of BGCS as a community school was not achieved overnight. The UCC Board of Directors headed six capital campaigns, raising more than $12 million over the past 17 years. UCC’s building campaign in 1991 raised $2.4 million to build the Bruce-Guadalupe Elementary School Elementary School addition to the UCC campus. This was the third building campaign in the organization’s history and the most ambitious one to date. UWM School of Architecture helped design this one-of-a- kind facility.

On the heels of completing this campaign, UCC embarked on its fourth building campaign in 1995 to raise $3.5 million in three years for the addition of the Bruce Guadalupe Preschool, the Café El Sol Restaurant and conference facilities, as well as the Senior Center. Significant contributors to this campaign include Helen Bader Foundation, Faye McBeath Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Rockwell Automation, Harley-Davidson. In 1999 UCC began another campaign to raise $5.5 million to construct the Bruce-Guadalupe Middle School. The school opened in April 2002

UCC is also an active player in the Walker’s Point neighborhood through the Neighborhood Development program working with lenders and other agencies to help responsible low and middle-income families purchase houses formerly owned by absentee landlords in the surrounding neighborhood. These efforts have increased the homeownership rate in the neighborhood from 52 percent to 80 percent and helped to increase property values and a more stable and balanced community.

Conclusion

With its focus on serving the entire family to achieve student success, Bruce Guadalupe Community School is a model community school. The school has recently published a book entitled “Bruce-Guadalupe Community School: A Model for Charter School Success.” Along its journey to becoming a successful community school, BGCS has overcome many struggles and obstacles. Today, schools and organizations from across the country, particularly from Latino communities, are approaching the United Community Center regarding how they can emulate the success of this unique community based multi-service educational model.