Best Elementary Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish South Dakota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the South Dakota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 17, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2023)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 201)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
466993000637	61	Sturgis Elementary - 03	Public	K-4	1121 Ballpark Rd	Sturgis	57785	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 347-2386	538	44	12.2	37.7%	463 (86.1%)	3 (0.6%)	21 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (6.5%)	$9,889			$1,372			$8,516	66.2	83.5	19	42
463699001075	62	Dakota Valley Upper Elementary - 04	Public	4-5	1150 Northshore Dr	North Sioux City	57049	Union County	Dakota Valley School District 61-8	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 422-3830	206	15	13.3	18.4%	145 (70.4%)	5 (2.4%)	20 (9.7%)	10 (4.9%)	5 (2.4%)	1 (0.5%)	20 (9.7%)	$8,861			$556			$8,305	65.4	64.7	72	10
465526001353	63	Kennedy Elementary - 08	Public	K-5	2306 Brookstone Loop	Pierre	57501	Hughes County	Pierre School District 32-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 773-7370	394	26	15.1	31.7%	239 (60.7%)	1 (0.3%)	21 (5.3%)	2 (0.5%)	72 (18.3%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (15.0%)	$10,315			$1,180			$9,135	64.9	53.9	94	31
465430000491	64	Parkston Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	102C S Chapman Dr	Parkston	57366	Hutchinson County	Parkston School District 33-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 928-3368	288	21	14	29.9%	254 (88.2%)	8 (2.8%)	5 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.9%)	$11,471			$1,857			$9,613	64.1	63.7	77	13
468044100493	65	Mobridge Upper Elementary - 04	Public	3-5	1107 1st Ave E	Mobridge	57601	Walworth County	Mobridge-Pollock 62-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 845-9210	144	10	15	43.1%	91 (63.2%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.4%)	4 (2.8%)	44 (30.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	$11,615			$1,319			$10,296	63.5	72.8	44	21
462256000195	66	Eureka Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	805 10th St	Eureka	57437	McPherson County	Eureka School District 44-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 284-2875	105	11	9.4	42.9%	90 (85.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (7.6%)	$16,702			$1,427			$15,275	63.4	73.2	41	25
461695000154	67	Custer Elementary - 02	Public	K-6	1415 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 673-4483	293	26	11.2	24.2%	249 (85.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.8%)	$14,223			$1,510			$12,714	63.2	66.4	69	2
466693000401	68	Creekside Elementary - 07	Public	3-5	2325 N Ave	Spearfish	57783	Lawrence County	Spearfish School District 40-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 717-1210	519	37	13.8	17.1%	448 (86.3%)	2 (0.4%)	28 (5.4%)	6 (1.2%)	7 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.2%)	$8,840			$757			$8,084	62.9	61.3	81	13
460004200655	69	Onida Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	500 8th St	Onida	57564	Sully County	Agar-Blunt-Onida School District 58-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 258-2617	85	9	9	15.3%	72 (84.7%)	1 (1.2%)	5 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (7.1%)	$20,952			$1,651			$19,301	62.8	72.5	51	18
461785000162	70	Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	407 Ingalls Ave SW	De Smet	57231	Kingsbury County	De Smet School District 38-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 854-3963	178	11	16.6	28.1%	166 (93.3%)	2 (1.1%)	5 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	$11,686			$1,768			$9,918	62.7	52.1	101	31

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, Smarter Balanced Assessments Science test scores released by the South Dakota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 17, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the South Dakota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the South Dakota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Dakota Department of Education.