Best Middle Schools in Merrill, MI

Merrill, Michigan is served by a single middle school, Merrill Middle School, which is part of the Merrill Community Schools district and enrolls roughly 97 students in grades 6 through 8.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that this is a very small school where class sizes are low (a 12.1:1 student-teacher ratio) and per-student spending is high at $18,388, yet academic results are mixed and generally below state averages. The school holds a 2-star rating and has slipped slightly in state rankings over three years, now sitting in the 37th percentile. The most glaring concern is 8th grade PSAT math, where only 7.32% of students scored proficient compared to the state’s 33.2% — a massive gap. This dropped sharply from 16.1% the prior year, suggesting either a weak cohort or a serious misalignment with PSAT expectations. On the positive side, 7th grade math proficiency jumped from 14.3% to 34.6%, now slightly above the state average, and 8th grade PSAT English Language Arts is a relative strength at 58.5% proficiency, close to the state’s 64.8% and having exceeded the state average the year before.

Other subjects, including 6th and 7th grade ELA and math, plus 8th grade science and social studies, all trail state averages by roughly 6 to 15 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism affects one in four students (25.0%), which is below the state average of 27.9% but still high enough to hinder learning. With about 52.6% of students on free or reduced lunch, the school serves a majority economically disadvantaged population, which often correlates with lower test scores. However, the extreme PSAT math deficiency goes well beyond what demographics alone would predict. Given the small enrollment, year-to-year swings can be dramatic — a single strong or weak grade cohort can shift proficiency rates by 20 points. Parents should view this year’s data with some caution, but the declining PSAT scores and persistent math struggles suggest the school would benefit from targeted math intervention and PSAT preparation, even as it shows promise in literacy and social studies.