1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,714
High
DISTRICT 692 · STATE 1,185
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 240009000280
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High
3500 Hillen Road, Baltimore, MD 21218 · (410) 396-6496 · Baltimore city
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE ICAREER AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL1,714 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 19% of Maryland public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Maryland public high schools
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
116 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.1:1 · STATE 15.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
1,358 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 54%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 644 | 38% |
| Grade 10 | 443 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 356 | 21% |
| Grade 12 | 271 | 16% |
Student demographics
23%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 73% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MCAP 2024-25 . % Proficient (Levels 3-4)English Language Arts
34.1%
MD avg 50.6% . +9.1pp since 2023
Math
10.0%
MD avg 34.8% . +0.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the MCAP, Maryland's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 10 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Maryland schools, those numbers are about 51 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 9 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
MCAP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 34.1% | 10.0% |
| 2023-24 | 25.0% | 10.0% |
% Proficient (Levels 3-4), all students and all tested grades.
Source: MCAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
19.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
27.3%
based on MD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 27% typical for Maryland schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Maryland's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High's state test result (19.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High this school | 1,714 | 79.2% | 19.8% |
| Western High Baltimore | 1,290 | 72.8% | 42.1% |
| Paul Laurence Dunbar High Baltimore | 1,087 | 77.7% | 34.6% |
| Carver Vocational-Technical High Baltimore | 1,041 | 86.4% | 18.9% |
| Edmondson-Westside High Baltimore | 910 | 79.8% | 20.9% |
| Forest Park High Baltimore | 1,024 | 75.1% | 21.4% |
Matched among Maryland high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Maryland | In Baltimore city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 19.8% | #185 of 203 | #14 of 28 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.0% | #132 of 206 ▼ 12 | #17 of 28 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 34.1% | #180 of 206 ▲ 11 | #11 of 28 ▲ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,714 | #53 of 234 | #1 of 34 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.8:1 | #46 of 210 | #10 of 30 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 22.7% | #189 of 211 | #18 of 30 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.2% | #29 of 212 | #17 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.4% | #103 of 131 | #16 of 18 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,714
-71 (-4%) vs 2020
+13% since 1990-91, when it was 1,522
Student : Teacher
14.8:1
was 17.0:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,714 | 116 | 14.8:1 | 79% (1,358) |
| 2023-24 | 1,757 | 104 | 16.9:1 | 78% (1,369) |
| 2022-23 | 1,677 | 104.5 | 16.1:1 | 74% (1,248) |
| 2020-21 | 1,785 | 105 | 17.0:1 | 66% (1,187) |
| 2017-18 | 1,641 | 99.5 | 16.5:1 | 100% (1,641) |
| 2015-16 | 1,645 | 106 | 15.5:1 | 88% (1,444) |
| 2010-11 | 1,602 | 104 | 15.4:1 | 73% (1,169) |
| 2000-01 | 1,465 | 88 | 16.6:1 | 51% (747) |
| 1990-91 | 1,522 | 102 | 14.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (1,641 to 1,714); teachers up 17% (99.5 to 116).
About Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High
This page covers Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High, a mid-sized high school in Baltimore, Maryland. Its enrollment is 1,714 students, spread over grades 9 through 12. Across high schools in Maryland, the average enrollment is about 1,185.
Baltimore City Public Schools enrolls 76,946 students, and its 152 schools include Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High.
Black students account for 87% of the school's enrollment. Other reported shares: 9% Hispanic. Baltimore city's residents are about 59% Black, 28 points below the school's share. A diversity index of 23% means there is a 23% chance two randomly chosen students at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High are from different groups.
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High lists 116 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 14.8 students per teacher. The ratio is within a point of the 15.3:1 average for high schools in Maryland. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 79% of the student body.
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High holds a C- allk12 Grade, placing it above 19% of Maryland public high schools.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High is 7.6 points below its prediction. Actual: 19.8%. Predicted: 27.3%.
Census data for Baltimore city show the median household earns about $62,177 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and roughly 15% of residents are in poverty. There are 156 public schools in the county, enrolling about 77,341, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High among them.
Montebello Elementary/Middle is about 0.4 miles from Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High ranks 4th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
The school's locale code, City: Large, means it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Over 4 years, enrollment decreased by 71 students, from 1,785 to 1,714. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 17.0:1; by 2024-25 it was 14.8:1.
This page is set up for the Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High community to discuss open houses, carpools, and field trips. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Baltimore city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
573,243
Census ACS
Median income
$62,177
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
156
77,341 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Baltimore City Public Schools
- Baltimore Polytechnic InstituteHigh · 1,632 students
- Baltimore City CollegeHigh · 1,470 students
- KIPP Harmony AcademyElementary · 1,399 students
- Roland Park Elementary/MiddleElementary · 1,371 students
- Digital Harbor High SchoolHigh · 1,359 students
- Patterson HighHigh · 1,330 students
Other schools in Baltimore
- Dundalk HighHigh · 2,087 students
- Perry Hall HighHigh · 2,012 students
- Woodlawn HighHigh · 1,922 students
- Kenwood HighHigh · 1,900 students
- Parkville HighHigh · 1,877 students
- Catonsville HighHigh · 1,735 students
Nearby schools
- Montebello Elementary/Middle0.4 mi · 542
- Baltimore City College0.5 mi · 1,470
- Abbottston Elementary0.7 mi · 330
- Waverly Elementary/Middle0.8 mi · 534
- Stadium School0.9 mi · 259
- The Reach! Partnership School1.0 mi · 724
Frequently asked questions
About Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical HighWhat is the total enrollment at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High?
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High enrolls approximately 1,714 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High serve?
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High is approximately 14.8:1 (116 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High?
Student demographics at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High are roughly 1% White, 9% Hispanic, 87% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High public or private?
Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Baltimore City Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.