The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in English language arts. The lowest is 68% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Merrill Middle School
Merrill Middle School serves sixth through eighth graders in Des Moines, part of the Des Moines Independent Community School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school sits in the western portion of the city, along Grand Avenue, in an established residential corridor. Des Moines itself is Iowa’s capital and its largest city, a commercial and insurance-industry hub with a downtown anchored by the State Capitol, the Des Moines Art Center, and the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The metro area has seen steady growth, with major tech and financial employers including Principal Financial Group, Wells Fargo, and Microsoft maintaining operations there. The housing market in the school’s ZIP code reflects a value that sits above the statewide typical home price, suggesting a comparatively higher-cost area within the metro. Rents in the immediate area are slightly below the national benchmark for a mortgage payment, though recent rent trends have softened.
Merrill enrolls a student body that is majority white, with Black students making up a substantial share and Hispanic and multiracial students each composing a noticeable presence. Asian and Native American populations are small in comparison. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a moderate rate nationally. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported in the available records, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language support staffing and services.
On state assessments administered through the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, Merrill’s students posted proficiency rates that, combined across tested subjects, fall below the midpoint among districts in Polk County. The numbers show a majority of students meeting proficiency benchmarks in English language arts, math, and science, but the composite position relative to other schools in the county suggests that overall academic performance is not at the top tier of the area. The school’s proficiency index, which averages results across subjects and grades, places it beneath the county median. A parent looking at this alongside district-wide data would want to investigate which grade levels or student groups drive that pattern, and whether the school has internal variation by subject or classroom.
Science results are based on a smaller tested population, as that subject is assessed only at certain grade levels in this band. Participation rates on all three tests were high, above the typical threshold, which increases confidence that the reported results reflect the full enrolled population rather than a select group. Only a single year of assessment data was available, so no trend in rising or falling performance could be drawn.
The school environment section lacked reported information on discipline incidents, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, or course access. Without those elements, a family considering Merrill cannot fully evaluate school climate or safety from this record. The same applies to advanced coursework opportunities; no program catalog was included, so it is unclear what honors, accelerated, or enrichment options exist for middle-school students.
Merrill serves grades six through eight only, so there is no graduation rate to report, as the school does not graduate students. That is consistent with its grade configuration.
The enrollment is evenly distributed across the three middle-school grades, with no single grade dominating. The building sits in a Des Moines neighborhood where home values reflect a premium over the broader state market, which may influence the mix of families who can access the school’s attendance area. For a family already living in or moving to this part of west Des Moines, Merrill is the neighborhood middle school. Its academic results are solid in absolute terms but middling relative to the county, and the missing data on discipline, staffing, and programs are gaps a prospective parent would want to fill through a school visit or conversation with the principal.
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