Enrollment
281
High
DISTRICT 363 · STATE 796
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERKEL ISD·NCES 483034003396
MERKEL H S
2000 S 7TH ST, MERKEL, TX 79536 · (325) 928-4667 · Taylor County
GRADES 09–12HIGH42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL281 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
7.7:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.3:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
44%
123 students
DISTRICT 45% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within MERKEL ISD. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
STAAR 2023-24 . % Meets Grade Level or AboveReading
50.0%
TX avg 51.8% . +33.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
25.0%
TX avg 42.0%
What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 25 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 52 and 42. Reading scores are up about 33 points since 2020.
Source: STAAR. 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
44.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
54.8%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% typical for Texas 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 Texas'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 →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
281
-33 (-11%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
7.7:1
was 9.7:1
% White
70%
was 67%
% Hispanic
25%
was 26%
% Black
1%
was 4%
% Asian
0%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About MERKEL H S
MERKEL H S is a very small 9-12 campus in MERKEL, Texas, overseen by MERKEL ISD. The school instructs 281 students in grades 9 through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 65% leaner than the state mean of about 796.
MERKEL H S is one of 3 schools operated by MERKEL ISD, a district that works with 1,090 students overall.
On the student-mix side, MERKEL H S reports that 70% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder consists of 25% Hispanic, 2% multiracial. Compared to Taylor County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.
On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 36 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 7.7:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.1:1, putting MERKEL H S tighter than the state norm the norm. About 44% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Taylor County runs at roughly 53%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.
Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, MERKEL H S performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 54.8%, the actual is 44.1%, a residual of -10.6 points.
In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Taylor County indicate the typical household earns roughly $67,139 per year, about 29% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Across Taylor County's 54 public schools (combined enrollment of about 24,159 students), MERKEL H S is one campus in the mix.
MERKEL EL is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around MERKEL H S. On composite proficiency, MERKEL H S comes 2nd of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 39.2%.
MERKEL H S operates from an outlying location.
Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at MERKEL H S has contracted 11%, going from 314 students in 2018 to 281 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 9.7:1 in 2018 to 7.7:1 today.
Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Taylor County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
145,863
Census ACS
Median income
$67,139
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
54
24,159 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MERKEL ISD
- MERKEL ELElementary · 563 students
- MERKEL MIDDLEMiddle · 246 students
- TAYLOR COUNTY LEARNING CENTERElementary
Other schools in MERKEL
- MERKEL ELElementary · 563 students
- MERKEL MIDDLEMiddle · 246 students
Nearby schools
- MERKEL EL0.4 mi · 563
- MERKEL MIDDLE0.5 mi · 246
- TRENT INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT6.6 mi · 144
- DYESS EL12.7 mi · 621
- CLACK MIDDLE13.6 mi · 693
- BASSETTI EL13.8 mi · 546
Frequently asked questions
About MERKEL H SHow many students attend MERKEL H S?
MERKEL H S enrolls approximately 281 students in grades 09-12.
Is MERKEL H S an elementary, middle, or high school?
MERKEL H S is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does MERKEL H S have?
MERKEL H S employs 36 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 7.7:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at MERKEL H S?
At MERKEL H S, the student body is approximately 70% White, 25% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is MERKEL H S in?
MERKEL H S is part of MERKEL ISD.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.