Summary:
The city of Merrill, Wisconsin has only one middle school, Prairie River Middle, which is part of the Merrill Area School District. While the district is ranked 236 out of 426 school districts in Wisconsin, Prairie River Middle has seen its statewide ranking fluctuate in recent years, ranging from 335 out of 640 Wisconsin middle schools in 2022-2023 to 467 out of 628 in 2024-2025.
Prairie River Middle's academic performance is generally below the state and district averages across various subjects and grade levels. For example, in 2024-2025, the school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts ranged from 26.17% (5th grade) to 42.86% (8th grade), compared to the state averages of 51.26% to 53.97%. In mathematics, the school's proficiency rates ranged from 27.1% (5th grade) to 51.26% (8th grade), again lower than the state averages of 52.58% to 55.53%. The school also has a relatively high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 48.06% in 2023-2024.
Despite the school's relatively high per-student spending of $12,474 in the 2020-2021 school year and a student-teacher ratio of 15.1 for the 2023-2024 school year, Prairie River Middle's academic performance suggests that the school may be facing challenges in providing a high-quality education to its students. The school's declining statewide ranking and 1-star rating from SchoolDigger indicate that it may be struggling to keep up with the performance of other middle schools in Wisconsin, and further investigation into the specific factors contributing to these challenges could provide valuable insights for the school and the broader Merrill community.
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