Best Public Schools in Brookings, SD

Summary:

The city of Brookings, South Dakota is home to 6 schools, including 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. The schools in Brookings generally perform above the state average on standardized tests, with Brookings High School - 01 and Dakota Prairie Elementary - 07 standing out as top performers in the district.

Brookings High School - 01 has consistently ranked among the top high schools in the state, with a strong 86.4% four-year graduation rate and a relatively low 2.6% dropout rate. The school also outperforms the Brookings School District 05-1 and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for 11th grade. In contrast, George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02 has seen a decline in its statewide ranking, dropping from 90th out of 147 middle schools in 2023-2024 to 113th out of 246 in 2024-2025, which may require further investigation and intervention.

The elementary schools in Brookings also show variation in performance, with Dakota Prairie Elementary - 07 standing out for its particularly strong performance in 3rd grade Smarter Balanced Assessments, outpacing the district and state averages. Meanwhile, Medary Elementary - 05 has the highest spending per student at $13,528, but its performance is more in line with the district and state averages.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2025)									Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)									Smarter Balanced Assessments Science (2025)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 12th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 12th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Brookings High School - 01	Public	9-12	530 Elm Ave	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 696-4100	979	59	16.6	17.6%	786 (80.3%)	25 (2.6%)	74 (7.6%)	31 (3.2%)	14 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (5.0%)	65.6	54^th of 166 public high schools	67.5%		54.9	66^th of 141 public high schools	53.2%	12							71.4									34.2					55.4		$11,045	$418	$10,628
George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	1801 12th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 696-4500	780	54	14.3	21.5%	611 (78.3%)	34 (4.4%)	63 (8.1%)	20 (2.6%)	14 (1.8%)	1 (0.1%)	37 (4.7%)	55.3	113^th of 246 public middle schools	54.1%		44.8	90^th of 147 public middle schools	38.8%	23				47.1	56.5	44.6			49.5				34.1	42.8	47.8			41.5		35.9			$11,498	$317	$11,181
Hillcrest Elementary - 04	Public	PK, KG-3	304 15th Ave	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 696-4600	316	23	13.4	26.3%	235 (74.4%)	9 (2.8%)	30 (9.5%)	12 (3.8%)	8 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (7.0%)								(n/a)	36.2									40.6													$13,363	$1,756	$11,607
Medary Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-3	718 5th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 696-4300	358	28	12.6	27.1%	235 (65.6%)	6 (1.7%)	78 (21.8%)	9 (2.5%)	13 (3.6%)	1 (0.3%)	16 (4.5%)								(n/a)	50.0									55.1													$12,465	$1,128	$11,337
Camelot Intermediate - 06	Public	4-5	1401 15th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 696-4400	523	30	17.2	21.4%	396 (75.7%)	18 (3.4%)	53 (10.1%)	8 (1.5%)	9 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (7.5%)	54.2	149^th of 300 public elementary schools	50.3%		40	129^th of 201 public elementary schools	35.8%	20		52.3	46.7						49.5		51.2	28.4						39.8	41.6				$10,923	$311	$10,612
Dakota Prairie Elementary - 07	Public	PK, KG-3	111 26th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 696-4900	509	35	14.6	12.4%	418 (82.1%)	17 (3.3%)	31 (6.1%)	9 (1.8%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (6.1%)								(n/a)	60.8									72.5													$10,932	$436	$10,496
Bobcat Plains Academy High School - 92	Public, Virtual	9-12	1910 12th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(605) 696-4714	77	1	96.2	36.4%	47 (61.0%)	6 (7.8%)	14 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.9%)	1 (1.3%)	6 (7.8%)								(n/a)							10.3	50.0	12.9							0.0	0.0	0.0			3.5	3.2	$6,713	$310	$6,402
Bobcat Plains Academy Middle School - 93	Public, Virtual	6-8	1910 12th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(605) 696-4714	4	0	10.5		4 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)					0.0				0.0					0.0				0.0
Bobcat Plains Academy Elementary School - 94	Public, Virtual	K-5	1910 12th St S	Brookings	57006	Brookings County	Brookings School District 05-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(605) 696-4714	0	0	.0		0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)

Cities Near Brookings

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Volga	6.81 mi	3	21^st
White	10.69 mi	5	146^th
Elkton	13.14 mi	4	161^st
Rutland	16.18 mi	4	170^th
Arlington	17.88 mi	6	117^th

See the top SD South Dakota cities

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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.