Best High Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota high 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 141)	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)
467674000722	121	Waverly-South Shore High School - 01	Public	9-12	319 Mary Pl	Waverly	57201	Codington County	Waverly School District 14-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 886-9174	90	7	13.4	18.9%	81 (90.0%)	1 (1.1%)	4 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	$11,223			$00			$11,223	14.3	20.4	116	5
466336000557	122	Rosholt High School - 01	Public	9-12	202 Finley Ave	Rosholt	57260	Roberts County	Rosholt School District 54-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 537-4278	71	7	10.3	22.5%	49 (69.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (16.9%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (12.7%)	$12,665			$389			$12,276	13.8	28.9	104	18
464477000398	123	Lyman High School - 01	Public	9-12	201 S Birch Ave	Presho	57568	Lyman County	Lyman School District 42-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 895-2662	97	8	11.4	28.9%	61 (62.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (34.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$15,753			$1,945			$13,808	13.7	52.5	72	51
460705000055	124	Bison High School - 01	Public	9-12	200 E Carr St	Bison	57620	Perkins County	Bison School District 52-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 244-5271	46	7	6.8	32.6%	42 (91.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,485			$851			$15,634	11.1			(n/a)
467857000754	125	White River High School - 01	Public	9-12	501 E 3rd St	White River	57579	Mellette County	White River School District 47-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 259-3136	118	12	9.6	100.0%	14 (11.9%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	92 (78.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (8.5%)	$16,790			$2,703			$14,087	10.9	11.1	125
460002800014	126	Alcester-Hudson High School - 01	Public	9-12	409 E 6th St	Alcester	57001	Union County	Alcester-Hudson School District 61-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 934-1890	111	9	12.3	25.2%	98 (88.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	5 (4.5%)	$13,160			$617			$12,543	9.4	36.8	96	30
460561001277	127	Belle Fourche Education Connection - 09	Public	9-12	1301 12th Ave	Belle Fourche	57717	Butte County	Belle Fourche School District 09-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 723-0955	35	3	14	31.4%	25 (71.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (14.3%)	$8,352			$2,104			$6,248	9.4	1.4	137	10
465982001421	128	Rapid City Online High School - 92	Public, Virtual	9-12	625 9th St Ste 208	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	No	(605) 394-4048	67	3	25.7	19.4%	41 (61.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (10.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (11.9%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (16.4%)	$6,299			$580			$5,719	6.9			(n/a)
462485000217	129	Stanley County High School - 01	Public	9-12	10 E Main Ave	Fort Pierre	57532	Stanley County	Stanley County School District 57-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 223-7743	134	10	13.9	13.4%	109 (81.3%)	1 (0.7%)	3 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (6.0%)	$12,139			$258			$11,881	6.8	10.7	126	3
461230001295	130	High Plains - 06	Public, Virtual	9-12	500 5th St	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	No	(605) 489-2411	61	1	85.9	9.8%	57 (93.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	$6,389			$526			$5,863	6.8			(n/a)

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.