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Best Public Schools in Lead, SD

At a glance

Schools

350

Students

Top rankedLead-Deadwood High School - 0186^th of 166 South Dakota high schools

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Summary:

The city of Lead, South Dakota is home to two schools - Lead-Deadwood High School and Lead-Deadwood Middle School, both part of the Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1. While the high school has a relatively high graduation rate and lower dropout rate, both schools rank in the bottom half of their respective school types in South Dakota and have a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Lead-Deadwood High School stands out with a 4-year graduation rate of 86.4% and a dropout rate of 2.6% in the 2024-2025 school year. However, its test scores in ELA and Math for 11th grade are slightly below the state average. In contrast, Lead-Deadwood Middle School faces challenges, with a high chronic absenteeism rate of 20.2% and test scores for all grades that are below the state average in both ELA and Math.

The data also reveals that Lead-Deadwood High School has a relatively low free/reduced lunch rate of 18.81%, while Lead-Deadwood Middle School has a higher rate of 29.86%, indicating a greater need for additional support and resources. Both schools have relatively small student populations, with Lead-Deadwood High School enrolling 218 students and Lead-Deadwood Middle School enrolling 144 students.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

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 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 All Grades	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 All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 11th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Lead-Deadwood Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	234 S Main St	Lead	57754	Lawrence County	Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 717-3898	139	15	9.5	25.2%	111 (79.9%)	1 (0.7%)	12 (8.6%)	1 (0.7%)	6 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (5.8%)	47.6	140^th of 246 public middle schools	43.1%		55.7	64^th of 147 public middle schools	56.5%	76	37.5	42.0	51.2		43.2	35.4	36.0	39.0		36.7	34.2		$19,579	$489	$19,090
Lead-Deadwood High School - 01	Public	9-12	320 S Main St	Lead	57754	Lawrence County	Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 717-3899	211	20	10.7	19.4%	180 (85.3%)	2 (0.9%)	12 (5.7%)	2 (0.9%)	9 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.8%)	54.4	86^th of 166 public high schools	48.2%		40.8	88^th of 141 public high schools	37.6%	2				61.5					32.7			48.1	$18,749	$535	$18,214

Cities Near Lead

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Deadwood	2.48 mi	1	123^rd
Spearfish	9.57 mi	9	91^st
Whitewood	10.19 mi	1	3^rd
Sturgis	12.98 mi	4	77^th
Nemo	14.48 mi	1	179^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.