Merrill Elem School

Set in Rock Falls, Illinois, Merrill Elem School is a modestly sized elementary-level community, run under Rock Falls ESD 13. It serves 258 students across grades 3 through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 32% smaller than the state mean of about 381.

Merrill Elem School is one of 4 schools operated by Rock Falls ESD 13, a district that works with 927 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Merrill Elem School shows that White students make up the majority at 65%; the rest breaks down as 30% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 85% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Merrill Elem School has 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.9:1 average. An estimated 78% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Whiteside County runs at roughly 55%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Merrill Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 26.5%, the actual is 34.8%, a residual of +8.3 points.

In the broader community, Whiteside County reports that median household earnings sit near $67,500, roughly 21% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Whiteside County's 50 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,445 students), Merrill Elem School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Rock Falls Township High School, around 0.7 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Merrill Elem School ranks 5th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 40.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-based area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Merrill Elem School's enrollment has edged down 17% since 2018, when it stood at 311 (now 258). Class-load math has fell: from 15.3:1 in 2018 to 13.2:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.