Summary:
The city of Alcester, South Dakota is home to a single public middle school, Alcester-Hudson Junior High - 03, which serves grades 7-8. With an enrollment of just 49 students, the school is relatively small compared to state averages. However, the school's academic performance has been declining in recent years, ranking 144 out of 246 middle schools in the state in 2024-2025, down from 97 out of 150 in 2022-2023.
Alcester-Hudson Junior High - 03 struggles with lower-than-average proficiency rates in math and science, with just 33.96% of students proficient in math and 31.04% proficient in 8th grade science, compared to district averages of 43.09% and 42.51% respectively. The school also faces challenges with high chronic absenteeism, at 20.2% in 2024-2025. Additionally, the school serves a relatively high proportion of students from low-income families, with a free/reduced lunch rate of 30.61% in 2023-2024.
Despite these challenges, the school does have a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 11.5 to 1, which may provide opportunities for more personalized attention and support. The Alcester-Hudson School District 61-1 as a whole is ranked 60 out of 147 school districts in the state, with a 3 out of 5 star rating. However, the district's performance is still below the state averages in key areas, suggesting room for improvement across the district.
Thank you for your feedback!