Valley Merced Community

Located at 1850 Wardrobe Ave., in Merced, California, Valley Merced Community is a tiny unified-grade school that works with 99 students (grades K through 12), run under Merced County Office of Education. By comparison, California's public schools average about 602 students each, so Valley Merced Community sits 84% below that benchmark.

Across the 8 schools in Merced County Office of Education (1,894 students total), Valley Merced Community accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Valley Merced Community records that 77% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 10% White, 10% Black, 2% multiracial. By comparison, Merced County as a whole is about 63% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Valley Merced Community has 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 20.2:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 18.6:1 average. Around 95% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than Merced County's rate of about 81%.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Merced County indicate median household income runs about $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. Valley Merced Community is one of 117 public schools in Merced County (combined enrollment of about 59,456 students).

Merced Scholars Charter 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.

The campus sits in an urban setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 61%: 256 students in 2018 compared to 99 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 23.6:1 in 2018 to 20.2:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.