Most Improved South Dakota Elementary Schools

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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 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 300)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
49	Avon Elementary - 02	Public	K-4	210 Pine St	Avon	57315	Bon Homme County	Avon School District 04-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 286-3291	74	7	10.5	31.1%	62 (83.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	$17,487			$1,977			$15,509	75.2	35.9	141	92		460427000028
44	Scotland Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-4	711 4th St	Scotland	57059	Bon Homme County	Scotland School District 04-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 583-2717	114	8	13.9	27.2%	100 (87.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	6 (5.3%)	$13,879			$946			$12,933	76.7	42	123	79		466518000568
28	Castlewood Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	310 E Harry St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 793-2497	140	11	13	26.4%	131 (93.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,151			$664			$12,487	80.9	55.4	95	67		461128000113
65	Estelline Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	404 6th St N	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 873-2201	149	11	14.1	34.9%	112 (75.2%)	1 (0.7%)	31 (20.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.4%)	$13,692			$1,363			$12,330	72.7	44.5	120	55		462241000191
98	Tri-Valley Elementary in Colton - 02	Public	K-4	46450 252nd St	Colton	57018	Minnehaha County	Tri-Valley School District 49-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 446-3538	154	13	12	16.2%	139 (90.3%)	2 (1.3%)	9 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	$14,169			$704			$13,465	66.5	34.3	145	47		464494000776
81	Stewart Elementary - 05	Public	K-5	208 W 21st St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-5765	271	21	12.7	38.0%	208 (76.8%)	2 (0.7%)	36 (13.3%)	4 (1.5%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.5%)	$12,131			$931			$11,199	70.5	41.3	125	44		468043000795
155	Edmunds Central Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-5	105 1st Ave	Roscoe	57471	Edmunds County	Edmunds Central School District 22-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 287-4251	61	9	6.8	34.4%	47 (77.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (18.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,855			$2,814			$19,040	53.3	3.1	198	43		463444001066
48	Montrose Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	309 S Church Ave	Montrose	57048	McCook County	Montrose School District 43-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 363-5025	108	10	10.9	13.9%	100 (92.6%)	1 (0.9%)	3 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.7%)	$13,873			$594			$13,279	75.4	57.9	84	36		464878000451
75	Centerville Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	610 Lincoln St	Centerville	57014	Turner County	Centerville School District 60-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 563-2291	108	10	10.3	28.7%	98 (90.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.8%)	$13,948			$873			$13,075	70.9	49.8	108	33		461176000115
54	Canistota Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	431 4th Ave	Canistota	57012	McCook County	Canistota School District 43-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 296-3458	141	13	10.6	28.4%	121 (85.8%)	1 (0.7%)	4 (2.8%)	1 (0.7%)	10 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.8%)	$15,124			$534			$14,591	74.5	57.9	85	31		461032000104

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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 30, 2025, 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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.