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)
460002500305	1	Howard High School - 01	Public	9-12	500 N Section Line	Howard	57349	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 772-5515	110	10	11.1	8.2%	105 (95.5%)	2 (1.8%)	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	$14,593			$1,015			$13,578	95.5	93.2	5	4
467602000709	2	Warner High School - 01	Public	9-12	110 1st Ave SW	Warner	57479	Brown County	Warner School District 06-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 225-6194	87	8	11.2	9.2%	83 (95.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	$10,087			$00			$10,087	95.1	92.2	8	6
468044501357	3	Corsica-Stickney High School - 01	Public	9-12	120 S Napoleon Ave	Corsica	57328	Douglas County	Corsica-Stickney 21-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 946-5475	64	7	8.7	15.6%	63 (98.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	$15,752			$550			$15,202	92.5	71.8	29	26
467668000720	4	Waubay High School - 01	Public	9-12	202 W School Rd	Waubay	57273	Day County	Waubay School District 18-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 947-4529	64	6	11.3	60.9%	28 (43.8%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (53.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	$13,218			$747			$12,472	92.2			(n/a)
462134000186	5	Elk Point-Jefferson High School - 01	Public	9-12	402 S Douglas St	Elk Point	57025	Union County	Elk Point-Jefferson School District 61-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 356-5901	214	16	13.7	12.1%	203 (94.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$11,158			$00			$11,158	91.1	70.1	33	28
460795000071	6	Brandon Valley High School - 01	Public	9-12	301 S Splitrock Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-3211	1,345	64	21.1	10.7%	1,181 (87.8%)	50 (3.7%)	41 (3.0%)	21 (1.6%)	7 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	43 (3.2%)	$8,969			$303			$8,666	91	89.2	9	3
462697000232	7	Gettysburg High School - 01	Public	9-12	100 E King Ave	Gettysburg	57442	Potter County	Gettysburg School District 53-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 765-2436	68	8	8	14.7%	61 (89.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.9%)	1 (1.5%)	3 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	$15,544			$2,243			$13,301	91	69.4	35	28
468043701247	8	Kadoka Area High School - 01	Public	9-12	800 Bayberry St	Kadoka	57543	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2172	75	8	9.5	26.7%	48 (64.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (32.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.0%)	$16,908			$2,532			$14,376	89.7	92.3	7	1
467935000756	9	Willow Lake High School - 01	Public	9-12	400 Garfield Ave	Willow Lake	57278	Clark County	Willow Lake School District 12-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 625-5945	57	7	8.7	10.5%	54 (94.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,668			$293			$15,376	89.4	16.9	121	112
460468000036	10	Baltic High School - 01	Public	9-12	1 Bulldog Ave	Baltic	57003	Minnehaha County	Baltic School District 49-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 529-5461	162	12	14	8.6%	146 (90.1%)	1 (0.6%)	10 (6.2%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	$9,193			$221			$8,972	89.1	79.2	21	11

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.