Introducing our “Portrait of a USM Citizen”

University School of Milwaukee students understand citizenship to mean membership in a community. They learn that they are citizens of their classroom and school; their neighborhoods, state, and country; and their world. They learn, too, that a community can consist of any group of people who share something together.

At USM, we believe that good citizenship in any community happens when individuals are engaged, known, and valued in a community; understand that their participation in the community matters; feel a deep sense of
responsibility for making the community stronger; and have the tools to help the community grow and become better. We ground our values of citizenship in our Common Trust—and its values of respect, trust, honesty, fairness, and kindness—which guides our behavior and actions both within and outside of our school community.

This notion of citizenship is present from the first day of school, when our entire community of students, families, and employees comes together for our opening day ceremony. After our seniors lead some of our youngest students, hand-in-hand, to the center of our campus, our senior Prefects share their reflections on one value of our Common Trust, anchoring our understanding of citizenship in our commitment to those shared principles. After our Lower School students lead the Pledge of Allegiance and our Middle School choir leads us in singing USM’s Alma Mater, our longest-tenured employee then rings the school bell to kick off the year in community.

Our belief in citizenship and community is not just spoken about, but truly lived in cross-divisional events like March to the Memorials, Global Enrichment Festival, Homecoming pep rally, Senior Send-off, and countless other
signature learning experiences.