Bruce-Guadalupe Community School

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 t student 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 Colleg

Back to list of 2007 winners

Home Legal Contact Us

©2008 KnowledgeWorks Foundation & American Architectural Foundation

American Architectural Foundation KnowledgeWorks Foundation