After 17 years, Carmen Schools of Science and Technology is one step closer to having its first permanent home.
Carmen Schools, a network of public charter schools serving more than 1,900 students in Milwaukee, broke ground on its $55 million future south side campus on Thursday. In August, Carmen Schools purchased the 6-acre site for the campus, located at 2005 W. Oklahoma Ave., for $4.4 million.
Once completed, the 124,000-square-foot school will bring together students from Carmen’s south and southeast high school campuses. It’s expected to open in fall 2026 — just in time for the 2026-2027 school year. The new school will have capacity for up to 1,100 students. There will be new spaces for innovative learning, labs, arts and athletics, career development opportunities and community gathering spaces.
“This facility will allow us to effectively equip even more students and unleash more brilliant leaders across our city for generations to come,” Carmen Schools chief executive officer Aaron Lippman said at the groundbreaking ceremony. Lippman, a founder of Carmen’s southeast high school, became CEO in July.
Carmen Schools held the groundbreaking inside Ascension’s former Medical Arts Pavilion building that still stands on the property. Carmen plans to demolish the building, as all current structures on the site will be razed to make way for new facilities. Gilbane, Catalyst Construction and Ramlow/Stein Architecture + Interiors are partners for the new campus project.
“By designing this new facility for our students, families, staff and community from the ground up, we will create an improved learning environment that will allow us to further deliver on our promise to develop critical thinkers and self-directed learners,” Lippman said. “The impact of this ambitious project will be felt throughout our entire Milwaukee community as we prepare the next generation of students for a life of choice and opportunity.”
Carmen’s south and southeast high school campuses are currently co-located with Milwaukee Public Schools facilities. Carmen High School of Science and Technology, South, located at 1712 S. 32nd St., was Carmen’s first campus when it opened in 2007. It shares a building with Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes Elementary School, while Carmen High School Southeast shares a building with Pulaski High School.
The MPS board voted in October to not renew those co-location agreements, which expire in June 2026. There are contingency plans in the event of construction delays for the new school.
“Carmen officials have been exploring opportunities to build our own facility for several years, yet recent decisions by the MPS Board underlined why advancing this project is so important — and urgent,” Lippman said. “When our South and Southeast High Schools come together on a campus that we own, our students, families and staff can rest assured that our future is far more secure, permanent and predictable.”
Lippman said that in the 10 years Carmen Schools has been preparing for a permanent home, it has “secured funds internally” to support the project. Carmen Schools plans to fundraise about $15 million in total, and those fundraising efforts have already begun, Lippman said.
“We are in the process of fundraising for some of the cost, and then we’ll finance the rest,” Lippman said.
Ivan Gamboa, chair of Carmen’s board of directors, acknowledged the support from families, students, staff, neighbors and business leaders that the charter school network has received as it embarks on this new campus project.
“We know we cannot accomplish this alone,” Gamboa said in the news release. “For Milwaukee, we believe the return on this investment will be remarkable: Nothing less than helping to develop the next generation of our high-performing employees, strong families and engaged citizens.”
Find opportunities for giving and profiles of southeastern Wisconsin nonprofits in the 2025 Giving Guide from BizTimes Media.
Find opportunities for giving and profiles of southeastern Wisconsin nonprofits in the 2025 Giving Guide from BizTimes Media.
