Autumn Hill Academy announced on Thursday that they will not be opening this fall for the 2025 school year.

The school’s board president, Maria Luther, broke the news publicly via the school’s Facebook page.

Allegedly, the school had been completely prepared for the upcoming school year. They were ready to go with staffing, programming, facilities and a budget aligned with enrollment numbers.”

Luther went on to explain that despite this,

UW-Milwaukee (our charter authorizer) informed us on Tuesday, August 5th, 2025, that it will not allow us to open due to a student population that is smaller than expected. We provided information showing adequate financial resources and vigorously argued that our school would make a powerful impact if given the chance to open, but to no avail.

The news came as a shock to the Pewaukee area, who had been anticipating the new charter school’s opening.

Autumn Hill Academy was planned to be a learning space for 6th – 10th grade students. The target number for this fall’s enrollment was 168 students.

Autumn Hill was also planned to be a tuition free alternative to traditional public schools. Instead, it would be funded by taxpayer dollars.

UWM acts as an authorizer to several charter schools throughout the state of Wisconsin. They evaluate applications for prospective charter schools through a process that analyzes organizational capacity.

After schools are authorized, they are then held accountable to UWM as an overseer. This means that while these charter schools are public entities, they are independent in governance and are not staffed by UWM employees. However, they do establish contracts which allow UWM to monitor the schools and make sure they are properly evaluated for quality.

Autumn Hill had moved into a 38,000 square foot facility in Pewaukee on Redford Boulevard.

Luther’s intention with the new school had been to create a space that was focused on mental health issues and positive well being, especially for LGBTQ+ students.

Luther stated that

We appreciate the support we have received along this journey. Many community members have contributed to help create a fully developed school, and we are grateful.

Additional questions about the future of Autumn Hill will be addresses at a meeting at the school on Sunday, August 10th at 6:30 p.m.