Abbreviation: USM

The only commercial establishment in the fashionable Milwaukee suburb of River Hills, it is a K-12 prep school with fewer than 400 students in the high school.

The foreign language department offers 6 years each of French and Spanish and two years of Latin.

The English department offers various courses having to do with English, including Advanced Composition and Rhetoric and Advanced Placement English.

The History curriculum includes a year of Non-Western history for Freshmen, European history for sophomores, US history for juniors, and various electives for seniors.

Math in the high school (or "Upper School", as it is called) goes from Algebra I through Multivariable Calculus.

The science department has full-year classes in biology, chemistry, and physics, and semester classes in other topics.

Nearly all of the subjects mentioned have an applicable Advanced Placement course.

Tuition and fees are as follows:
Prekindergarten/Junior Kindergarten (half day) - $5,164.28
Prekindergarten and Junior Kindergarten (full day) / Senior Kindergarten - $9,235.42
Lower School (grades 1-4) - $10,003.46
Middle School (grades 5-8) - $11,698.50
Upper School (grades 9-12) - $12,960.68

Although scholarships are available, the high cost makes attending USM extremely difficult for those who are neither rich nor talented boys' ice hockey players.

Despite a financial scandal at the end of the 1999-2000 ice hockey season, the program remains strong as of 2000.

Editorial comment: It's wonderful if you can afford it, but if you expect a model community of talented, motivated students, you will be sorely disappointed.

While not quite a commercial establishment, University School of Milwaukee was founded (and still exists) to serve Milwaukee's old money. Although it runs less on Beer Money today than it did at its founding in 1848, the influence of the rich Milwaukee German community is still seen; the halls are graced by portraits and busts of the school's founder, educational pioneer and freethinker Peter Engelmann.

An excellent education can be had on the coattails of the wealthy. Although smaller now than in the past, small bands of individualists (past notables include the staff of The Tradition and the Couch People) still roam the hallowed halls.

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