Kate Goodrich Elementary, Merrill WI

Original Research by School Decision on Kate Goodrich Elementary

Kate Goodrich Elementary serves kindergarten through second grade, making it the entry point for students in the Merrill Area School District. Located in the small city of Merrill, the county seat of Lincoln County, the school sits within a community that originally grew around logging and has since diversified into manufacturing, insurance, and small-town retail. Merrill’s population has been slowly declining, and the district itself has seen a steady enrollment drop over recent years, a context that may influence class sizes and program decisions across its schools.

The school’s student body is broadly representative of the community: predominantly white, with small shares of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, Black, Asian, or American Indian. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a majority of families are in a lower income bracket. That economic reality shapes the peer environment and may affect the kinds of resources families can draw on outside of school. No data was available on the share of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

State assessment results exist in the record for grades three through five, even though the school currently stops at grade two. Those results come from the 2020-21 school year and show proficiency rates that, when combined across subjects and grades, place the school above the midpoint among Lincoln County districts. But because the grade span does not match, a family may need to confirm with the school or district whether those test scores reflect an earlier grade configuration or how they relate to the current program. For a school that only covers the earliest grades, standardized testing is a limited window; the real academic work at Kate Goodrich is building foundational literacy and numeracy. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism or course access was available.

Housing in Merrill is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, which is consistent with the area’s slow-growth, stable economic base. Major employers include an insurance company, a footwear manufacturer, and several industrial firms. The city maintains a compact downtown and a range of parks and recreational facilities, including a state park along the Wisconsin River. Walkability is typical of a small Wisconsin city, with a walkable core and lower-density residential neighborhoods. For a family considering this school, the broader context is a community that offers affordable living and outdoor amenities but limited economic expansion.

Kate Goodrich Elementary is a small early-primary school in a stable, lower-cost setting. Its academic record, such as it is from older test data, suggests performance that is competitive within the county. Families whose children will move through the Merrill district will want to consider the full K-12 pathway, including the district’s middle and high schools, and may want to ask specifically about how the early grades feed into those later programs. The school’s role is to start that journey, and the available evidence points to a solid, if not exceptional, foundation in a community that values its small-town character.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 49% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 57% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 30% · ▲ 21 pts above district

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 47% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 60% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 34% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Science

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 55% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 64% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median

This schoolMerrill Area School District, 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 3Lower-income25%Higher-income41%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income53%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income71%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income37%Higher-income68%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income56%11 pp gap