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Alumni: what's one memory from Prairie River Middle that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
507
Middle
DISTRICT 384 · STATE 381
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MERRILL AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 550921001506
Prairie River Middle
106 N Polk St, Merrill, WI 54452 · (715) 536-9593 · Lincoln County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL507 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.4:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.0:1 · STATE 12.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
47%
240 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 42%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 117 | 23% |
| Grade 6 | 129 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 128 | 25% |
| Grade 8 | 133 | 26% |
Student demographics
22%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 26% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Prairie River Middle→Merrill High
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Merrill Area School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
34.6%
WI avg 53.1% . -7.3pp since 2023
Math
38.0%
WI avg 54.8% . -3.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 35 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 34.6% | 38.0% |
| 2023-24 | 41.9% | 41.1% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.6%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 49% typical for Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin'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 →
Where Prairie River Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.8% | #276 of 323 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #284 of 327 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 34.6% | #299 of 327 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 507 | #122 of 389 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.4:1 | #149 of 265 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 22.4% | #203 of 265 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 47.3% | #85 of 323 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.5% | #110 of 176 |
Ranked against other public middle 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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
507
-6 (-1%) vs 2020
-31% since 2000-01, when it was 733
Student : Teacher
13.4:1
was 12.8:1
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 | 507 | 37.9 | 13.4:1 | 47% (240) |
| 2023-24 | 541 | 35.8 | 15.1:1 | 48% (260) |
| 2022-23 | 593 | 44.8 | 13.2:1 | 42% (247) |
| 2020-21 | 513 | 40 | 12.8:1 | 44% (226) |
| 2017-18 | 560 | 38.7 | 14.5:1 | 38% (210) |
| 2015-16 | 589 | 39 | 15.1:1 | 47% (275) |
| 2010-11 | 657 | 41 | 16.0:1 | 46% (303) |
| 2000-01 | 733 | 50 | 14.7:1 | 29% (212) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Prairie River Middle.
About Prairie River Middle
This page covers Prairie River Middle, a medium-sized middle school in Merrill, Wisconsin. The school reports 507 students in grades 5 through 8. The typical figure for middle schools in Wisconsin is about 381 students.
Merrill Area School District includes 7 schools. Together they enroll 2,686 students.
White students make up 88% of enrollment at Prairie River Middle. The remaining shares are 6% multiracial and 4% Hispanic. Prairie River Middle's diversity index is 22%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 13.4:1 comes from the school's 37.9 full-time-equivalent teachers. That matches the 12.8:1 average for middle schools in Wisconsin fairly closely. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 47% in 2024-25.
Prairie River Middle posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 40.8%, compared with a predicted 48.6%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Wisconsin schools on BeatsExpectations.
Lincoln County census figures show that the median household income is $68,164, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 20% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Lincoln County is home to 12 public schools and about 3,880 public school students.
The closest public school, Kate Goodrich Elementary, is about 0.6 miles from Prairie River Middle. Other public schools within five miles: 6. Prairie River Middle is 4th of 4 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Town: Distant.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 507, close to the 513 recorded in 2020-21.
Threads on this page can be about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Lincoln County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
28,426
Census ACS
Median income
$68,164
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
12
3,880 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Merrill Area School District
- Merrill HighHigh · 756 students
- Bridges Virtual AcademyCombined · 674 students
- Kate Goodrich ElementaryElementary · 337 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 257 students
- Pine River School for Young Learners (PRSYL)Elementary · 124 students
- Merrill Adult Diploma AcademyHigh · 31 students
Other schools in Merrill
- Merrill HighHigh · 756 students
- Bridges Virtual AcademyCombined · 674 students
- Kate Goodrich ElementaryElementary · 337 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 257 students
- Pine River School for Young Learners (PRSYL)Elementary · 124 students
- Merrill Adult Diploma AcademyHigh · 31 students
Nearby schools
- Kate Goodrich Elementary0.6 mi · 337
- Merrill Adult Diploma Academy0.6 mi · 31
- Washington Elementary1.3 mi · 257
- Merrill High1.5 mi · 756
- Bridges Virtual Academy1.5 mi · 674
- Pine River School for Young Learners (PRSYL)3.1 mi · 124
Frequently asked questions
About Prairie River MiddleHow many students attend Prairie River Middle?
Prairie River Middle enrolls approximately 507 students in grades 05-08.
What grades does Prairie River Middle serve?
Prairie River Middle serves grades 05-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie River Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Prairie River Middle is approximately 13.4:1 (38 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Prairie River Middle?
At Prairie River Middle, the student body is approximately 88% White, 4% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Prairie River Middle public or private?
Prairie River Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Merrill Area School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.