Best Middle Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota middle 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!

JUST IN! South Dakota Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2023)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 147)	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)
463460000912	1	Hoven Junior High - 03	Public	7-8	98 5th Ave W	Hoven	57450	Potter County	Hoven School District 53-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 948-2252	14	1	10	35.7%	14 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,397			$2,160			$17,237	96.2			(n/a)
468043701382	2	Kadoka Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	800 Bayberry St	Kadoka	57543	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2174	50	3	15.1	42.0%	26 (52.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (46.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.0%)	$16,331			$5,332			$10,999	94.1	75.8	21	19
461958000955	3	Jones County Middle School - 04	Public	5-8	404 Jackson Ave	Murdo	57559	Jones County	Jones County School District 37-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 669-2258	54	4	12.3	44.4%	44 (81.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.6%)	$13,704			$1,978			$11,727	92.7	81.3	12	9
461812000837	4	Dell Rapids Middle School - 03	Public	5-8	1216 N Garfield Ave	Dell Rapids	57022	Minnehaha County	Dell Rapids School District 49-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 428-5473	299	21	13.9	14.7%	273 (91.3%)	2 (0.7%)	10 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.7%)	$9,950			$532			$9,417	92	90.8	3	1
467602000710	5	Warner Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	110 1st Ave SW	Warner	57479	Brown County	Warner School District 06-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 225-6194	72	5	14.8	9.7%	68 (94.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.2%)	$9,120			$200			$8,920	91.6	95.2	1	4
465982000457	6	Southwest Middle School - 38	Public	6-8	4501 Park Dr	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-6792	660	34	19.1	13.2%	521 (78.9%)	8 (1.2%)	40 (6.1%)	13 (2.0%)	36 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (6.4%)	$9,912			$659			$9,253	89.2	88.3	5	1
463999000918	7	Lake Preston Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	300 1st St NE	Lake Preston	57249	Kingsbury County	Lake Preston School District 38-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 847-4455	36	4	8.1	38.9%	30 (83.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (11.1%)	$17,145			$1,173			$15,972	89	36.1	102	95
462697000959	8	Gettysburg Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	100 E King Ave	Gettysburg	57442	Potter County	Gettysburg School District 53-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 765-2436	48	4	10.8	27.1%	42 (87.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	$12,958			$2,162			$10,796	88.3	77.1	16	8
460372000877	9	Arlington Junior High - 03	Public	7-8	306 S Main St	Arlington	57212	Kingsbury County	Arlington School District 38-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 983-5598	38	3	14.1	7.9%	35 (92.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,880			$71			$12,809	88.2	82.4	11	2
460795000072	10	Brandon Valley Middle School - 02	Public	7-8	700 Holly Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-3214	729	43	16.9	13.0%	621 (85.2%)	31 (4.3%)	25 (3.4%)	13 (1.8%)	9 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (4.1%)	$9,153			$419			$8,734	87.1	86.9	8	2

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial 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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.