Some people never open their emails. Wykekie Vaden isn’t one of them. The mom of seven finds time to read every single email she gets from Milwaukee Public Schools.  

“MPS offers so much when you’re an involved parent. I read all my emails, so I make my kids do everything,” she said, laughing.  

She knows about being an involved parent—Ms. Vaden was one of 110 parents or guardians from 100 MPS schools to be honored in November 2025 on National Parent Involvement Day.  

Ms. Vaden stays involved to help her children stay on track, and to help other children, too. 

“The world is way different now, and I’m only 41, but it’s way different now than when I was younger. These kids experience so much more, and they need so much more support, and it can’t all come from a teacher” with a full classroom,” she said. “I have to be there.” 

Ms. Vaden gave an example about staying informed as a parent: She learned about dual enrollment, and now her oldest daughter is reaping the benefits.  

“She had enough credits, really, that she could have graduated early, but we decided to let her do dual enrollment” through the M-cubed College Connections program. “So, she attends MATC Monday to Thursday; then Friday, UWM. She’s kind of getting to experience being on a college campus.  

Her daughter wants to study engineering. Through her dual enrollment, which has a focus on engineering and architecture, “she’s able to figure out where it is she wants to go,” Ms. Vaden said.  

Ms. Vaden was an MPS child herself, attending the former Emanuel Philipp School, the original Morse Middle School, and Vincent High School, where she majored in agribusiness and natural resources.  

"I loved Vincent. I loved everything about high school, about learning about natural resources—things I wouldn’t have known, being a city kid,” Ms. Vaden said.  

Now, her 1st-grader and 5th-grader attend Eighty-First Street School, where Ms. Vaden has been involved since her oldest was in the 3rd grade there. That child now is 17 and attending Golda Meir School; siblings in 7th grade and 10th grade also attend Golda Meir. (Two children haven’t started school yet.)  

Ms. Vaden believes so strongly in MPS that she takes her children to school from the family’s home in Wauwatosa.  

"I actually come in every year to fill out the paperwork for them to go to MPS” through open enrollment, she said. 

If you want choice for your child—if you want a school that focuses on STEM, or college prep, or arts, or agriculture, or languages, or any other area that aligns with your child’s interests—Ms. Vaden suggests choosing MPS.  

“What is your child’s strength, and what are you looking for for your kid? Because there’s an MPS school that offers something for everybody,” she said. 

Programs like Project Lead The Way (PLTW) strike Ms. Vaden as more robust at MPS. PLTW is the hands-on STEM and career and technical education program that focuses on attaining skills for career readiness. Her daughter was able to pitch her project during a pitch program that MPS took part in, a great learning experience for her. 

"I tried a charter school for my kids when they were younger. It was OK ... but it was small. We didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do,” she said.  

“I love everything about MPS. I don’t see my kids going anywhere else.”