Enrollment
224
Elementary
DISTRICT 349 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELOIT SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 550105000147
Merrill Elementary
1635 Nelson Ave, Beloit, WI 53511 · (608) 361-2605 · Rock County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL224 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.8:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
188 students
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 24 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 30 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 34 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 31 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 29 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 35 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (30) is 14% smaller than its 5th grade class (35).
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · STATE 54% · 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
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
4.4%
WI avg 53.1% . -3.5pp since 2023
Math
5.3%
WI avg 54.8% . -5.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 4 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 5 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Wisconsin schools, those numbers are about 53 and 55. Reading and writing scores are down about 4 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 5 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 4.4% | 5.3% |
| 2023-24 | 7.9% | 10.4% |
% Meeting or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Forward Exam. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of WI schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
8.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.2%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 9% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 26% typical for Wisconsin schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Merrill Elementary
Merrill Elementary's state test result (8.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill Elementary this school | 224 | 83.9% | 8.8% |
| Riverwest Elementary Milwaukee | 244 | 88.5% | 11.4% |
| Mendota Elementary Madison | 282 | 72.7% | 36.8% |
| Hawley Environmental School Milwaukee | 299 | 84.6% | 11.2% |
| Neeskara Elementary Milwaukee | 356 | 86.8% | 10.3% |
| Knapp Elementary Racine | 462 | 85.7% | 18.2% |
Matched among Wisconsin elementary 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 Merrill Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Rock County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 8.8% | #970 of 982 | #27 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 5.3% | #985 of 992 ▼ 32 | #27 of 27 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 4.4% | #991 of 992 ▼ 12 | #27 of 27 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 224 | #838 of 1,157 | #28 of 31 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.9:1 | #130 of 901 | #5 of 28 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.2% | #187 of 901 | #8 of 28 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.9% | #95 of 1,064 | #2 of 29 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.0% | #447 of 664 | #8 of 14 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
224
+29 (+15%) vs 2020
-35% since 1990-91, when it was 347
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
was 11.5:1
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 | 224 | 20.5 | 10.9:1 | 84% (188) |
| 2023-24 | 270 | 23.5 | 11.5:1 | 86% (231) |
| 2022-23 | 180 | 18 | 10.0:1 | 88% (158) |
| 2020-21 | 195 | 17 | 11.5:1 | 90% (176) |
| 2017-18 | 249 | 20.9 | 11.9:1 | 92% (230) |
| 2015-16 | 254 | 23 | 11.0:1 | 95% (242) |
| 2010-11 | 261 | 20 | 13.1:1 | 93% (242) |
| 2000-01 | 327 | 22 | 14.9:1 | 42% (136) |
| 1990-91 | 347 | 19 | 18.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Merrill Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (249 to 224); teachers down 2% (20.9 to 20.5).
About Merrill Elementary
Merrill Elementary is a small elementary school serving families in Beloit, Wisconsin. The school serves pre-K through 5. Enrollment is 224 students. Elementary schools in Wisconsin have about 323 students on average; enrollment here is 31% lower.
Federal data list 12 schools in Beloit School District, with 4,958 students enrolled.
More than half of the students at Merrill Elementary are Black (55%). Beyond that, enrollment is 21% Hispanic, 12% White, and 11% multiracial. In Rock County overall, about 5% of residents are Black. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 62%.
There are about 10.9 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Merrill Elementary, which has 20.5. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in Wisconsin is 14.7:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Merrill Elementary is about 84%. The gap from the 47% average for public schools in Rock County is 37 points.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 26.2% for Merrill Elementary, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 8.8%. The 17.4-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of Wisconsin schools.
In Rock County, home to about 164,350 people, median household income comes to about $75,673, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26%, and about 6% of people live in poverty. Rock County's 65 public schools enroll about 25,542 students and include Merrill Elementary.
The Lincoln Academy sits about 0.6 miles from Merrill Elementary. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Merrill Elementary comes in 8th of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Small.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 224, up from 195 in 2020-21.
The Merrill Elementary discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Rock County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
164,350
Census ACS
Median income
$75,673
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
65
25,542 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Beloit School District
- Memorial HighHigh · 1,305 students
- Aldrich IntermediateMiddle · 521 students
- Fran Fruzen IntermediateMiddle · 490 students
- Robinson ElementaryElementary · 477 students
- Todd ElementaryElementary · 471 students
- Converse ElementaryElementary · 446 students
Other schools in Beloit
- Memorial HighHigh · 1,305 students
- The Lincoln AcademyCombined · 727 students
- Aldrich IntermediateMiddle · 521 students
- Garden Prairie Intermediate SchoolElementary · 491 students
- Fran Fruzen IntermediateMiddle · 490 students
- Robinson ElementaryElementary · 477 students
Other Merrill Elementary schools
5 other US public schools in 5 states are named Merrill Elementary. Merrill Elementary is the 4th largest of the 6.
- Merrill ElementaryOshkosh, WI · 256 students
- Merrill Elementary SchoolRaynham, MA · 310 students
- Merrill Elementary SchoolRock Falls, IL · 258 students
- Merrill Elementary SchoolMERRILL, MI · 196 students
- Merrill Elementary SchoolMerrill, OR · 184 students
Nearby schools
- The Lincoln Academy0.6 mi · 727
- Todd Elementary0.9 mi · 471
- Memorial High0.9 mi · 1,305
- Beloit Virtual School0.9 mi · 46
- Robinson Elementary1.0 mi · 477
- Aldrich Intermediate1.3 mi · 521
Frequently asked questions
About Merrill ElementaryHow large is Merrill Elementary?
Merrill Elementary enrolls approximately 224 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Merrill Elementary serve?
Merrill Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Merrill Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Merrill Elementary is approximately 10.9:1 (21 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Merrill Elementary?
Merrill Elementary reports a student body of 12% White, 21% Hispanic, 55% Black, 0% Asian, 11% Two or more.
What district is Merrill Elementary in?
Merrill Elementary is part of Beloit School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.