Best High Schools in Chester, SD

The city of Chester, South Dakota is home to three high schools: Chester High School - 01, Chester Area Cyber School - 92, and High Plains - 06. These schools serve students in the Chester Area School District 39-1.

Among the three schools, Chester High School - 01 stands out as the top performer, consistently ranking among the best high schools in South Dakota and demonstrating strong academic achievement. The school has earned a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger and has 11th-grade proficiency rates that exceed the state and district averages in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. In contrast, the two virtual schools, Chester Area Cyber School - 92 and High Plains - 06, have significantly lower rankings and academic performance, struggling to match the state and district averages in test scores.

The data also reveals that all three schools have similar 4-year graduation rates around 86.4% and relatively low dropout rates ranging from 2.6% to 2.8%. However, the schools differ in their spending per student, with Chester High School - 01 having the highest spending at $12,915 per student and High Plains - 06 having the lowest at $6,584 per student. These differences in resources may contribute to the disparities in academic performance observed across the schools.