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)
467662001083	31	Jefferson Elementary - 09	Public	PK, KG-4	1701 N Maple St	Watertown	57201	Codington County	Watertown School District 14-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 882-6390	332	19	17.5	16.9%	297 (89.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.4%)	$9,999			$471			$9,528	77.7	72.6	48	17
460264000876	32	Hanson Elementary - 06	Public	PK, KG-5	230 6th St	Alexandria	57311	Hanson County	Hanson School District 30-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 239-4387	145	10	13.9	27.6%	127 (87.6%)	1 (0.7%)	7 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.1%)	$11,640			$1,526			$10,114	77.5	81.2	24	8
468043801244	33	Platte - Geddes Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	401 S Iowa Av	Platte	57369	Charles Mix County	Platte - Geddes School District 11-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 337-2468	223	18	12.4	16.6%	196 (87.9%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	3 (1.3%)	13 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.6%)	$11,516			$1,565			$9,951	77.2	83.4	20	13
468043701249	34	Kadoka Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	800 Bayberry St	Kadoka	57543	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2173	126	14	9.1	52.4%	69 (54.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (44.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	$19,066			$5,847			$13,219	77.2	81.9	22	12
463135001288	35	Journey Elementary - 05	Public	K-5	6801 S Grange Ave	Sioux Falls	57108	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	342	24	14	7.9%	286 (83.6%)	17 (5.0%)	16 (4.7%)	8 (2.3%)	6 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.6%)	$10,680			$406			$10,274	76.1	63.8	76	41
462697000231	36	Gettysburg Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	100 E King Ave	Gettysburg	57442	Potter County	Gettysburg School District 53-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 765-2438	97	11	8.4	22.7%	81 (83.5%)	2 (2.1%)	6 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.2%)	$14,022			$2,404			$11,618	75.5	85.7	15	21
460740000064	37	Tyndall Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	1404 Fir St	Tyndall	57066	Bon Homme County	Bon Homme School District 04-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 589-3389	184	14	12.7	29.3%	168 (91.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.4%)	$12,515			$2,107			$10,408	75.3	79.5	28	9
465526000494	38	Buchanan Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	100 N Buchanan Ave	Pierre	57501	Hughes County	Pierre School District 32-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 773-7310	422	27	15.6	26.3%	276 (65.4%)	3 (0.7%)	24 (5.7%)	9 (2.1%)	57 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (12.6%)	$10,260			$1,117			$9,144	75.3	72.6	49	11
460000200423	39	Milbank Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	507 S 9th St	Milbank	57252	Grant County	Milbank School District 25-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 432-6615	429	36	11.9	36.1%	338 (78.8%)	2 (0.5%)	72 (16.8%)	2 (0.5%)	9 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	$11,370			$1,237			$10,133	75	73.1	42	3
467699000723	40	Webster Area Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	102 E Ninth Ave	Webster	57274	Day County	Webster Area 18-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 345-4651	270	19	14.1	25.9%	239 (88.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.8%)	$10,363			$572			$9,791	74.7	73.1	43	3

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.