Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle

As a moderately sized 6-8 campus in Merced, California, Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle serves 624 students from grades 7 through 8, one of the schools within Merced City Elementary.

Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle is one of 19 schools operated by Merced City Elementary, a district that instructs 11,108 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle logs that 58% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 18% White, 12% Asian, 6% multiracial, 5% Black.

In terms of school funding signals, The school lists 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 30.1:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 20.7:1 average. An estimated 58% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably below Merced County's rate of about 81%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 44.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 33.3%.

In the broader community, census data for Merced County shows median household earnings sit near $65,510, roughly 15% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Merced County runs 117 public schools (combined enrollment of about 59,456 students), of which Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle is one.

Merced City School District Community Day is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 32.0%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle has edged up 11%, going from 561 students in 2018 to 624 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 30% to 18% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 26.6:1 in 2018 to 30.1:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.