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MTSD Significantly Exceeds Expectations on 2022-23 State Report Card

Nov 14 2023

The Mequon-Thiensville School District has achieved a ranking of “Significantly Exceeds Expectations” on the 2022-2023 District Report Cards issued in November 2023 by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) with an overall score of 83.5. The district's ranked score is the 8th highest score or in the top 2%, among 367 K-12 public school districts in the state. MTSD has significantly exceeded expectations all nine years that the District Report Cards have been produced.

As part of the state accountability system, the DPI produces report cards for every publicly funded school and district in Wisconsin. Though the DPI warns against comparing outcomes longitudinally in that how scores are arrived at has changed from year to year, the report cards are a useful resource that the District uses to reflect on our strengths and areas for improvement. They provide a helpful point of comparison against other comparable Wisconsin public school districts.

At the foundation of the Wisconsin District and School Report Cards are four priority areas. Schools and districts receive a score for each priority area:

Achievement - proficiency in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics on the annual state assessments
Growth - year-to-year progress in ELA and math achievement
Target Group Outcomes - outcomes for students with the lowest test scores: the Target Group
On-Track to Graduation - reliable predictors of how successfully students are progressing toward completing their K-12 education

For the report cards most recently released, the DPI has shared that multiple years of data impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are used throughout the report card in most of the priority area scores:

Both the Achievement and Growth scores use up to three years of data including (2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23) for those school districts that have it.
The graduation, attendance, and absenteeism components in On-Track to Graduation use lagged data (from 2021-22) and absenteeism scores may use up to three years of data (including 2020-21 and 2019-20).
Target Group Outcomes is based on lagged data as well as multiple years of data.

All six schools in the Mequon-Thiensville School District exceed or significantly exceed expectations on this year’s report cards. Districtwide scores on the MTSD School Report Cards can be found on our district website. Some notable data points include:

MTSD’s overall Achievement score registered in the top 4% of all public school districts in our state
Each MTSD school’s overall student achievement score registered in the top 8% of schools in their category (grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12) across the state
MTSD’s overall Growth score was in the top 5% of all K-12 schools in the state
MTSD scored in the top 6% for Target Group Outcomes and the top 3% for Target Group Achievement compared to other K-12 school districts in Wisconsin
MTSD’s overall Achievement scores compared to all K-12 school districts in the state ranked in the top 2% for English/Language Arts and top 3% for Mathematics
MTSD registered the 3rd highest rate of Advanced Course Completers compared to all K-12 school districts in the state

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Mequon-Thiensville School District Board of Education Approves School Year Budget

Nov 6 2023

The Mequon-Thiensville School District (MTSD) Board of Education voted to certify the tax levy and with it, approved the final 2023-24 school year budget during their regular business meeting on Monday, October 30, 2023. Per Wis. Statutes 120.12(3)(a) and (c), a school board must determine if the tax approved at the District’s Annual Meeting is sufficient to operate and maintain schools for the upcoming school year on or before November 1. Taxes must be certified to municipalities on or before November 10 each year.

Included in the recommendation put forth during Monday’s meeting by Sarah Viera, MTSD’s Executive Director of Business Services and Operations, was an additional levy amount of $1,717,828 into Fund 39, the District’s Debt Service Fund, utilizing an increase in School Levy Tax Credits from the state budget to impose little to no additional tax impact on taxpayers, smoothing tax volatility now and in the future. This amount was proposed in addition to the Debt Service tax levy in the amount of $4,444,310, which was approved during the District’s Annual Meeting on Monday, July 24, 2023.

During the Annual Meeting in July 2023, the Mequon-Thiensville community voted to approve a tax in the amount of $44,067,757 for the 2023-24 school year. This total tax included a General Fund levy in the amount of $39,395,867, Debt Service tax levy in the amount of $4,444,310, and Community Service tax levy in the amount of $227,580. With the increased levy approved on Monday evening, the total tax levy for the 2023-24 school year comes to $45,981,159. The resulting mill rate is $6.81/1,000 of equalized value, a decrease of $.27/1,000 from the prior year.

“While our tax levy will increase from what was discussed in July, in our work to be fiscally responsible, it is prudent for us to utilize all available tools to minimize tax impacts for our community,” said Viera. “Having the flexibility in Fund 39 to either avoid interest, reduce the amount of debt payments, or reduce the amount needed to levy in the next fiscal year, puts the District and taxpayers in the best position possible given our budget challenges this year, and into the future.”

The approval of the 2023-24 school year budget comes with a deficit of $1.4 million, which the MTSD is mitigating through use of Fund Balance and Fund 46, or the District’s “cash on hand.” In order to address future projected budget shortfalls of between $2 to $4 million in 2024-25 and beyond, the MTSD recently announced the launch of the 2023 Community Task Force, the latest in a history of the District’s use of ad-hoc committees to engage the community in important initiatives. The task force will work to assess and explore solutions for the school district’s projected budget deficits.

“Despite what was described as a historic year for funding public schools, the MTSD, as a property-rich community rebounding from declining student enrollment, will not receive significant spendable dollars from the state. Years of little to no increase in adequate state funding has led us into what we can only describe as a budget crisis,” said Dr. Matthew Joynt, Superintendent of Schools. “Unfortunately, we have reached a point where we can no longer just ‘make it work’ in balancing our budget. We are now forced to go even further in finding ways to increase our revenue or be faced with the reality of making some very tough decisions to reduce operating costs going forward.”

On Tuesday, October 24, the 2023 Community Task Force held the first of four scheduled meetings to engage in its review with the goal of presenting recommendations to the Board of Education and administration by early December. All task force meetings will take place in the Range Line Community Center Conference Room at 11040 N. Range Line Rd., and are open to the public. To learn more about the work of the task force, see a schedule of task force meetings, learn more about the budget development process, and access frequently asked questions, please visit: www.mtsd.k12.wi.us/task-force.

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MTSD Launches Community Task Force to Address School Budget Crisis

Oct 23 2023

MEQUON, WI — The Mequon-Thiensville School District (MTSD) has assembled a community task force to assess budget shortfalls, evaluate the top alternatives from a recent analytical process, and suggest prioritized solutions for current and future budget deficits to the MTSD Board of Education and administration.

The 2023 Community Task Force membership includes individuals who represent a diverse range of perspectives related to the school district and community. MTSD parents Joe Nelson and Katie Ott will serve as co-chairs of the Task Force. Nelson is Vice President of Commercial Banking at Bank First and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mequon-Thiensville Chamber of Commerce. Ott is the Director of Voluntary Benefits and partner at M3 Insurance and also serves as a Board member for the Mequon-Thiensville Education Foundation and Wilson Elementary School PTO. Other members of the task force are all Mequon or Thiensville residents, including current and former MTSD parents who have experience across the areas of finance, law, healthcare, human resources, and education, and have demonstrated leadership in their respective fields and in the local community.

As the District prepares to finalize its current school year budget and looks ahead to developing the 2024-2025 school year budget MTSD is projecting deficits of between $2 million to $3 million in 2024 and beyond. Despite what was touted as a historic level of funding for public schools during the 2023-25 Wisconsin state biennial development process, the state of Wisconsin continues to provide school districts with inadequate sustainable funding. In response to this challenge, the MTSD Board of Education completed an analytical process in order to provide additional direction to the District’s administration in solving projected budget shortfalls.

MTSD has a history of engaging the community through ad-hoc committee structures that explore district-wide issues. In 2004, 2007, 2014, 2019, and again in 2021, the District utilized a task force structure, comprised of a diverse group of community stakeholders, to examine issues ranging from school closures, school boundary adjustments, cost savings in the areas of transportation, co-curricular activities, and reconfiguration of schools, to developing a recommendation(s) for how to financially sustain the quality of the District. In each case, the ad-hoc committee or task force has operated independently from the Board of Education and the District, to preserve any undue influence of the elected officials of the school district. The use of a task force, as indicated in the proposed resolution, empowers an external, non-elected committee to devote the time and expertise required for meaningful community engagement, which will equip the Board and administration with a recommendation(s) to address the stated charge.

“This process has a rich tradition in the Mequon-Thiensville School District,” said Matthew Joynt, Ph.D., MTSD Superintendent of Schools. “With a community-led committee dedicated to examining topics that could have a significant impact on the students, staff members, and residents of Mequon and Thiensville, we are able to generate a productive and authentic, solutions-based dialogue. Directly involving community members in addressing our school budget crisis not only fosters engagement, but also ensures that decisions reflect the diverse needs and perspectives of the community.”

The 2023 Community Task Force will meet this fall to engage in its review with the goal of presenting recommendations to the Board of Education and administration by early December. Meetings will take place on the following dates:

Tuesday, October 24 - 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 1 - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 14 - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 28 - 6:00 p.m.

All task force meetings will take place in the Range Line Community Center Conference Room at 11040 N. Range Line Rd. and are open to the public. Community members are encouraged to attend and observe. More information, including a list of all task force members and a more detailed review of the district's processes, fiscal needs, and timeline on budget development and legislative advocacy may be found on the district's website at www.mtsd.k12.wi.us/task-force.

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Homestead High School Announces Seven 2024 National Merit Program Semifinalists

Sep 21 2023

The National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC) recently announced the names of over 16,000 Semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Homestead High School is excited to announce that seven of our senior students have qualified as National Merit Semifinalists. Those students include: Camille Chen, Hannah D’Cruz, Maya Graupe, William Harwood, Benjamin Levin, Jasmine Xu, and George Zhu.

These academically talented seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of competition. Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

“The remarkable achievement of these students is a testament to the dedication and excellence of our students, their families, and our outstanding educators here at Homestead and MTSD,” said Eric Ebert, principal of Homestead High School. “These seven scholars have not only demonstrated academic prowess but also a commitment to intellectual curiosity and a passion for learning. We are immensely proud of their accomplishments, and we look forward to seeing them continue to excel as they move forward in their academic journeys.”

Over 1.3 million juniors across 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Students who qualify as Semifinalists based on their performance on the PSAT/NMSQT are the only program participants who have an opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for National Merit Scholarships. From the approximately 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to Finalist level, and in February will be notified of this designation. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Finalists will be announced beginning in April 2024.

Find more information about the National Merit Scholarship Corporation at www.nationalmerit.org

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Homestead Ranked a Top 10 High School in the State and a Best High School in the Nation by the U.S. News & World Report

Sep 6 2023

The U.S. News and World Report has ranked Homestead High School in the Mequon-Thiensville School District #7 out of 452 (Top 2%) ranked high schools in the state of Wisconsin. The school was also ranked #458 of nearly 18,000 (Top 3%) public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation, and how well they prepare students for college. By earning a national ranking in the top 40%, Homestead High School has reaffirmed its achieved status as a U.S. News Best High School.

“Our school community knows its value as Mighty Highlanders, but it’s always nice to see the hard work of our students and staff members validated in rankings like this,” said Eric Ebert, Principal of Homestead High School. “I’m proud of the dedication, impressive achievements, and continued successes of our students and educators - all of those things are absolutely reflected in this update from the U.S. News & World Report.”

U.S. News bases rankings on performance on six ranking indicators: college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance, underserved student performance, and graduation rate. While the six ranking indicators that determined each school’s rank were the same as those used in the three prior years, U.S. News adjusted its calculation of these measures to account for the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on schools in the 2019-2020 school year. A notable achievement for 2023 was Homestead’s rank as #2 in the state and #397 in the nation in the category of College Curriculum Breadth Index Rank. This indicates the proportions of 12th graders who took and passed AP or IB exams in multiple areas.

“The collective drive of our students, passion of our educators, and support of our community is evident in this most recent ranking from the U.S. News & World Report,” said Dr. Matthew Joynt, Superintendent of Schools. “This ranking is a testament to the value of high-quality public education and affirms MTSD’s place as a true ‘launchpad to success’ - something that we could not continue to achieve without the support and teamwork of our entire school community.”

Visit https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin for additional information regarding the state and national rankings.

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College Board National Recognition Awards graphic

Three Homestead Students Receive College Board National Recognition Program Awards

Aug 28 2023

Three students at Homestead High School have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These programs celebrate students' hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs. The following Homestead students earned a National African American Recognition Award academic honor because of their GPA of 3.5 or higher and outstanding performance on the PSAT/NMSQT or AP Exams.

Charlise Ness - 12th grade
Olivia Rembert - 12th grade
Sara Yesufu - 11th grade

“We’re thrilled to celebrate these students and recognize them for the hard work and tenacious effort they’ve consistently put forth in the classroom,” said Eric Ebert, principal of Homestead High School. “We’re proud of their strong academic performance not just on a daily basis, but also on College Board assessments like the PSAT and AP Exams. There’s so much that makes our students unique, and receiving this honor is certainly an asset for their future.”

The criteria for eligible students include a GPA of 3.5 or higher, PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th, attendance school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.

Eligible students are invited to apply to BigFuture during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the start of the next school year in time to share their achievements in high school as they plan for the future. At the same time, colleges and organizations using the College Board’s Student Search Service can connect directly with awardees during the recruitment process.

To learn more about College Board and Big Future, visit: https://www.bigfuture.org

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Homestead Latin Team Carries on a Tradition of Success at National Junior Classical League 2023 Convention

Aug 9 2023

The Homestead High School Latin team, led by longtime World Language teacher, Magistra Marianne Wallach, recently returned from the annual National Junior Classical League (NJCL) at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Held each summer, the NJCL is a chance for classics students across the nation to celebrate and compete in a multitude of diverse events to showcase the proficiency, enthusiasm, and talents of students in all that is Latin and Greek.

This year, the Homestead team joined 60 Wisconsin students to compete with more than 1,200 delegates across 30 states. Wisconsin schools represented were Homestead, Brookfield East, Brookfield Central, Brookfield Academy, USM and Divine Savior Holy Angels. Students competed in 12 academic tests (Roman & Greek History, Grammar, Mythology, Literature, Roman Life, Mottoes, and Reading Comprehension), graphic arts, and Latin Oratory. In addition, all states competed in six Olympika sports. In spite of their small size compared to other larger state delegates, Wisconsin won first place in track and field, soccer, swimming, basketball, and second place in volleyball and ultimate frisbee.

The certamen competition, a Jeopardy-like game, pitting each Latin Level (Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) against other states' teams, was also another highlight of the week. All three of the Wisconsin Level teams qualified for the semifinals, with the Latin I level making it to the final championship round. The Latin I level team was comprised of Homestead rising sophomores Charlotte King, Emily Taylor, Addison Drumm, and Luke LaLonde. This team finished in second place, marking the first time since 1992 that a Wisconsin novice team has made it to the Top 3 championship round of this prestigious event!

Several HHS students also placed in the top five in the nation for the 12 academic tests in their Latin Level, including:

Sophomore Luke LaLonde placed second in the nation for Latin 1 Grammar and Vocabulary and fourth in Derivatives
Sophomore Charlotte King placed second in Classical Art and third in Geography
Sophomore Addison Drumm placed third in Classical Art
Sophomore Emily Taylor placed fifth in Myth
Seniors Olivia Rembert and Brian Franks achieved second and fourth places in the NJCL Essay Writing contest, respectively
Junior Matthew Seiberlich won first place for the 2023 Digital Scrapbook Contest

In addition, sophomore Ian Godden swept all eight swimming events that he competed in at the Olympika swim competition, earning him a second place medal in the Overall Olympika competition and eighth place in Overall Sweepstakes. Junior Owen Gudex was chosen as one of the ten performers at the 2023 That's Entertainment talent show the final evening of the convention. Rounding out the achievements for the Homestead program was a first place finish in Graphic Arts by Addison Drumm for her drawing of the myth Narcissus.

“The LXX National Junior Classical League Convention was a venue where Homestead Latin students displayed talent, spirit and keen knowledge of the ancient classics while gathering with their Wisconsin companions to promote enthusiasm and foster growth and community for the Latin language,” said Magistra Wallach.

As the 2023-24 school year begins, Homestead Latin will begin preparing for next year’s NJCL event at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

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Homestead Students Receive Milwaukee North Shore Rotary Club “Service Above Self” Award

May 17 2023

Homestead High School is proud to announce that juniors Eli Devorkin and Jasmine Xu are recipients of the Jay Miley “Service Above Self” award. This award is given to students who have gone above and beyond in service and commitment to others. Devorkin and Xu were honored in April during a luncheon sponsored by the Milwaukee North Shore Rotary Club.

Both award recipients have been inspired by their parents and mentors to jump into action to make a difference in the lives of others through service. Jasmine and Eli are honor students at Homestead High School and actively participate in numerous clubs and activities both in school and in their community.

“Eli and Jasmine have answered a calling to enrich the lives of others through their kindness, compassion and service to others,” said Homestead High School counselor, Sarah Robinson. “I’m inspired by their service to others - our world certainly needs them.”

Devorkin is passionate about working with and supporting children with physical and mental disabilities. He dedicates his time at All-Star Health Center in Mequon, training and exercising with children and young adults who need extra support. Devorkin plays for the Homestead baseball team, works a part-time job at Les Moise sporting goods store, and is considering a career in physical therapy.

Xu is involved with a non-profit organization called ENGin that connect volunteers with students in Ukraine to teach them English via Zoom. In her teaching role, she meets individually with her students once a week to monitor their English progress and teach new topics. In addition, Xu creates
individualized lesson plans for each student based on their progress and she shares supplemental resources and websites with her students to promote their learning. She also takes time during the week to maintain informal communication with her Ukrainian learners to build a positive relationship with them and support them socially. Additionally, Xu plays the cello with Homestead’s chamber orchestra, is a member of Homestead’s programming club, math team, and golf team. She has recently been selected to attend The Summer Science Program, a highly competitive and academically enriching summer program offering students research opportunities in the STEM fields.

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