Summary:
Merrimack School District includes six schools serving about 3,453 students from prekindergarten through grade 12 in the Merrimack area, with generally favorable student-teacher ratios, relatively low reported economic need, and performance around the upper-middle range of New Hampshire districts. The district includes Reeds Ferry School, Thorntons Ferry School, and James Mastricola Elementary School for prekindergarten through grade 4; James Mastricola Upper Elementary School for grades 5–6; Merrimack Middle School for grades 7–8; and Merrimack High School for grades 9–12.
Among the elementary schools, James Mastricola Elementary School is the standout, with 65% mathematics proficiency, 56% reading proficiency, a four-star rating, and a ranking in the top quarter of New Hampshire elementary schools. Reeds Ferry School follows with 58% proficiency in both math and reading and particularly strong third-grade reading. Thorntons Ferry School has respectable mathematics results at 52%, but its 52% reading proficiency and declining ranking make it the elementary school most in need of attention. James Mastricola Upper Elementary School has strong reading at 62%, though its science result is lower at 35%.
Merrimack Middle School is the district’s clearest recent success story, improving in math, reading, and science and rising to the 61st percentile statewide. Merrimack High School has the district’s strongest reading result at 66%, along with a 91.8% graduation rate and very low dropout rate, but mathematics proficiency is only 25% and science declined to 38%. For families comparing schools, the main district priorities are strengthening high school mathematics, reversing the high school science decline, supporting reading at Thorntons Ferry, and sustaining the promising improvement at Merrimack Middle School.
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