New Berlin School District

The New Berlin School District (aka New Berlin Public Schools, NBPS) includes a number of schools, including:
* Elementary Schools: Elmwood, Glen Park, Orchard Lane, Poplar Creek, Ronald Regan
* Middle/High Schools: Eisenhower and New Berlin West

The location at 4333 S. Sunnyslope is Eisenhower Middle/High School.

I attended Glen Park Elementary School and later New Berlin Eisenhower Middle and High School, so this review is colored primarily by those experiences. However, I also have experience with the school board, and since have left the state for college and now am involved in education in California.

NBPS is absolutely one of the best school districts in the area. When my parents moved to the Milwaukee area, my dad compromised his commute in order to live in New Berlin so I could attend Glen Park and Eisenhower. I am so fortune to have such caring parents who sacrified much so I could attend school here, and I am very thankful to my schools that really helped shape who I have become. Without a question, the great programs and teachers at Glen Park and Eisenhower taught me to think in new ways, challenged me to do my best, and gave me a number of opportunities to get involved in the community. I owe in large part to these schools (and my parents!) that I was later able to attend Harvard University (BA) and Stanford University (MBA).

Although at the time I think I was the first student to go to Harvard, many have gone to great schools around the country and within the state. The plurality of students (and majority of top students) choose to attend UW-Madison and Minnesota (Twin Cities). The rest divide up equally among the many great Wisconsin colleges including Milwaukee, Eau Claire, and Whitewater.

The things that really set Eisenhower, in particular, apart included:
* Rich athletic program (though tennis and swimming programs lost funding)
* Academic extracurriculars including AcDec, Forensics
* Student government, FBLA, and other leadership opportunities
* Community service organizations
* Some great teachers (though mixed, see below).
* Mixed student body (which I feel is important in high school, not good to isolate with just one type)
* Good number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses
* Good library with computers and other resources (and books!)
* Very good Spanish program (but see below)
* The community has a number of great ways to get involved including the New Berlin Youth Advisory Board, Teen Court, SAYES, etc.

However, some issues I found at the time:
* Utter lack of diversity (except 95% caucasian)
* Nonexistent career services and university placement in high school (counseling in general was awful - the exception being the middle school guidance counselor who was great)
* Abysmal cafeteria food
* Limited technical and occupational courses (shop, autos, etc)
* Limited math and computer science courses
* Limited foreign language courses. At my time, only Spanish, French, and German. And these classes don't start until Middle School. There is NO foreign language instruction in elementary school. Completely unacceptable.
* Weak music program
* Mixed teacher quality overall with mixed levels of commitment

All that said, a lot has changed since I graduated. The school board has turned over, and there is a very strong emphasis now on cost containment and reduction. This is partly due to an aging community and voting demographic that has deprioritized education. As a result, the limited selection of courses has only deteriorated further, funding to many athletic programs has been further cut, and some of the best teachers have been let go.

Eisenhower truly had some amazing teachers. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention names, but my AP Calc teacher and AP Physics were amazing. While I didn't like her at the time, the AP English teacher really had a positive impact on my writing skills and more broadly how I think and behave. The AP US teacher knew more than most historians, though didn't communicate it the best. BUT, the teachers the natural sciences, especially AP Biology, were horrendous. Most of my history teachers had no idea how to excite the class, and it ended up being boring lectures. And the early math-course teachers did a poor job of breaking math concepts down so anyone could understand, and failed to excite students to want to understand math. I'm convinced math skills come almost entirely from understanding at an early level the awesomeness of algebra and how cool it is that everything fits together and can be explained by this voodoo called math. Most of the physical education teachers missed the entire point of their job - to teach students to lead healthy physical lifestyles, and instead just became recess organizers.

No doubt much has changed since I've graduated, so do take that into consideration. Review their website at http://www.nbexcellenc... to see current course and extracurricular offerings.

I hope this helps!