Margaret Buerkle Middle, St Louis MO

Original Research by School Decision on Margaret Buerkle Middle

Margaret Buerkle Middle School sits in the Mehlville R-IX School District, serving grades six through eight from its location in St. Louis. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet. The school serves a student body that is predominantly white, with Asian students making up the next largest group, followed by students who are Black, of two or more races, Hispanic, and a very small number of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Native students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a substantial portion of the student body comes from households with lower incomes.

On the Missouri Assessment Program tests, Buerkle Middle School’s results place it near the midpoint when compared with other districts in St. Louis County. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was just under half for sixth and seventh graders, and dropped a bit for eighth graders. In English language arts, the proficient rate was under half for sixth graders, then rose slightly in seventh and eighth grades. In science, which is tested only in eighth grade, roughly a third of students met the proficiency mark. A parent may want to look into these figures further with the school, particularly the downward trend in eighth-grade math, to understand what supports are in place.

St. Louis is an independent city with a mix of residential neighborhoods and commercial districts. Its economy draws on service, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and aviation, and it hosts fourteen Fortune companies. Major employers include the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, part of the Washington University Medical Center. Research universities such as Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, and the University of Missouri–St. Louis anchor the area. Civic and cultural anchors include the Gateway Arch, Forest Park, the Saint Louis Zoo, the City Museum, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Saint Louis Science Center, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. St. Louis separated from St. Louis County at an earlier point, becoming an independent city with fixed political boundaries; its population has shifted over time.

The Mehlville R-IX School District sits within St. Louis County. Housing in the area around the school reflects a typical St. Louis suburban market, with home values that are lower than the national average. The local housing market has seen a modest increase in active listings and a slight decline in median listing prices year over year, which could give buyers some additional options. Rents are broadly in line with what the area’s households can afford.

Few specific program offerings or recent district-level changes were reported in available public records, so a family looking for details on extracurriculars, elective pathways, or curriculum shifts would want to check directly with Buerkle Middle School or the Mehlville district office. The school’s core identity is a straightforward neighborhood middle school serving a diverse-by-income student body, with state test results that sit around the middle of the pack for its county and a clear area for inquiry around eighth-grade performance.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 56% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 54% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 39% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 48% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 50% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 57% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 49% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

This schoolMEHLVILLE R-IX, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income51%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income57%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income56%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income58%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income55%32 pp gap