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Best Public Schools in Hamlin County, SD

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its South Dakota rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

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At a glance

Schools

1,533

Students

Districts

Top rankedEstelline Elementary - 0237^th of 203 South Dakota elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Estelline Middle School - 03 up 78 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Hamlin High School - 01 12.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

1★

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 Vaccination Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				SD ACT English Language Arts (2026)	SD ACT Mathematics (2026)	SD ACT Science (2026)	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2026)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2026)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Science (2026)			Vaccination (2025-26)		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/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SD ACT English Language Arts 11th Grade	SD ACT Mathematics 11th Grade	SD ACT Science 11th Grade	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 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 All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science All Grades	Vaccination: Kindergartners immunized against measles (MMR)	Vaccination: Exemption rate	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Castlewood Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	310 E Harry St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 793-2497	140	11	13.0	26.4%	131 (93.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60.9	78^th of 203 public elementary schools	61.6%		80.9	28^th of 300 public elementary schools	90.7%	50				53.3	52.2	68.4				56.9	46.7	82.6	73.7				65.3	15.8			84%	12%	$13,151	$664	$12,487
Castlewood High School - 01	Public	9-12	310 E Harry St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 793-2497	112	7	16.2	14.3%	102 (91.1%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	68.1	34^th of 130 public high schools	73.8%		63.2	62^nd of 166 public high schools	62.7%	28	56.7	43.3	50.0																				$11,478	$147	$11,330
Castlewood Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	310 E Harry St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 793-2497	76	4	18.2	18.4%	69 (90.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.6%)	34.4	108^th of 151 public middle schools	28.5%		40.5	168^th of 246 public middle schools	31.7%	60							33.3	32.1	60.7	42.2				33.3	39.3	25.0	32.5		39.3				$11,116	$121	$10,995
Claremont Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	46271 184th St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 793-2497	17	1	17.0	—	17 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																					100%	50%
Estelline Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	404 6th St N	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 873-2201	149	11	14.1	34.9%	112 (75.2%)	1 (0.7%)	31 (20.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.4%)	73.8	37^th of 203 public elementary schools	81.8%		72.7	65^th of 300 public elementary schools	78.3%	28				41.7	56.3	77.8				56.9	58.3	68.8	88.9				70.7	77.8			81%	4.8%	$13,692	$1,363	$12,330
Estelline High School - 01	Public	9-12	708 Davis Ave	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 873-2201	83	8	9.8	20.5%	72 (86.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.2%)	23	107^th of 130 public high schools	17.7%		26.3	140^th of 166 public high schools	15.7%	33	37.5	29.2	33.3																				$16,537	$724	$15,813
Estelline Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	708 Davis Ave	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 873-2201	60	4	13.9	36.7%	48 (80.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (15.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.0%)	48.6	82^nd of 151 public middle schools	45.7%		43.2	160^th of 246 public middle schools	35.0%	78							26.1	33.3	56.3	36.7				39.1	52.4	56.3	48.3		56.3				$13,354	$674	$12,680
Hamlin Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	44577 188th St	Hayti	57241	Hamlin County	Hamlin School District 28-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 783-3644	198	10	19.0	30.3%	183 (92.4%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	67	42^nd of 151 public middle schools	72.2%		66.7	70^th of 246 public middle schools	71.5%	28							52.9	59.1	49.0	54.1				70.6	62.1	46.9	61.2		30.6				$7,441	$40	$7,401
Hamlin High School - 01	Public	9-12	44577 188th St	Hayti	57241	Hamlin County	Hamlin School District 28-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 783-3644	226	19	12.2	25.7%	204 (90.3%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.6%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	11.8	121^st of 130 public high schools	6.9%		75.5	30^th of 166 public high schools	81.9%	91	33.3	19.6	29.4																				$15,439	$89	$15,350
Hamlin Elementary - 09	Public	PK, KG-5	44577 188th St	Hayti	57241	Hamlin County	Hamlin School District 28-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 783-3631	472	29	16.4	35.8%	443 (93.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	64.9	67^th of 203 public elementary schools	67.0%		74.1	59^th of 300 public elementary schools	80.3%	8				52.9	54.0	58.5				55.1	44.1	63.5	63.1				56.6	58.5			86.1%	11.1%	$9,938	$1,498	$8,440

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.