Fire department officials rushed to Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy near 44th and Congress streets on Thursday morning after a lightning strike hit near the school and knocked out its power, according to school officials. Despite the scare, the school day continued as normal, and students were reported safe and accounted for throughout the outage.
The lightning strike and resulting blackout came as severe storms swept across Southeastern Wisconsin, leaving more than 20,000 customers without power, as reported by WISN. We Energies crews were still investigating what caused the outage, but the utility was not immediately able to give school officials a reason for the temporary loss of power. A We Energies maintenance team was dispatched to look into the specific outage at the school, per the same account.
The affected building is the elementary campus of the Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy network, located at 4301 N. 44th Street in Milwaukee, according to Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy. The charter network, chartered by the City of Milwaukee and named for former Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent Dr. Howard Fuller, has maintained a 100 percent college acceptance rate for its high school graduates since 2012. The network recently expanded its footprint with a $31 million, 67,000-square-foot high school building at 2212 N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue, part of a strategic plan to build a continuous K3 through 12 pathway serving up to 1,500 students by 2028, according to JCP Construction. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Biennial Budget Request, Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Acad is listed under the City of Milwaukee and serves grades 9-12.
Storms Battered the Region Before Sunrise
Morning storms caused power outages across Southeastern Wisconsin, with outages also affecting Milwaukee County, according to WTMJ. The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Warning for Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties through 12:15 p.m. after radar indicated heavy rain in parts of northern Milwaukee County, as reported by FOX6 News Milwaukee.
The dangerous weather stretched well beyond Milwaukee's school buildings. Heavy rain and severe conditions extended beyond Milwaukee's school buildings. During incidents like the one at the school, people should stay at least 25 feet from downed lines and treat them as energized until utility technicians finish safety checks.
Parents Given Option to Pick Up Students
Even with fire crews on scene and the power investigation ongoing, school officials said parents were free to pick up their students if they chose to. Classes otherwise proceeded without interruption, and officials reiterated that all students remained safe and accounted for during the outage.
Thursday's incident is the latest in a string of storm-related disruptions to hit Milwaukee's power grid and school operations in 2026. Just last month, a Sunday storm knocked out power to nearly 17,000 We Energies customers across the region, including more than 7,000 in the city of Milwaukee. And in late April, a severe windstorm generated 50 mph gusts that downed trees and cut electricity to over 45,000 Milwaukee County utility customers, alongside other high-wind and lightning events during the year.
Schools in the area can face disruptions during severe weather. Thursday's response at Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy shows how quickly a single lightning strike can trigger a coordinated response from fire crews and utility workers, even when the school day itself carries on without major interruption.
