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)
466627001344	21	Sonia Sotomayor Elementary - 65	Public	PK, KG-5	1510 S Lake Ave	Sioux Falls	57105	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-4655	678	37	18.5	13.6%	509 (75.1%)	10 (1.5%)	113 (16.7%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	39 (5.8%)	$9,973			$949			$9,024	82.6	87.1	13	8
460795001237	22	Robert Bennis Elementary - 05	Public	K-4	2001 S Sioux Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-8010	562	34	16.7	9.4%	494 (87.9%)	6 (1.1%)	17 (3.0%)	5 (0.9%)	10 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.3%)	$9,559			$519			$9,040	82	87	14	8
468044501354	23	Corsica-Stickney Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	506 Main St	Stickney	57375	Aurora County	Corsica-Stickney 21-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 732-4221	136	10	13.2	17.6%	131 (96.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,444			$987			$12,457	81.9	75.5	36	13
460005200388	24	Tea Area Legacy Elementary - 01	Public	K-5	500 W Charish St	Tea	57064	Lincoln County	Tea Area School District 41-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 498-2700	532	30	17.5	13.5%	462 (86.8%)	2 (0.4%)	28 (5.3%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (6.8%)	$9,191			$456			$8,735	81.8	87.2	12	12
466627001064	25	John Harris Elementary - 23	Public	PK, KG-5	3501 E 49th St	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4111	686	38	18.1	16.3%	555 (80.9%)	37 (5.4%)	21 (3.1%)	10 (1.5%)	13 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (7.3%)	$9,817			$1,032			$8,786	80.6	79.7	26	1
465982000542	26	Corral Drive Elementary - 21	Public	K-5	3736 Corral Dr	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-6789	467	24	19.5	3.6%	381 (81.6%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (4.9%)	21 (4.5%)	8 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	32 (6.9%)	$8,947			$634			$8,314	80.3	80.4	25	1
460795001416	27	Inspiration Elementary - 08	Public	K-4	3401 S Sparta Ave	Sioux Falls	57110	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-5890	320	21	15.6	17.5%	230 (71.9%)	32 (10.0%)	18 (5.6%)	16 (5.0%)	9 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.7%)	$10,132			$830			$9,302	79.4	83	21	6
460002500304	28	Howard Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	201 N Minnie St	Howard	57349	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 772-4443	131	11	11.6	22.9%	126 (96.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,927			$2,111			$11,816	79.3	77.7	32	4
463999000367	29	Lake Preston Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	300 1st St NE	Lake Preston	57249	Kingsbury County	Lake Preston School District 38-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 847-4464	104	10	9.9	41.3%	94 (90.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.8%)	$18,127			$2,708			$15,420	79	79	30	1
465982000547	30	Pinedale Elementary - 11	Public	K-5	4901 W Chicago St	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-1805	363	22	16.2	5.8%	295 (81.3%)	5 (1.4%)	16 (4.4%)	2 (0.6%)	14 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (8.5%)	$10,195			$619			$9,575	78.6	81.3	23	7

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.