Mayor reveals $418M capital budget as referendum looms
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway unveiled a relatively lean $418.3 million capital budget for 2025 that reduces Madison’s borrowing and reflects how the city’s budget crisis on the operations side is affecting its capacity for new projects.
New investments in the mayor’s proposal include a $46 million Far West Side public works facility and the consolidation of a South Side police precinct with new space for evidence storage.
Other capital projects highlighted by Rhodes-Conway include nearly $18 million worth of infrastructure upgrades on Regent Street and a $5 million expansion of Pleasant View Road.
But the mayor acknowledged that the looming drama of whether voters will back a $22 million referendum to supplement the city’s operating budget is overshadowing the city’s investments in infrastructure and facilities.
“This is not your typical year,” she said at a press conference Tuesday. “We made careful choices in the capital budget to minimize future operating costs and burdens on the taxpayers.”
That’s reflected in projects like the public works facility. City staff often have to trek between Downtown and the Far West Side, and the new facility is expected to cut down on those trips and save a half a million dollars in fuel costs.
Other projects are being delayed because the city doesn’t have the money to staff and operate them.
“This budget continues to deliver on the foundational underpinning of city services, continues to deliver strong infrastructure, and it continues to deliver sound fiscal management,” the mayor said.
With the capital budget released, attention will pivot to an unprecedented operating budget reveal coming in October. Officials will release two versions of the 2025 operating budget, one that reflects voters passing the $22 million referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot and one that doesn’t reflect the extra revenue.
If the referendum passes, the budget will will maintain existing city services and staffing levels. If voters reject the referendum, the budget will include $6 million in cuts for 2025.
It’s unknown where those proposed cuts will be in the mayor’s proposal, but city departments and divisions have identified potential service reductions and the elimination of programs.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s 2025 capital budget includes a $46 million public works facility on the Far West Side and $18 million in upgrades for Regent Street.
How does it compare?
At $418.3 million, the mayor’s proposal is record-setting in cost and is 11.1% larger than the previous record of $376.5 million in 2023. It’s 53.2% higher than this year’s $273.1 million budget.
But those totals alone don’t reflect the nuances of the capital budget.
The mayor’s infrastructure proposal taps about $85 million more from non-city sources such as federal and state government compared with this year’s capital budget.
The proposal also calls for the city to borrow $125.9 million for 2025, a roughly $12.4 million reduction from last year’s borrowing total.
When adjusted for inflation, the city’s reliance on borrowing will be the lowest it has been since 2020, which was Rhodes-Conway’s first budget.
Capital borrowing is debt the city has to service every year in its operating budget. The mayor’s capital proposal for 2025 makes the city’s debt service 16.6% of its operating budget. If the budget were to be passed by the City Council as is, that figure would peak at 18.1% in 2028 and fall back to 16.6% by 2030.
In the past 20 years, the lowest that figure has been was 10.1% in 2008.
Other highlights
Each capital budget includes a nonbinding, five-year Capital Improvement Plan, which includes existing and new funding for projects in almost every part of city government.
Notable projects in the Capital Improvement Plan between 2025 and 2030 include:
- $30.2 million in new funding for second and third phases of the Community Development Authority’s Triangle redevelopment Downtown,
- $16.2 million in borrowing pledged for the city’s Affordable Housing Fund in 2030, building on a doubling of the fund announced last year,
- $4.3 million from city borrowing, the federal government and other sources for
- ,
- $5 million in borrowing between 2027 and 2030 for new portable police radios,
- and $400,000 in borrowing to match federal money for planning for a passenger rail station in Madison.
‘Horizon list’
Like in past capital budgets, a slew of projects are included in a “horizon list,” meaning that there is a clear need for them and planning should continue but the city is not yet ready to put them on the five-year Capital Improvement Plan.
Two more modest projects have been added to the list for the coming year: $2.5 million for PFAS-free equipment for the Madison Fire Department and $400,000 in upgrades to fueling infrastructure for the city’s vehicle fleet.
Another project on the list last year — improvements to Breese Stevens Field — will receive a city match of $4 million if the Parks Division is awarded a grant from the state for the upgrades, the budget notes.
Tens of millions of dollars worth of improvements at city parks remain on the list from past budgets, including about $16 million for a community center at Elver Park, a $4.5 million upgrade to James Madison Park and a $14 million endeavor to implement the master plan for Vilas Park.
A $15.7 million new Madison police station on the North Side remains on the list, as well as a $20 million operations center for traffic engineering and parking operations.
Here’s how every Madison school got its name
BADGER ROCK MIDDLE
Who or what named for: An in-district charter school with an interdisciplinary, project-based learning system, Badger Rock was named for the street it’s on, staff said.
Location: 501 E. Badger Road
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, the greenhouse at Badger Rock Middle School in December 2016.
BLACK HAWK MIDDLE
Who or what named for: Black Hawk (1767-1838) was a band leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe. Through an interpreter, Black Hawk also published the first Native American autobiography in 1833.
Location: 1402 Wyoming Way
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, eighth-grader Bridget Fair places a sign on a student’s locker for the “Be Someone’s Reason To Smile” campaign at the school in December 2017. The students put up about 420 signs on students’ lockers in a bid to fight bullying with positive actions.
CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Madison is the capital city of Wisconsin. The alternative high school moved into a renovated district building in 2023.
Location: 3802 Regent Street
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above, school staff member Larry Palm leads a tour of a newly renovated classroom at Capital High. The renovations changed the layout of the former Hoyt School building and added new classrooms.
CHAVEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Cesar Chavez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was a Mexican American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association.
Location: 3502 Maple Grove Drive
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, members of Opera for the Young perform “Cinderella” at Chavez Elementary School in fall 2012.
CHEROKEE HEIGHTS MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is part of the Summit Woods neighborhood, which is replete with Native American street and place names. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest of five Native American tribes that settled in the American Southeast. Of Iroquoian descent, the tribe originally were from the Great Lakes region.
Location: 4301 Cherokee Drive
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, parents, community members and teachers greet students on their first day of school at Cherokee Heights Middle School on September 2, 2016.
CRESTWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Originally known as Highlands-Mendota Beach School, Crestwood sits on the north side of Old Sauk Road, which also is the northern boundary of a 177-home residential development known as Crestwood, the neighborhood name chosen by the Wisconsin Cooperative Housing Association in 1936.
Location: 5930 Old Sauk Road
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above is an exterior of the school.
EAST HIGH SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Reference to the school’s location in the city.
Location: 2222 E. Washington Ave.
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above, East High principal Mike Hernandez points out improvements in sound, lighting, seating and technical systems in the school’s theater as part of a $4.7 million renovation nearing completion in July 2017. Behind Hernandez is the redesigned stage, with its new, polished-wood arch. Wood panels, known as wave clouds, on the ceiling were installed to provide better sound quality.
ELVEHJEM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Born in McFarland, Conrad E. Elvehjem (May 17, 1901 – July 27, 1962) was a renowned American biochemist who identified vitamin B3. He spent nearly his entire academic career at UW-Madison, serving as university president from 1958-1962.
Location: 5106 Academy Drive
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, Rachel Leikness, 8, in August 2016 enjoys the boundless playground at Elvehjem Elementary School, which was the first such certified playground in the state when it opened in 2008. “The playground has been used in ways that we never envisioned,” said Kelli Betsinger, an Elvehjem resident who helped raise money for the project so her son, who has cerebral palsy, could play with other children. One unanticipated use: grandparents joining their grandchildren atop the playground.
EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Ralph Waldo Emerson, (1803-1882) an American poet, essayist, philosopher and lecturer who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was a champion of individualism.
Location: 2429 E. Johnson St.
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, an Emerson Elementary class listens to a radio broadcast in 1931.
EZEKIEL GILLESPIE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The former Thomas Jefferson Middle School was renamed Ezekiel Gillespie Middle School in 2023. Gillespie (May 31, 1818 – March 31, 1892) was an African American civil rights and community leader who won a landmark case securing voting rights in Wisconsin.
Location: 101 S. Gammon Road
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, students and staff participate in a dance class as part of the summer arts academy in 2023.
FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Ben Franklin (1705-1790) was one of the nation’s Founding Fathers, as well as an author, printer, postmaster, inventor, diplomat and eventual abolitionist. From 1785 to 1788, he also served as governor of Pennsylvania.
Location: 305 W. Lakeside St.
Grades: K4-2nd
Pictured above, the school’s playground area in May 2017.
GOMPERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Samuel Gompers (January 27, 1850 – December 13, 1924) was an English-born American labor leader and key figure in American labor history, based in New York.
As the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), he led a nationwide strike in 1886 for an eight-hour workday, among other actions in a career that helped the labor movement win a permanent — if now weakened — place in American society.
Location: 1502 Wyoming Way
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, the school’s art room in October 2015.
HAMILTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: In 1993, the Madison School District renamed the former Van Hise Middle School for Velma Hamilton, a trailblazer in Madison’s civil rights and education communities who helped found the Madison chapter of the NAACP and was remembered as a tireless advocate for children and the black community at the time of her death in July 2009 at age 99.
Hamilton was dean of liberal studies at Madison Area Technical College, where she was hired in 1950 as the college’s first black teacher when it was known as Madison Vocational School. She was personally active on issues including fair housing, an end to red-lining and the hiring of more black teachers in the schools.
Location: 4801 Waukesha St.
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, Hamilton assistant principal Mike Brown peruses items retrieved from a 1957 time capsule that had been recently unearthed by construction crews working on an expansion of the school in December 2015.
HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Nathaniel Hawthorne, (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) an American novelist best known for writing The Scarlett Letter, published in 1850.
Location: 3344 Concord Ave.
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, Jill Skeans, a positive behavior support coach at the school, gives K’won Watson a hug as he visits her office on March 31, 2017. K’won had done well that day on his “Daily Dolphin Report,” a relationship-building tool that encourages good behavior. Unbeknownst to them both, the day would be K’won’s last at the school.
HENDERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Virginia Henderson (1932-2019) was a longtime school psychologist at the school and served as the special assistant to the superintendent for equity and diversity from 1991-1997.
Location: 1201 Tompkins Drive
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, fourth-graders Sofia Rupnow, left, and Rosa Aleman make wallets from duct tape during a recess craft day at Henderson Elementary in February 2016.
HUEGEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Dr. Ray W. Huegel (1890-1969) was a dentist and member of the Madison School Board from 1934 to 1968.
Location: 2601 Prairie Road
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, Julia Cedergren, right, a Memorial High School sophomore, helps first-grader Jayda Jones in April in an art class at the elementary school during SPIRIT Day, an annual day of volunteerism by Memorial students.
KENNEDY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: John F. Kennedy, the nation’s 35th president, born May 29, 1917, held office from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963.
Location: 221 Meadowlark Drive
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above is an exterior of Kennedy Elementary School shot in August 2017.
LA FOLLETTE HIGH
Who or what named for: Born just outside New Glarus, Robert Marion “Fighting Bob” La Follette (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) was a Republican and Progressive politician who represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and as governor of the state from 1901 to 1906. He sought many progressive reforms as governor, including workers’ compensation and women’s suffrage. He ran for president as a third-party candidate in 1924 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1906-1925.
Location: 702 Pflaum Road
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above, junior Sarah Lee reaches for a bowl of food including locally grown sweet potatoes from the UpRoot by REAP food truck at La Follette.
LAKE VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is across Warner Park from Lake Mendota, a bit northeast of the lake. It’s also across the street from Warner Park Lake or lagoon, so this one’s a toss-up, or maybe it’s not either-or.
Location: 1802 Tennyson Lane
Grades: K-5th
Pictured above, first graders practice treble clefs at an after-school program in November 2016.
LAPHAM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Increase Allen Lapham (March 7, 1811 – Sept. 14, 1875) was an author, scientist and naturalist who moved to the Milwaukee area in 1836. In 1848, he founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association, predecessor of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, of which he also was a charter member.
Location: 1045 E. Dayton St.
Grades: K4-2
Pictured above, from left, Demontae Ellison, Mikelle Blue, and Pamodou Barry, all 11, go for a frisbee thrown by a player from the Madison Radicals ultimate frisbee team during a Read Up event at the school in July 2017.
LEOPOLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Aldo Leopold, (1887-1948) famed American author, ecologist and environmentalist, also was the first professor of game management at UW-Madison and published A Sand County Almanac in 1949.
Location: 2602 Post Road
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, fourth-grade students at Aldo Leopold Elementary School sample reduced sugar maple sap during a trip to the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in March.
LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Abraham Lincoln (born Feb. 12, 1809) was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the nation’s 16th president from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He led the United States through the Civil War, preserving the Union, abolishing slavery and strengthening the federal government.
Location: 909 Sequoia Trail
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, Lincoln Elementary School third-grader Ja’Kiya meets weekly with Madison police Officer Jodi Nelson through a mentoring program called Bigs in Blue in 2020.
LINDBERGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Charles Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, explorer and environmental activist. He won world fame by making the first solo transatlantic flight, a non-stop flight between North America and Europe in 1927. An effort to rename the school began in March 2023 because of the famous aviator’s ties to Nazism and antisemitic statements. As of July 2024, the school is still sitting in the district’s queue of school renamings to consider, according to Betsy Abramson, a Madison resident who was among the first to push for the name change. Possible names put forward in 2023 include Northport, Yahara, Marsh or Sandhill Elementary.
Location: 4500 Kennedy Road
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, the school sign outside Lindbergh shows an airplane above the full school name.
LOWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was a Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate best known as an American Romantic poet and member of a New England writers’ group known as the “Fireside Poets.”
Location: 401 Maple Ave.
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, the cafeteria, carved out of two kindergarten classrooms, has a homey feel, complete with a tiled fireplace. “This isn’t a standard school. It’s 100 years old and we’re celebrating that,” Principal John Burkholder said in May 2017.
MALCOLM SHABAZZ CITY HIGH SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The alternative high school is named after activist Malcolm X, also known as Malcolm Shabazz. It’s name changed in 1979 after merging with City High School.
Location: 1601 North Sherman Ave.
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above is an exterior of the school from June 2024.
MARQUETTE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Jacques Marquette, (1637–1675), a French missionary and explorer best known as the first European to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River. He founded missions in present-day Michigan and later joined fellow explorer Louis Joliet on an expedition to discover and map the Mississippi River.
Location: 1501 Jenifer St.
Grades: 3-5
Pictured above, the school sign outside Marquette.
MENDOTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is one block off Northport Drive near Lake Mendota.
Location: 4002 School Road
Grades: K4-5th
Pictured above, students enter the school as they are greeted by community members in September 2017.
MIDVALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school sits on the east side of South Midvale Boulevard and includes enrollment from the adjacent Midvale Heights neighborhood, an area first settled in the 1850s. The school also is the site of the 26-plot Midvale Elementary/Community Garden.
Location: 502 Caromar Drive
Grades: 4K-2nd
Pictured above, students at Midvale use a then-new handicap-accessible ramp at the school in September 2016. Midvale saw $2.7 million in upgrades that year, including a new playground and cafeteria, ramps, lifts and other structural changes to improve accessibility.
MILELE CHIKASA ANANA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Milele Chikasa Anana (1934-2020) served as the first Black school board member in Wisconsin and was the longtime editor and publisher of UMOJA Magazine. The school board voted to rename the school after Anana in 2021, removing the name of longtime Madison superintendent Philip Falk, who served from 1939-1963, after it was discovered Falk was part of a KKK student group at UW-Madison.
Location: 6323 Woodington Way
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, Nathan Prieser, left, and Molly McKay play together in their 4K classroom at Anana, on Madison’s Southwest Side in October. The 4K program uses three-hour classes incorporating play and other elements to help 4-year-olds start getting ready for full-time school and to improve their social, emotional and academic skills.
MUIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Scottish-American naturalist John Muir (April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914) was an author, environmental philosopher and early advocate for the preservation of U.S. wilderness. Co-founder of the Sierra Club in California, Muir left his Marquette County family farm when he was 22 to study at UW-Madison for a few years before leaving to travel the country.
Location: 6602 Inner Drive
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above is an exterior shot of the school.
NUESTRO MUNDO COMMUNITY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The Spanish name given this dual-language immersion in-district charter school translates to “Our World” in English. The school moved into the former Allis Elementary School building in 2023.
Location: 4201 Buckeye Road
Grades: K-5
Pictured above, first-graders Isabella Bailey, left, and Chloe Miranda Sandoval eat their lunch at Nuestro Mundo. The school launched a scratch cooking program in 2024.
O’KEEFFE MIDDLE
Who or what named for: Named for Georgia O’Keeffe, the school opened in 1939 as Marquette Junior High and was renamed in the artist’s honor in fall 1993. O’Keeffe was an internationally known painter who was born in Sun Prairie in 1887 and lived for a short time in the school’s neighborhood, according to the school website. Best known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, along with landscapes and New York skyscrapers, O’Keeffe was recognized as the “Mother of American modernism.” She died in 1986 in New Mexico.
Location: 510 S. Thornton Ave.
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, Kyah Cary, sixth grade, works with Pig In a Fur Coat chef Daniel Bonanno on making butternut squash-stuffed cappellacci during the “Top Chef” fundraiser at O’Keeffe.
OLSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Paul J. Olson (1909-1993) was a longtime conservationist and school principal who helped organize the purchase of the Madison School Forest for use as an outdoor conservation classroom. He spent 42 years as a teacher and principal for the school district, including 23 years as Midvale Elementary’s first principal.
Location: 801 Redan Drive
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, Madison Fire Department firefighters Sarah Fox, Troy Dankle and Jim Schmitt lead students through a fire simulation at the school in October.
ORCHARD RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is located within the Orchard Ridge Neighborhood Association, which got its name from the original subdivision of the same name by developers John C. McKenna Jr. and Charles H. Gill.
Location: 5602 Russett Road
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, Emma Serrano, center, 10, signals to her teacher Crystal Davis that she needs water during math class at the school in February 2015.
RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school enrolls its students “within cheering distance” of Camp Randall Stadium, as the school says on its website. Camp Randall, in turn, the football stadium on the UW-Madison campus, sits on the grounds of historic Camp Randall, a former Union Army training camp during the Civil War. The camp was named after then-Governor Alexander Randall, who later became Postmaster General of the United States.
Location: 1802 Regent St.
Grades: 3-5
Pictured above, computer sciences professor Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau works with students enrolled in a UW-Madison Computer Science Catapult Club at Randall Elementary in April 2017. The outreach club pairs UW students with K-12 students throughout the Madison school system to teach children how to code.
SANDBURG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was a Swedish-American poet, writer and editor who won Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry and his biography of Abraham Lincoln. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson described Sandburg as “more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was America.”
Location: 4114 Donald Drive
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, teacher Jennifer Wolfe in April 2017 demonstrates the features of a FitDesk Cycle for students in grades 2-5.
Karen Rivedal | Wisconsin State Journal
SCHENK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: A businessman and politician, Herbert Schenk (June 26, 1880 – April 18, 1972) served as a Wisconsin Progressive Party member of the Wisconsin Assembly from Dane County. He attended Madison public schools and was a lumber yard manager and hardware dealer. He is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.
Location: 230 Schenk St.
Grades: K-5
Pictured above, Fred Leidel reads to kindergartner Lee Mueller at Schenk Elementary School on November 28, 2016, six days before he turned 100. “Grandpa Fred” had read to Schenk kindergartners twice a week since 2010.
SENNETT MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Before 1970, Sennett Middle School was named Lafollette Middle School for its proximity to La Follette High School. The Madison School Board renamed the school in honor of Ray F. Sennett, a former board president and board member for 23 years who had recently died. A 1939 graduate of UW-Madison, Sennett was a prominent Madison citizen, according to the school’s website — vice president of two banks, vice president of the Madison Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Eastside Businessmen’s Club and a March of Dimes campaign chairman.
Location: 502 Plfaum Road
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, sixth grader Milo Rouse learns how to use a combination lock from teacher Lori Longhini on his first day of school.
SHERMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is located about a block east of North Sherman Avenue on Madison’s North Side. The street was named for Roger Sherman, a signer of the U.S. Constitution from Connecticut.
Location: 1701 Ruskin St.
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, Sherman students sign a petition on gun control as they and hundreds of other Madison-area students gathered outside East High School before marching up East Washington Avenue during a school walkout and Capitol rally for gun control.
SHOREWOOD HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is located in the center of the village of Shorewood Hills, a Madison suburb since 1927.
Location: 1105 Shorewood Boulevard
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, children play on the school’s new playground equipment in September 2017.
SOUTHSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The district’s newest school, which opened to students in September 2023, has been temporarily named Southside Elementary. In June 2024, the School Board started the process of finding a permanent name for the school by forming a committee and collecting suggestions from the public. Ideas so far include Lori Mann-Carey Elementary, named after a local education supporter who began the Mann Educational Opportunity Fund, and Shirley Abrahamson Elementary, the first woman to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and as Chief Justice.
SPRING HARBOR MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The school is part of the city’s Spring Harbor neighborhood, a lakeshore oasis that hugs the southwest corner of Lake Mendota and features Spring Harbor beach as well. Opened in fall 1996, the magnet school has an emphasis on environmental science “as our name implies,” according to the school website.
Location: 1110 Spring Harbor Drive
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, visitors to the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Greenhouse at Spring Harbor Middle School explore the newly opened learning center and surrounding gardens during an Earth Day celebration and dedication of the facility at the school on April 22, 2016.
STEPHENS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Glenn W. Stephens (May 15, 1892 – July 31, 1965) was a lawyer and long-time member and past president of the Madison School Board. Born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Stephens moved to Madison for college in 1911, earning a “bachelor of laws” from UW-Madison in 1916, according to a large plaque that hangs in a hallway at Stephens Elementary.
After serving in World War I as an infantry captain from 1917-1919, Stephens returned to Madison to practice law, becoming a senior member of his firm in 1923. He was appointed to the school board to fill an unexpired term in 1927 and then served on the board for many years.
In 1961, the then-newly built elementary school was named for him, and he had grandchildren at the time who attended it. A charter member of the Zor Shrine, Stephens also was past president or potentate of the Madison Club, the Midwest Shrine Association and the Dane County Bar Association.
Location: 120 S. Rosa Road
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, Stephens Elementary School student Marley Patterson views a collection of pinwheels, elements in the school’s kindness curriculum. Children learn how to control their breathing by blowing on the pinwheels.
THOREAU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Henry David Thoreau (July 12 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American writer, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic and historian best known for his book “Walden,” described as a meditation on living simply in the natural world.
Location: 3870 Nakoma Road
Grades: 4K-5th
Pictured above, Sonya Sankaran reads “Wishtree” by Katherine Applegate to her daughter, Satya Sankaran-Lippert, who is in kindergarten, during a family engagement night at the school in February. The book, which addresses issues on immigration, diversity and friendship, was read to every student at Thoreau.
TOKI MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: In 1993, the Madison School Board changed the name of Orchard Ridge Middle School to Akira R. Toki Middle School. Akira R. Toki (1916 – 2012) was a Madison native who fought in Italy and France with the U. S. Army in World War II and was later a member and leader of many veterans groups. He also served as a volunteer for 23,000 hours at the Madison Veterans Hospital over a period of 58 years.
Location: 5606 Russett Road
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, Toki eighth grader Aajiyah Vance meets with Aaron Zimmerman, a representative with the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, during an academic and career planning day at the school last April.
VAN HISE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Charles R. Van Hise (May 29, 1857 – November 19, 1918) was an American geologist, academic and progressive who served as president of the University of Wisconsin System from 1903 to 1918.
In 1874, Van Hise enrolled at UW-Madison, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1879, and in 1892 he was the first to earn a Ph.D. degree from the university, a doctorate in geology. He joined the UW-Madison faculty as a professor in 1879.
Location: 246 S. Segoe Road
Grades: K-5
Pictured above, students choose fresh vegetables to go with their lunches at the school in June 2015.
VEL PHILLIPS MEMORIAL HIGH
Who or what named for: From its inception until 2022, the school was named for James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia. He served as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. On Nov. 22, 2021, the Madison School Board voted to rename the school Vel Phillips Memorial High School after soliciting suggestions to replace the original name since Madison was a slave owner. Phillips was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School, win a seat on the Milwaukee City Council, become a judge in Wisconsin and get elected to statewide office. She died in 2018 at the age of 95. The new name was to take effect for the 2022-23 school year.
Location: 201 S. Gammon Road
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above, Memorial High School instructor Signe Carney guides an Algebra I class at the school in April.
WEST HIGH SCHOOL
Who or what named for: Reference to the school’s location in the city.
Location: 30 Ash St.
Grades: 9-12
Pictured above, West High School senior Camden Powell, right, and other members of the high school’s new drum line practice at the school in February 2017.
WHITEHORSE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: The former Schenk Middle School was renamed Annie Greencrow Whitehorse Middle School in 1993. According to the school’s website, Whitehorse, born in 1906, “exemplified the traditions and culture of the Winnebago people.” She spent much of her adult life in the Madison area and had eight children, many of whom continue to live in the Whitehorse attendance area, the school said. An environmentalist and university lecturer who often joined her grandchildren’s classrooms for educational exercises, Whitehorse provided “critical input” on issues including housing, race relations, and Winnebago culture and language for elected officials.
Location: 218 Schenk St.
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, librarian Jennifer Milne-Carroll helps T.K. Valhmu, left, post his music to a website in an after-school program at Whitehorse in November 2014. At right, Warren Sails, 11, also works on creating music.
WRIGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL
Who or what named for: James Coleman Wright, (1926-1995) was a Madison church and civil rights leader. The late Rev. Wright was pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and served as executive director of the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission. He helped bring about adoption of the city’s Equal Opportunities Ordinance and served as a commission member before leading it.
Wright retired in 1992 after 24 years. During his tenure with the city, he also spearheaded drafting of the city’s first affirmative action ordinance and developed a complaint resolution process for the commission providing a make-whole remedy for victims of discrimination.
Location: 1717 Fish Hatchery Road
Grades: 6-8
Pictured above, from left, Wright eighth graders Raya Broad, Elise Wang, Alyssa Anderson, Jahsa Ramos and her sister, Jada, who is in sixth grade, sport their new uniforms as they hang out on the playground at Wright during recess after lunch on Sept. 6, 2017.
“This is not your typical year. We made careful choices in the capital budget to minimize future operating costs and burdens on the taxpayers.”
Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison
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