The high school serves approximately 330 students from areas on the Northwestern part of Taylor County.

A small portion of southwestern Jones County lies within the district also.

The district and the school are both named after the Baylor Merkel, the first settler in the area.

In 2016, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

[2] The Merkel Badgers compete in these sports - [3] Cross Country, Football, Basketball, Powerlifting, Golf, Track, Softball, Volleyball & Baseball Men’s Pole Vault • 1978(2A)-Brad Pursley Girls 100m hurdles 2007(2A) - Carly Szabo, 2008(2A) - Carly Szabo, 2010(2A) - Carly Szabo Girls 300m hurdles 2007(2A) - Carly Szabo, 2008(2A) - Carly Szabo The Merkel High School Academics teams compete in these events - [7] Computer Sciences, Computer Applications, Extemporaneous Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Mathematics, Social Studies, Literary Criticism, Debate