Summary:
Harrisburg, South Dakota, has four schools in Harrisburg School District 41-2: two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school, with enrollment ranging from 442 to 1,806 students. The reported results cover elementary grades 3–5, middle grades 6–8 and high school grade 11. The clearest finding for families comparing schools is the substantial gap between the elementary schools: in 2025–26, Liberty Elementary - 02 led Freedom Elementary - 06 in every tested grade in both ELA and math, by 6–24 points in ELA and 23–29 points in math.
Harrisburg South Middle School - 03 stands out as the strongest current performer in its grade span: its all-grades results were 61% in ELA and 53% in math, 12 and 9 points above state rates, and its grade-level ELA and math results all exceeded state results. Liberty led the elementary comparison, with all-grades results of 50% in ELA and 54% in math; it also scored 17 points above Freedom in grade 5 science. Freedom is the clearest academic concern: its all-grades ELA and math results, 36% and 31%, were 13 and 12 points below state rates, and it trailed the state in every reported elementary grade and subject. The high school’s grade 11 ACT results were mixed: ELA was 4 points above the state, math 3 points below and science about level. Its 94% graduation rate was 6 points above the state rate.
Recent changes differ by school rather than showing one shared trend. From 2024–25 to 2025–26, Liberty’s math result rose 5 points, South Middle’s rose 1 point, while Freedom’s fell 6 points; the three-school average remained about at the state level in ELA and 2 points above it in math. SchoolDigger placed South Middle at the 83rd percentile, Liberty at the 50th, Freedom at the 13th and Harrisburg High School - 01 at the 42nd percentile in 2025–26. The elementary schools have similar student-teacher ratios—14.3 at Liberty and 13.6 at Freedom—while their 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 16% and 23%, respectively. These are useful context, not explanations for the results; the comparisons are most informative when schools serve the same grades and use the same assessment.
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