University School of Milwaukee

Private day school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US

The University School of Milwaukee (often abbreviated to USM) is an independent pre kindergarten through secondary preparatory school in River Hills and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded as the result of the merger of three schools, Milwaukee Country Day School, Milwaukee Downer Seminary, and Milwaukee University School. USM is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

Milwaukee University School, the oldest of the three schools that merged as University School of Milwaukee, was founded in 1851 as the German English Academy (die deutsch englische Akademie) by a group of Milwaukee German Americans that included educationist Peter Engelmann and hardware wholesaler William Frankfurth. The Academy offered classes that taught the German language and literature, as well as English. In 1891, the academy moved to the German English Academy Building in downtown Milwaukee. The institution changed its name in 1917 to Milwaukee University School because of anti German prejudice that occurred during World War I. In 1964, the Milwaukee University School, the Milwaukee Country Day School and Milwaukee Downer Seminary merged to become the University School of Milwaukee. It operated from two campuses, North and South, one in Whitefish Bay and the other in River Hills. In 1985, the two combined into one campus at the River Hills location, serving students from pre kindergarten through twelfth grade.

On Monday, April 18, 2022, Craig and Kelly Robinson filed a civil lawsuit alleging that "the school acted impermissibly to silence and to retaliate against those adversely affected by, and raising concerns about, the school's unfair treatment of students of color and underrepresented students." Earlier, the couple had given feedback towards the school based on racial and ethnic stereotypes in classroom assignments. Their children, then 9 and 11, were later removed from enrollment at the school. Craig Robinson stated, "We feel like they were retaliated against because we brought up some issues that were sensitive to the administration." The school issued a statement responding to the allegations, "USM's enrollment decisions had nothing to do with complaints of inequity or discrimination." More families later came out with allegations of discrimination.