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)
460393201162	71	Sanborn Central Elementary - 06	Public	PK, KG-5	40405 SD Hwy 34	Forestburg	57314	Sanborn County	Sanborn Central School District 55-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 495-4183	104	9	12	21.2%	94 (90.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.8%)	$12,661			$1,496			$11,165	62.7	40.6	126	55
465982000549	72	Meadowbrook Elementary - 10	Public	K-5	3125 W Flormann St	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-1821	464	30	15.4	19.6%	351 (75.6%)	6 (1.3%)	27 (5.8%)	4 (0.9%)	36 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (8.6%)	$10,117			$632			$9,485	61.9	66.9	67	5
463171000273	73	West Central Humboldt Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	600 S Main St	Humboldt	57035	Minnehaha County	West Central School District 49-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 363-3131	385	24	15.9	9.4%	360 (93.5%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.3%)	$9,880			$644			$9,236	61.6	66.1	71	2
463243000277	74	Herreid Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	302 Main St N	Herreid	57632	Campbell County	Herreid School District 10-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 437-2263	76	7	10.4	34.2%	62 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.9%)	$13,703			$2,134			$11,569	61	44.8	114	40
468043000791	75	Beadle Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	1214 Mulberry St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-2282	404	26	15.6	28.7%	324 (80.2%)	2 (0.5%)	25 (6.2%)	2 (0.5%)	17 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (8.4%)	$10,661			$1,400			$9,262	61	58	85	10
463822000354	76	Kimball Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-4	300 S East St	Kimball	57355	Brule County	Kimball School District 07-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 778-6231	123	10	12.8	22.8%	111 (90.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.9%)	$12,606			$1,662			$10,944	60.4	78.7	31	45
466630000614	77	Sioux Valley Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	200 Hansina Ave	Volga	57071	Brookings County	Sioux Valley School District 05-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 627-5657	354	24	14.5	13.3%	326 (92.1%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.4%)	$9,006			$432			$8,574	60.1	56.2	90	13
464086000369	78	Langford Area Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	206 Chestnut St	Langford	57454	Marshall County	Langford Area 45-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 493-6454	102	8	12.2	32.4%	97 (95.1%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.9%)	$14,585			$2,132			$12,453	59.7	67.4	65	13
460102801032	79	Selby Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	108 E Dakota St	Selby	57472	Walworth County	Selby Area School District 62-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 649-7818	91	9	9.6	17.6%	84 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.3%)	$15,031			$1,168			$13,863	59.4	39.5	129	50
465571000507	80	Plankinton Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	404 E Davenport St	Plankinton	57368	Aurora County	Plankinton School District 01-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 942-7743	141	13	10.6	34.8%	97 (68.8%)	2 (1.4%)	34 (24.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	$15,526			$912			$14,614	58.9	71.8	55	25

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

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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

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.