Bridges Virtual Academy

Bridges Virtual Academy operates as a sizable combined-grade school in Merrill, Wisconsin, run under Merrill Area School District. Current enrollment sits at 674 students spanning grades pre-K through 12. That puts it 148% larger than the typical public school in Wisconsin, which averages around 272 students.

Within Merrill Area School District, which oversees 7 schools and 2,686 students, Bridges Virtual Academy is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Bridges Virtual Academy logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (81%). The remainder is composed of 8% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 2% Black. By comparison, Lincoln County as a whole is about 94% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Bridges Virtual Academy lists 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.3:1. The state averages around 25.6:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 11% of students at Bridges Virtual Academy qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Lincoln County (around 40%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Lincoln County put median household income runs about $68,164, about 20% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Bridges Virtual Academy is one of 12 public schools in Lincoln County (combined enrollment of about 3,880 students).

Nearest neighbor: Merrill High, around 0.0 miles off. 6 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The school occupies a small-town site. As a public charter, Bridges Virtual Academy runs on public funding but with greater curricular and operational autonomy than a typical district school. Bridges Virtual Academy delivers learning online rather than in a traditional classroom setting.

Five-year trend. Bridges Virtual Academy's enrollment has shrank 9% since 2018, when it stood at 744 (now 674). Over the same period, the White share contracted from 94% to 81%. Class-load math has narrowed: from 27.7:1 in 2018 to 17.3:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.