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Penacook, New Hampshire - 7 schools
An equity score of 37/100 ranks Merrimack Valley School District #84 of 114 districts in New Hampshire (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $19,092 per pupil, Merrimack Valley School District ranks #144 of 161 New Hampshire districts by per-pupil spending (New Hampshire districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
2,242
Total Enrollment
7
Schools
$19,092
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Merrimack Valley School District operates 7 public schools serving 2,242 students, placing it among the smallest districts in New Hampshire. The school portfolio breaks down into 3 elementary, 2 combined, 1 high, 1 middle schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Merrimack County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $19,092 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, among the bottom 17 of 161 New Hampshire districts by per-pupil spending. See how New Hampshire compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 57.9% local, 31.6% state, and 10.4% federal, a local-revenue-heavy mix that leaves the district more exposed to property-tax swings and local ballot measures than state-funded peers. The district's equity score is 37/100, ranked #84 of 114 in New Hampshire against a state average of 51, notably less even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 7 schools offering Advanced Placement (4 AP courses district-wide), a 173:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 32.7% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 89.9% White, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.9% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Penacook Elementary School, with a diversity index of 31.2/100.
Its largest campus is Merrimack Valley High School, enrolling 744 students (34% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Salisbury Elementary School, at 64 students, a 12x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Merrimack Valley High School accounts for 33.2% of all Merrimack Valley School District student enrollment
That dominant concentration means Merrimack Valley School District-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: high. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Merrimack Valley School District school enrollment varies 12× across entities
Merrimack Valley School District school enrollment ranges from 64 students (lowest) to 744 students (highest), a spread of 680 students. That spread reflects typical mixed-portfolio variation between specialty programs and large neighbourhood schools. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Merrimack Valley School District student-counselor ratio is 173:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Merrimack Valley School District chronic absenteeism rate is 32.7% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Comparisons are relative to Merrimack Valley School District's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in New Hampshire
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Merrimack Valley School District?
Merrimack Valley School District has 7 schools, including 1 high, 1 middle, 2 combined, 3 elementary. Total enrollment is 2,242 students.
How much does Merrimack Valley School District spend per student?
Merrimack Valley School District spends $19,092 per student. The district has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #84 in New Hampshire.
What is the demographic composition of Merrimack Valley School District?
Merrimack Valley School District students are 89.9% White, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.9% African American, 1.5% Asian, averaged across 7 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Merrimack Valley School District?
Merrimack Valley School District has an equity score of 37/100, ranking #84 out of 114 districts in New Hampshire.