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Robert L Merritt Junior High

Public Grades 7-9
183rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 263 Mississippi Middle Schools
Better than 30% of Mississippi middle schools
Summary

Robert L Merritt Junior High serves 341 students in grades 7–9 in Indianola, Mississippi, as part of the Sunflower County Consolidated School District. The school holds a 1-star rating for 2025–2026, ranking 183rd of 260 Mississippi middle schools, and serves a student body where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. With a student-teacher ratio of about 13.2, class sizes are comparable to nearby schools.

The school's most notable strength is science. In 2025–2026, 81.8% of Robert L Merritt students scored proficient on the Biology End-of-Course exam, well above the state average of 63.1% and the district's 77.0%. Eighth-grade science results (50.6%) also outpace nearby Leland School Park's 44.0% and O.M. McNair Middle School's 21.1%. Math is the flip side: Algebra I proficiency is just 38.3% versus the state's 66.0% and Leland School Park's exceptional 93.3%. Seventh-grade math (35.2%) and eighth-grade math (39.6%) also trail Leland, though the school outperforms O.M. McNair in nearly every subject. English Language Arts remains consistently below state averages by roughly 8–12 percentage points in grades 7 and 8.

On a positive note, chronic absenteeism has fallen dramatically from 47.8% in 2020–2021 to 20.0%, now below both the district (24.4%) and state (23.9%) rates. However, the school's state ranking has slipped for three consecutive years after peaking near the middle of the pack in 2022–2023. Since all nearby schools serve similarly high-poverty populations, these performance differences point to instructional and school climate factors rather than economic ones. For parents, the picture is mixed: science is a clear bright spot, while math and ELA need attention. It's worth watching whether the school can reverse its recent decline and build on its science success.

341
Students ?
13.2
Student/teacher ratio ?
$13,218
Per pupil spending ?
100%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 705 Kinlock Road
       Indianola, MS  38751

(662) 884-1270

District: Sunflower County Consolidated School District

Racial breakdown:

African American:
91.2%
Two or more races:
5.3%
Hispanic:
2.3%
more
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At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Recently slipping — 53rd percentile in 2023 → 30th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Mississippi average (42% vs 53% meeting standards)
!Graduation rate below the Mississippi average (0% vs 89%)
!Ranking has slipped from its 53rd-percentile peak (2023) to 30th (2026)
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school42%
District avg41%
Mississippi avg53%
183rd of 263
Mississippi public middle schools ?
Bottom 30%▲ up 22 pts since 2017
From bottom 8% (2017) to bottom 30% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Mississippi Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
2nd of 3Middle Schools in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District
96th of 133Sunflower County Consolidated School District among Mississippi districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMississippi percentileRating
202631.4183 of 26330.4%★★☆☆☆
202543.4154 of 26642.1%★★☆☆☆
202443.8153 of 26442.0%★★☆☆☆
202349.6115 of 24352.7%★★★☆☆
202237.5158 of 25738.5%★★☆☆☆
202118.0204 of 25720.6%★☆☆☆☆
201929.5188 of 26428.8%★☆☆☆☆
201817.0212 of 25215.9%★☆☆☆☆
201712.6249 of 2728.5%☆☆☆☆☆
By subject vs Mississippi (2025-2026) ?
Biology82%+19 vs state
Science51%-7 vs state
Algebra I38%-28 vs state
Mathematics38%-17 vs state
English Language Arts29%-10 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Robert L Merritt Junior High

Students at Robert L Merritt Junior High are 91% African American, 5% Two or more races, 2% Hispanic, 1% White.

In the 2024-25 school year, 341 students attended Robert L Merritt Junior High.

Robert L Merritt Junior High ranks 183rd of 263 Mississippi middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Rate Robert L Merritt Junior High!



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Schools in Indianola, MS

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Latest Mississippi data All new data »
2025–26 MAAP test scoresAug 21, 2026
2023–24 school spending dataSep 26, 2025
2023–24 through 2024–25 attendance data & graduation ratesSep 26, 2025
2023–24 graduation ratesSep 23, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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