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)
461230000131	101	Chester Elementary -02	Public	PK, KG-5	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 489-2411	159	10	15.8	20.8%	151 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	3 (1.9%)	$11,058			$1,099			$9,958	53.1	44.4	119	18
460930000087	102	Buffalo Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	92	8	10.9	29.3%	87 (94.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	1 (1.1%)	2 (2.2%)	$15,085			$1,429			$13,656	53.1	37.6	135	33
460207000007	103	Lincoln Elementary - 08	Public	PK, KG-5	414 S 10th St	Aberdeen	57401	Brown County	Aberdeen School District 06-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 725-7200	256	29	8.6	55.9%	154 (60.2%)	1 (0.4%)	32 (12.5%)	36 (14.1%)	16 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.6%)	$11,192			$2,001			$9,191	52.4	74.8	39	64
468043000793	104	Lincoln Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	815 Locust St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-7392	410	25	16.3	41.0%	279 (68.0%)	6 (1.5%)	64 (15.6%)	4 (1.0%)	24 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (8.0%)	$10,587			$1,418			$9,170	51.3	49	105	1
468044000323	105	Highmore Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	415 Iowa Ave S	Highmore	57345	Hyde County	Highmore-Harrold 34-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 852-2276	130	12	11.2	37.7%	97 (74.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (21.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.5%)	$13,771			$2,039			$11,732	51.2	37.7	134	29
466045000551	106	Redfield Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	111 6th Ave E	Redfield	57469	Spink County	Redfield School District 56-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 472-4520	270	24	11	31.5%	230 (85.2%)	5 (1.9%)	15 (5.6%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$11,458			$413			$11,045	51	44.5	117	11
463049000255	107	Philip Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	330 Scottie Ave	Philip	57567	Haakon County	Haakon School District 27-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 859-2001	152	11	13.7	15.1%	135 (88.8%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.3%)	2 (1.3%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.3%)	$10,629			$490			$10,140	50.1	46.9	109	2
461176000115	108	Centerville Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	610 Lincoln St	Centerville	57014	Turner County	Centerville School District 60-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 563-2291	128	9	13.6	21.1%	120 (93.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.1%)	$10,440			$739			$9,702	49.8	83.8	17	91
465427000487	109	Parker Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	335 W 1st St	Parker	57053	Turner County	Parker School District 60-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 297-3237	262	19	14	13.4%	233 (88.9%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.5%)	1 (0.4%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.7%)	$10,237			$314			$9,923	49.6	39	131	22
461410000093	110	Colman Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-6	200 S Loban Ave	Colman	57017	Moody County	Colman-Egan School District 50-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 534-3534	156	12	13.5	14.1%	132 (84.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.1%)	$10,781			$840			$9,941	49.6	44.8	115	5

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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

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.