The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Memphis Merit Academy
Memphis Merit Academy is a public charter school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Memphis, within the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district. It is a regular elementary school operating under a charter, not a magnet. The school enrolls a student body that is overwhelmingly Black, with a small share of Hispanic students and a handful of students identifying as two or more races. No data was available for the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, nor for the percentages of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those support populations.
On state testing, the results give a clear picture of the current academic standing. Across the three subjects that were reported for the school year, proficiency rates were in the mid-teens: math, reading and language arts, and science all fell in a similar band. The social studies result was suppressed by the state due to a small tested count. Participation rates on the assessments were high, above 95 percent in all reported subjects. The school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile among districts in Shelby County, a fact-set that uses all districts in the county as the reference group. For a parent, this is a school where the typical student is not meeting grade-level benchmarks on state tests, and the gap to the county’s midpoint is wide.
There is no multi-year trend data available, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent a change from prior years. The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider.
The school is small, with an enrollment that is manageable for an elementary building. Grade sizes vary, with the largest in first grade and the smallest in fifth grade. Because this is a charter school, enrollment is not determined by a residential attendance zone in the same way as a traditional district school. A family interested in Memphis Merit Academy would need to apply through the district's school choice or charter application process.
Memphis is a large city with a well-known set of cultural and civic anchors. The Mississippi River, Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, Graceland, Sun Studio, and the Stax Museum are all part of the city’s identity. Tom Lee Park downtown completed a major renovation in 2023, adding ballcourts, trails, and bike stands. Shelby Farms Park in East Memphis is one of the largest urban parks in the country, and Overton Park houses the Memphis Zoo. The Memphis Area Transit Authority provides public bus service, and the mayor appoints board members to that authority. The city is home to the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, who play at FedExForum.
The housing market in the school’s ZIP code shows home values that are well below national benchmarks, and rents that are significantly lower than the national average as well. Monthly rent is lower than an estimated mortgage payment on a median-priced home in the area, which is an unusual pattern that may reflect the local housing stock and mortgage rate environment. A family considering the area should note that home values in this ZIP have seen a modest decline year over year, while rents have edged up slightly.
For the parent district, Memphis-Shelby County Schools, we looked for publicly reported information about recent school closures under the Reimagining 901 plan, as well as a referendum on property taxes. We found enough discussion in search results to note that these are live topics in the district, but not enough confirmed detail to describe the outcomes here. A parent may want to look into those developments further with the district or in local news sources.
Memphis Merit Academy is a small charter elementary in a large urban district with low proficiency rates across subjects. It serves a predominantly Black student population. The surrounding city offers deep cultural and recreational resources, and the immediate housing market is affordable relative to national averages, though home values locally are trending slightly downward. A parent considering this school would want to understand the charter application process, the school’s approach to instruction and student support, and how the school addresses the academic challenges reflected in the testing data.
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