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)
462988000238	41	Gregory Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	505 Logan St	Gregory	57533	Gregory County	Gregory School District 26-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 835-8771	231	17	13.3	41.6%	195 (84.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	2 (0.9%)	24 (10.4%)	1 (0.4%)	7 (3.0%)	$12,803			$942			$11,861	74.6	68.4	64	23
467566000704	42	Wall Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	401 S Blvd W	Wall	57790	Pennington County	Wall School District 51-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 279-2156	119	9	13.8	35.3%	89 (74.8%)	2 (1.7%)	4 (3.4%)	1 (0.8%)	14 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (7.6%)	$13,576			$955			$12,620	74.2	59.3	83	41
467452000692	43	Viborg-Hurley Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-4	203 W Park Ave	Viborg	57070	Turner County	Viborg-Hurley School District 60-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 766-5418	154	10	14.9	22.7%	139 (90.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	$10,379			$720			$9,659	73.9	38.9	133	90
466627000976	44	John F. Kennedy Elementary - 57	Public	K-5	4501 S Holbrook Ave	Sioux Falls	57106	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 362-2784	659	42	15.5	29.7%	471 (71.5%)	40 (6.1%)	56 (8.5%)	9 (1.4%)	22 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (9.3%)	$9,691			$1,015			$8,676	73.4	72.7	46	2
466627000588	45	Harvey Dunn Elementary - 54	Public	PK, KG-5	2400 S Bahnson Ave	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4120	662	36	18.2	39.9%	447 (67.5%)	84 (12.7%)	38 (5.7%)	5 (0.8%)	26 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (9.4%)	$9,928			$1,034			$8,894	73	72.4	52	7
466627001238	46	Discovery Elementary - 26	Public	PK, KG-5	1506 S Discovery Ave	Sioux Falls	57106	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 362-3530	867	49	17.5	20.5%	688 (79.4%)	59 (6.8%)	56 (6.5%)	11 (1.3%)	15 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	37 (4.3%)	$9,659			$929			$8,730	71.6	66.3	70	24
463135001335	47	Endeavor Elementary - 07	Public	PK, KG-5	2401 W 95th St	Sioux Falls	57108	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	388	29	13.4	7.2%	304 (78.4%)	18 (4.6%)	16 (4.1%)	16 (4.1%)	5 (1.3%)	2 (0.5%)	27 (7.0%)	$10,295			$405			$9,890	70.7	70.9	58	11
464965000454	48	Mount Vernon Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	500 N Main	Mount Vernon	57363	Davison County	Mount Vernon School District 17-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 236-5237	117	11	10.9	34.2%	108 (92.3%)	3 (2.6%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,122			$1,469			$11,653	70.5	72.7	45	3
460004501156	49	Groton Area Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	810 N 1st St	Groton	57445	Brown County	Groton Area School District 06-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 397-2317	304	20	15.4	21.1%	280 (92.1%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.6%)	5 (1.6%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)	$10,933			$499			$10,434	70.3	72.6	50	1
464839000591	50	Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	1301 N Kimball St	Mitchell	57301	Davison County	Mitchell School District 17-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 995-3091	382	28	13.8	38.0%	281 (73.6%)	1 (0.3%)	48 (12.6%)	1 (0.3%)	33 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.7%)	$9,978			$1,013			$8,966	70.3	64.3	73	23

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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.