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Best Public Schools in Custer County, SD

At a glance

Schools

903

Students

Districts

5-star school

Top rankedCuster Junior High - 0521^st of 246 South Dakota middle schools

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Biggest riser

Custer Elementary - 02 up 24 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Custer Elementary - 02 10.3 students per teacher

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Newly ranked this year

Elk Mountain Elementary - 01 and 2 more

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

2★

0★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked South Dakota schools →

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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 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 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 All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 5th Grade	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
Custer Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	1415 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 673-4483	269	26	10.3	34.2%	226 (84.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.8%)	76.7	43^rd of 300 public elementary schools	85.7%		63.2	67^th of 201 public elementary schools	66.7%	24	48.5	72.2	73.2	58.1				63.4	51.5	63.9	61.0	62.8				60.1	65.9			$17,165	$950	$16,215
Custer High School - 01	Public	9-12	1645 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 673-4473	272	20	13.7	27.2%	230 (84.6%)	1 (0.4%)	20 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (5.9%)	77.7	24^th of 166 public high schools	85.5%		77.5	26^th of 141 public high schools	81.6%	2							78.7								46.8				57.5	$15,649	$693	$14,956
Hermosa Elementary - 04	Public	PK, KG-6	11 4th St	Hermosa	57744	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 255-4345	181	16	11.6	30.9%	164 (90.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.4%)	2 (1.1%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.8%)	50.6	164^th of 300 public elementary schools	45.3%		24.3	164^th of 201 public elementary schools	18.4%		61.9	54.2	54.2	33.3				51.1	52.4	41.7	25.0	14.3				33.3	45.8			$17,179	$1,221	$15,958
A.C.E. High Academy - 06	Public, Virtual	9-12	527 Montgomery St	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(605) 673-4473	16	1	16.0	25.0%	13 (81.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (12.5%)	3.5	165^th of 166 public high schools	0.6%					(n/a)							20.0								0.0				0.0
Hermosa Middle School - 07	Public	7-8	11 4th St	Hermosa	57744	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 255-4345	48	5	9.0	31.3%	40 (83.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.3%)	2 (4.2%)	2 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	51.1	130^th of 246 public middle schools	47.2%					(n/a)					71.4	38.5		53.2					38.1	26.9		31.9		34.6		$15,464	$445	$15,018
Custer Junior High - 05	Public	7-8	1645 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 673-4473	101	8	13.4	27.7%	89 (88.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	81.2	21^st of 246 public middle schools	91.5%		66.1	36^th of 147 public middle schools	75.5%	15					60.0	72.7		66.0					58.0	61.4		59.6		72.7		$14,156	$445	$13,711
Elk Mountain Elementary - 01	Public	PK, KG-8	10222 Valley Rd	Dewey	57735	Custer County	Elk Mountain School District 16-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 673-2258	14	2	6.7		14 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	70.7	76^th of 300 public elementary schools	74.7%					(n/a)		33.3	100.0		66.7			57.1		66.7	100.0		66.7			71.4	100.0
Elk Mountain High School - 04	Public, Virtual	9-12	10222 Valley Rd	Dewey	57735	Custer County	Elk Mountain School District 16-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	No	(605) 749-2258	2	1	2.0		2 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)

SchoolDigger rankings lists for South Dakota:

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts 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.