Best Public Schools in Forestburg, SD

Forestburg has three schools serving preschool through grade 12: Sanborn Central Elementary (PK–5), Sanborn Central Middle School (grades 6–8), and Sanborn Central High School (grades 9–12). Current all-grades results put the elementary and middle schools above state averages in both English language arts (ELA) and math, though their math results are much less alike than their ELA results. The clearest standout is elementary math: 73% proficient, 29 points above the state.

Sanborn Central Elementary leads the reported schools in all-grades math, with 73% proficient compared with 48% at Sanborn Central Middle School—a 25-point gap. In ELA, the schools are virtually tied: 59% at elementary and 60% at middle, both about 10 points above the state. Grade-level results show why averages can hide variation: elementary grade 5 reached 83% in ELA and 75% in math, while middle grade 8 was 33% in ELA, 18 points below the state, and 42% in math, 1 point below. Elementary grade 5 science was 58%, 17 points above the state; middle grade 8 science was 33%, 7 points below. Only elementary and middle have reportable 2025–26 all-grades results; the high-school result is suppressed.

Results improved overall from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but not in every subject at each school: elementary math rose 19 points and middle math 3 points; middle ELA rose 10 points, while elementary ELA fell 3 points. SchoolDigger’s rankings also rose over the reported years: elementary moved from the 65th to the 85th percentile, and middle from the 41st to the 61st, holding there in 2024–25 and 2025–26. Staffing and income measures offer context, not an explanation for scores: student–teacher ratios were 11.2 at elementary, 8.8 at middle, and 5.4 at high school; free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–25 were 20%, 26%, and 21%, respectively.