New High School Planned in Bronzeville

The Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy could build a new high school in Bronzeville.

The public charter school has a pending request before the Board of Zoning Appeals to develop a new building at 2212-2228 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave. It would accommodate approximately 500 students.

The 0.86-acre site is located between W. North Ave. and W. Garfield Ave. and is across the street from the Garfield School Apartments and America’s Black Holocaust Museum. A one-story warehouse occupies the site today.

The property was acquired in 2020 for $50,000 by the VP Garfield LLC, the ThriveOn King partners, as part of the proposed redevelopment of the adjacent former Schuster’s department store at 2153 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Both properties were previously used for storage by CH Coakley.

The school is named for former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Howard Fuller. It was founded in 2003 by Fuller and a group of pastors and was previously known as CEO Leadership Academy and Milwaukee Collegiate Academy. It was previously a private voucher school before transitioning to become a public charter. The school is chartered by the City of Milwaukee.

Fuller is now the board chair emeritus. Michelle Nettles is the current board chair. Milwaukee Public Schools board member Aisha Carr is listed as a board member. Judith Parker is the principal.

The school is currently located at 4030 N. 29th St. near W. Capitol Dr. It had 312 students last school year according to a public database. Its current property is leased from Goodwill Industries of Southeast Wisconsin.

The charter school boasts a 100% college acceptance rate since 2012. The application says 50 to 65 employees would work at the school.

No detailed plans of the proposal are available, but a written narrative suggests it would be at least four stories tall. An outdoor space for student activities would be located on the fourth level.

According to an application, the proposal would “add an updated, modern building of a scale comparable to buildings surrounding it.”

ThriveOn King is a partnership of Royal Capital Group, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Medical College of Wisconsin.

Royal Capital Group project manager Terrell J. Walter acknowledged that a school could potentially occupy the site in November. A 2019 site plan said the property would become a “wellness” facility.

“It’s really really premature to talk through any detail there while they’re going through an evaluation phase about where they land,” said Walter at a Nov. 15 Bronzeville Advisory Committee meeting.

At least two new high schools have been built in Milwaukee in recent years. Hmong American Peace Academy opened a new school last fall on the city’s far Northwest Side. Cristo Rey Jesuit High School opened at 1818 W. National Ave. in the Clarke Square neighborhood.

A representative of the school did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.