Merrill Middle School
Des Moines, IA 50312
Phone: (515) 242-8448
District: Des Moines Independent Community School District
GreatSchools Rating
public • Grades 6,7,8 • 685 students
Merrill Middle School, a public school located in Des Moines, IA, serves grades 6-8 in the Des Moines Independent Community School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 7 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.
Merrill Middle School is a public school located in Des Moines, IA. 685 students attend Merrill Middle School.
School Ratings
| Category | Rating | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test Scores | 6/10 | The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Iowa Assessment data from Iowa Department of Education. |
| Student Growth | 7/10 | The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Iowa Department of Education. |
Worrisome patterns of chronic student absenteeism have been identified.
Posted: January 21, 2025
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Posted: January 21, 2025
Posted: January 21, 2025
This school does not enforce bullying rules, there are students that get bullied while teachers walk by, there are some good teachers that care about how students are feeling except for when they are bullied, there are some really nice and good teachers including, Mrs. Tharp, Mrs. Vogel, Mr. Severson, Mrs. Beyer, Mrs. Hassel, Mr. C (The janitor)
Posted: July 30, 2024
The Principal is awful. It's a shame cause there are some good teachers.
Posted: July 30, 2024
Posted: July 30, 2024
Posted: July 30, 2024
Posted: July 30, 2024
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Posted: July 30, 2024
Posted: April 4, 2024
The teachers don't really seem to care about handling bullies and standing up for bullied kids. I can tell from firsthand experience that some classmates have been rude to me when the teacher was only just some meters away, and the teacher doesn't really seem to do anything. I'd like to give Christina Tharp some time in the spotlight, though. She was one of the few teachers that actually TRY to take action when kids are completely rude to one another. Still, it's just shameful to see how rude kids can be. It's like the teachers just care more about getting the lessons over and done with rather than trying to make positive impacts on student personalities.
Posted: April 4, 2024
Posted: April 3, 2024
I recommend this school because my son loves this school he loves the teachers here and his grades are good and his teachers help him if he is struggling
Posted: April 3, 2024
Posted: April 3, 2024
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Posted: April 3, 2024
Posted: June 4, 2022
All 3 of my kids have gone to Merrill. Teachers are the best!
Posted: June 4, 2022
Posted: June 4, 2022
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Posted: September 27, 2021
The leadership at this school is shameful.
Posted: September 27, 2021
Posted: June 15, 2021
Thank you for your hard work during the pandemic!
Posted: June 15, 2021
Posted: June 15, 2021
Posted: June 15, 2021
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Posted: June 15, 2021
Posted: June 15, 2021
Posted: November 12, 2019
Kate Panek is by far the worst administrator I have ever seen. Complete disconnect between the school, parents, and students.
Posted: November 12, 2019
Posted: November 12, 2019
I wish I could pull my kids. We had a great experience with DMPS for elementary. Merrill is a huge let down at best.
Posted: November 12, 2019
Posted: November 12, 2019
Kids learn by example. The admin sets the tone and some families are favored and others scapegoated. It's a thing called bullying.
Posted: July 19, 2019
Posted: July 19, 2019
Posted: June 24, 2019
The reputation of this school to by knowledge before having any students there was to be one of the best in city limits. I really hope that is not the case, because I have been consistently shocked at how much I dislike almost everything about it.
Posted: June 24, 2019
I don't even understand what their philosophy is on homework. It is sporadic and arbitrary. My kids tell an awful lot of stories about being asked to work quietly or on computers, and very few about actual lessons being taught.
Posted: June 24, 2019
There are some effective teachers, don't get me wrong (and the band director is the kind of instructor that a musician dreams of; John Morgan is the best thing going on at this school, by far), but there are some that are absolutely incompetent and some that are downright MEAN to the students. They've got the ubiquitous pervy teacher who comments on the female students clothing too, which is so comforting, and the administration doesn't seem to have any problems with him.
Posted: June 24, 2019
The administration is a joke. My 3 children have had a total of 2 behavioral incidents "handled" by 2 separate principals and I was shocked at the lack of common sense or desire for a solution that would assist these children in becoming better young adults. My son had a known bully jump on him in the parking lot (of course there was at least one kid video recording it on his phone, so there was no doubt of the details) and because my son pushed the other boy off of his back he was considered to have "engaged in a fight" and received an out of school suspension along with the other child. The incident with my daughter was something that I just wanted to discuss with another student's parents but was told there was no avenue for me to get any contact information for them. I was also told that because it happened 2 days before the end of the school year it wasn't their problem and I could call the police if I wanted help. That was the new principal who told me that. I don't know why, but they seem to have an attitude that the parents are the enemy, as well as the students. It is bizarre.
Posted: June 24, 2019
No, it is a very sit down and shut up model. None of my children have learning differences or 504s, but they can be quite chatty and sometimes you'd think I was attempting to send costumed spider monkeys to school the way they talk at parent/teacher conferences.
Posted: June 24, 2019
I doubt it deals with it at all. They seem to handle all instances the same: punish all the kids involved no matter what. Kids who stand up for other kids who are being bullied with get in trouble. And if possible, it is best to white and male if you are attending this school. They definitely have a very sexist mentality in the administration and a portion of the teaching staff. I will give a shout out to Blake Hammond though, he is an excellent teacher of science and of how to be a decent human being. They had another teacher that really treated the students like people worthy of respect, but he moved to the west coast. UPDATE: I scanned the full faculty roster and Adam Severson, Tonya Swanda, David O'Connor, and Paige Dahms are all wonderful teachers as well. And admittedly, I haven't had interaction with all of the staff. Credit where credit is due though, I'm not just a disgruntled soccer mom who thinks her babies deserve to be treated like royalty. I'm just poor and a single parent.
Posted: June 7, 2019
Horrible. Far too many calls from the school over issues they could easily have handled without my involvement. My impression(?) They didn't want to deal with a student who was well-behaved, but demonized and bullied.
Posted: June 7, 2019
Not enough homework and the work that is sent home comes with few instructions and seem way below the student's learning level.
Posted: June 7, 2019
Posted: June 7, 2019
Leadership is teacher biased. My special needs son was suspended for three days for trying to defend a friend on the playground who was being bullied by older students standing around in a circle kicking his friend. No bullies were suspended. Only my son.
Posted: June 7, 2019
Posted: June 7, 2019
Posted: May 22, 2014
This school needs help. It is so bad I have chosen to open enroll my kids out of the district
Reviews provided by GreatSchools™
| # | Name | Type | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copper Creek | Neighborhood/Subdivision | Pleasant Hill | IA | 9.1 mi |
| # | Name | City | State | Overall Rating | Distance |
|---|
| Base | Distance |
|---|---|
| Camp Dodge | 7.6 mi. |
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