The middle school with the highest poverty level and the largest percentage of minority students in the Madison school district will get a visit Wednesday from President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the White House confirmed Friday.

Obama and Duncan will meet with students, teachers and school officials at Wright Middle School, a 12-year-old charter school at 1717 Fish Hatchery Road that emphasizes getting involved and creating positive change in the community.

Principal Nancy Evans learned mid-week that her school had been chosen for the visit, but wasn't told why, or if the visit was related to Wright's charter mission of "social action," she said.

Madison police officers and several others scouted the school on Friday, which was nearly vacant; Madison students had no school Thursday and Friday so teachers could attend the Wisconsin Education Association Council convention. Named for the late Rev. James C. Wright, a prominent local African-American pastor and civil rights leader, the middle school had a contentious start but has thrived in recent years under the leadership of Evans and former Wright principal Ed Holmes, now principal at West High School, said sixth-grade language arts teacher Jon Hawkins.

For Wright students, "I can't really even comprehend the significance" of Obama's visit, Hawkins said. "I'm really looking forward to the conversations we'll be able to have with the kids. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the president, period, much less this president at this time."

Wright's student body is roughly 38 percent African American, 37 percent Hispanic, 13 percent white, 12 percent Asian and 1 percent Native American. Nearly 85 percent of its students are from low-income families, compared with an average of 49 percent in middle schools across the district.

Parents praise Wright for its small size - classes at the 249-student school are capped at 20 per classroom - and its emphasis on community service.

"We love it," said Jacqueline Houtman, whose 13-year-old son Ethan is in his second year there. "It's a great fit for our son. The teachers all seem to really care about each child."

Students at Wright were originally scheduled to take the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, or WKCE, next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The test, taken each year in the fall, is used to rate schools under the No Child Left Behind law. "I doubt very seriously that our children would be able to concentrate on the WKCE" next week, said Evans, who recalls her own memories of seeing President John F. Kennedy as a child in Newark, N.J. "We're working to make some changes, as you can imagine."

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