Ambassador Program

Our Ambassador Program is a unique student leadership opportunity that empowers students to represent Kluge with pride. Ambassadors welcome visitors and guests, lead school tours, and deliver announcements, all while building confidence and communication skills.

Arts in Community Education (ACE) Program

The Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra Arts in Community Education (ACE) Program advances children’s learning through an acclaimed arts-integrated curriculum. It brings visual and performing arts to Kluge by incorporating engaging arts experiences into core subjects.

City Year Jr.

Run by our City Year team, this program gives students opportunities to model leadership, uphold school expectations, and grow in their own service roles.

Danceworks Mad Hot Rhythm

Danceworks Mad Hot Rhythm inspires our students to move their bodies and work together to create performing art. Participation in Mad Hot Rhythm boosts self-confidence and creativity, promotes respect, and teaches children that creative movement feels great!

Junior Coach Program

The Junior Coach Program is a youth leadership program open to students at Kluge. Junior Coaches support their peers during recess, ensuring that all students feel welcomed and involved in playground activities. Through monthly training sessions, they learn how to serve as peer role models and develop skills like responsibility, effective communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Our Junior Coaches highlight the positive impact that young people can have on our school community.

Learning Journeys

Learning Journeys are educational field trips for all MPS students that are designed to take what students are learning in the classroom out into the real world. These annual opportunities aim to expand students’ career awareness (K3–grade 3) and help them explore potential careers (grades 4 and 5).

Milwaukee Art Museum Junior Docent School Program

The Milwaukee Art Museum Junior Docent School Program invites students in grades three through five to explore the visual arts during ten visits to the Milwaukee Art Museum. This personalized, three-year course of study teaches vocabulary and history, and students develop cultural and historical awareness. They earn “Junior Docent” status after selecting, researching, and presenting a favorite item from the museum’s collection!

Milwaukee County Zoo Animal Ambassadors

This program helps fourth graders develop a deep understanding of the relationship between humans, animals, and our environment. Students learn through classroom lessons, Milwaukee County Zoo field trips, and conversations with zoo educators (animal experts). The program ends with a celebration of conservation for new “animal ambassadors.”

Positive Behaviors Interventions & Supports (PBIS)

To promote positive student behavior and improve learning, MPS uses a system of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

PBIS is a three-tiered approach that begins by teaching expectations and encouraging collaboration and consistency in classrooms. Teachers and students co-design agreements and routines that align with three districtwide expectations: “Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible.” For students who need more support, higher tiers offer structure, interventions, and follow-up to address specific concerns.

After years of use, MPS and other districts across the country are reporting higher student achievement, improved school environments, and fewer classroom disruptions and student suspensions.

Turnaround Arts

Turnaround Arts is a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Turnaround Arts empowers high-needs schools with innovative visual art, dance, theater and music programs and integrates the arts across all subject areas. The program’s whole-school transformation goals include closing the achievement gap, increasing student engagement, and boosting attendance through a strategic use of the arts. At Kluge, our students are involved in two musicals per year.