Best Elementary Schools in North Dakota

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Find the best North 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 North 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 A-Plus test scores by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The most recent update was on Thursday, December 4, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 216)	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
31	Central Valley Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1556 Highway 81 NE	Buxton	58218	Traill County	Central Valley 3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 847-2220	109	11	9.5	20.2%	103 (94.5%)	4 (3.7%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,158			$477			$13,681	76.4	70	44	13		380414000103
32	Red Trail Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	4801 37th Ave NW	Mandan	58554	Morton County	Mandan 1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(701) 751-6508	438	24	18.2	20.1%	359 (82.0%)	14 (3.2%)	21 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (5.7%)	2 (0.5%)	17 (3.9%)	$12,550			$478			$12,071	76.3	82.5	18	14		381182000870
33	Highland Acres Elementary School	Public	K-5	1200 Prairie Dr	Bismarck	58501	Burleigh County	Bismarck 1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(701) 323-4160	103	7	14.7	10.7%	89 (86.4%)	2 (1.9%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	6 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.9%)	$17,262			$656			$16,606	74.9	60.1	73	40		380001400050
34	Milnor Elementary School	Public	K-6	530 5th St	Milnor	58060	Sargent County	Milnor 2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 427-5237	89	13	6.8	20.2%	80 (89.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (7.9%)	$20,497			$1,221			$19,276	74.9	61.5	66	32		381293000426
35	Tgu-Towner Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	302 2nd St SE	Towner	58788	McHenry County	Tgu 60	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 537-5414	154	14	11.1	40.9%	138 (89.6%)	1 (0.6%)	7 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	$14,954			$606			$14,349	74.2	48.6	112	77		380004700498
36	Harwood Elementary School	Public	K-5	110 Freedland Dr	Harwood	58042	Cass County	West Fargo 6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(701) 356-2040	97	10	10	11.3%	90 (92.8%)	1 (1.0%)	2 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$18,893			$844			$18,049	74.1	70.2	43	7		381941000678
37	Nathan Twining Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1422 N Louisiana St	Grand Forks AFB	58204	Grand Forks County	Grand Forks 1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(701) 787-5100	228	25	9.2	17.5%	134 (58.8%)	18 (7.9%)	43 (18.9%)	4 (1.8%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	26 (11.4%)	$15,401			$443			$14,958	74.1	57	80	43		380813000259
38	Cavalier Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	300 Main St E	Cavalier	58220	Pembina County	Cavalier 6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 265-8417	195	15	12.9	20.5%	177 (90.8%)	1 (0.5%)	11 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.6%)	$11,742			$740			$11,001	73.9	70.6	42	4		380001800094
39	Richland Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	106 Broadway	Abercrombie	58001	Richland County	Richland 44	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 553-8321	184	19	9.6	12.0%	167 (90.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.8%)	$14,608			$943			$13,665	73	73.4	38	1		380003600552
40	Velva Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	101 4th St W	Velva	58790	McHenry County	Velva 1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(701) 338-2022	217	20	10.6	22.6%	196 (90.3%)	1 (0.5%)	10 (4.6%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.7%)	$12,449			$313			$12,137	72.4	74.4	34	6		381704000590

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for ND student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on A-Plus Math, A-Plus Reading, A-Plus Science test scores released by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
These rankings were last updated on December 4, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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 North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

About North Dakota Assessment Data: To protect student privacy, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction reports assessment results as percentage ranges rather than exact values. SchoolDigger calculates proficiency rates using midpoint imputation, which uses the center value of each reported range. For example, a reported range of 20-29% is represented as 24.5%. As a result, the proficiency rates shown may vary by approximately ±5 percentage points from actual values. This variance is most significant for individual grade/subject combinations and diminishes when data is aggregated across multiple grades or subjects.