A strong support network lifts students and families at La Escuela Fratney and helps prepare students for success in high school.

Danceworks, Inc.

Founded in 1992, the mission of Danceworks, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to enhance joy, health, and creativity by engaging the community through dance. Sixth graders participate in Danceworks’ Mad Hot Rhythm, an innovative educational dance program that provides arts and physical education.

First Stage

First Stage touches hearts, engages minds, and transforms lives by creating extraordinary theater experiences for young people and families. Students attend First Stage Milwaukee performances, and First Stage educators bring theater-skill and arts-integrated workshops to our school.

Florentine Opera

Founded in 1933 and now Milwaukee’s oldest professional performing arts organization, Florentine Opera’s theatrical and educational experiences explore the glory of the human voice and showcase stories and songs that have endured for centuries. The company even presents a fully costumed and staged children’s opera at schools, libraries, and other family-friendly locations. Florentine Opera stages an annual performance at La Escuela Fratney for our students and even invites some of them to participate in its professional productions.

Junior Achievement USA

Junior Achievement USA is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. Junior Achievement’s programs in work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century. Scholars participate in Junior Achievement programming through Junior Achievement of Wisconsin.

Lynden Sculpture Garden

The Lynden Sculpture Garden offers a unique experience of art in nature through its collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures sited across 40 acres of park, lake, and woodland. Students enjoy field trips to the garden. La Escuela Fratney’s art specialist teacher collaborates with Lynden artist educators to provide additional artmaking and arts research experiences to students.

Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum collects and preserves art, presenting it to the community as a vital source of inspiration and education. From its art gallery roots in 1888, the museum has become a Milwaukee icon and a resource for Wisconsin. Education is central to the museum’s mission, with educational programs that are among the largest in the nation, involving classes, tours, and a full calendar of events for all ages. Third through fifth graders participate in the Milwaukee Art Museum Junior Docent School program.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO)

Founded in 1959, MSO is led by Music Director Ken-David Masur. Symphony musicians perform more than 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts yearly. The symphony develops music appreciation and talent among area youth through its performances and the Arts in Community Education (ACE) program. ACE brings MSO musicians, fellow artists, lesson plans, and learning materials to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers in Wisconsin. Students in ACE-affiliated schools attend an MSO concert just for them at the Bradley Symphony Center.

Peace Learning Center (PLC)

PLC of Milwaukee offers effective, standards-based programs to Milwaukee area school and community groups. Workshops empower participants to practice and use healthy, nonviolent communication strategies to manage and resolve conflict in their daily lives. Second- through fifth-grade students participate in Peacemakers Workshops.

Reflo

Reflo works with partners including MPS, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, City of Milwaukee, Fund for Lake Michigan, and Community Design Solutions to support area schools in an intensive, collaborative process to design and redevelop greener, healthier schoolyards. Projects are tailored to the specific needs and enthusiasm of the school. Designs go beyond removing pavement to maximize benefits for communities, the environment, and local economy. Fratney and Reflo celebrated the opening of our redeveloped schoolyard in 2021.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM)

UWM provides affordable, world-class education to 23,000 students from 86 countries. UWM students majoring in education, the arts, and other fields of study join the La Escuela Fratney community as interns, mentors, and tutors.

We also partner with UWM through the PIECE Project (Preparing Inclusive Early Childhood Educators), a five-year grant focused on supporting inclusive classrooms in early childhood (K3–3rd grade). UWM faculty, researchers, and former MPS teachers regularly collaborate with our educators through mentoring, professional learning, and co-planning to strengthen practices that support all learners—including multilingual students and those with disabilities. Together, we are learning from real classrooms, sharing strategies, and building inclusive, supportive environments where every child can thrive.

Upham Woods

Students enjoy annual overnight trips to Upham Woods, a residential outdoor learning center opened in 1941 and managed by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension. The center sits on the Wisconsin River, two miles north of the Wisconsin Dells, offering an excellent “river classroom” to study both the natural and cultural history of Wisconsin. The center rests on 318 total acres of forested land, including a 210-acre island called “Blackhawk Island.”

Urban Ecology Center

The vision of the Urban Ecology Center is to inspire generations to build environmental curiosity, understanding, and respect, restoring hope and healing our urban natural world, neighborhood by neighborhood. Scholars engage in field-research experiences at the Urban Ecology Center.