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Best Public Schools in Lake County, SD

Coming soon: We're expecting this year's test scores from the South Dakota Department of Education any day now — new rankings will be posted the moment they're released!

Coming soon: This year's test scores are expected from the South Dakota Department of Education any day now — new rankings will follow the moment they're released!

At a glance

Schools

1,925

Students

Districts

Top rankedChester High School - 0118^th of 166 South Dakota high schools

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Biggest riser

Madison High School - 01 up 30 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Elementary 8 students per teacher

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Newly ranked this year

Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Elementary and 5 more

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

1★

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 (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2025)									Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)									Smarter Balanced Assessments Science (2025)				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 (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 12th 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 12th 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	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
Chester High School - 01	Public	9-12	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 489-2411	107	10	10.6	14.0%	102 (95.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.7%)	82.3	18^th of 166 public high schools	89.2%		86.6	12^th of 141 public high schools	91.5%	6							70.3									62.2					64.9				$13,027	$417	$12,610
Chester Elementary -02	Public	PK, KG-5	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 489-2411	154	10	15.4	20.1%	146 (94.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	2 (1.3%)	64.1	110^th of 300 public elementary schools	63.3%		53.1	101^st of 201 public elementary schools	49.8%	9	57.1	50.0	60.0						55.7	66.7	35.0	70.0						57.4	35.0				100%	0%	$12,218	$1,052	$11,166
Chester Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 489-2411	67	6	11.2	19.4%	62 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.5%)	69.4	54^th of 246 public middle schools	78.0%		49	80^th of 147 public middle schools	45.6%	26				58.3	57.9	75.0			64.2				50.0	31.6	66.7			50.7		41.7					$13,142	$417	$12,725
Rustic Acres Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	24243 456th Ave	Madison	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 489-2411	41	3	13.6	—	41 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20	251^st of 300 public elementary schools	16.3%					(n/a)	33.3	25.0	25.0	0.0	0.0	50.0			25.0	16.7	25.0	0.0	20.0	0.0	25.0			16.7	25.0	25.0		25.0	30%	70%	$10,858	$417	$10,441
Chester Area Colony High School - 08	Public, Virtual	9-12	500 5th St	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	No	(605) 489-2411	106	4	25.1	—	106 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34.9	122^nd of 166 public high schools	26.5%		32.5	102^nd of 141 public high schools	27.7%	20							62.5	50.0	60.0							6.3	25.0	10.0			31.3	35.0			$10,891	$417	$10,474
Gracevale Colony Elementary - 07	Public	K-8	23843 - 446A Ave	Winfred	57076	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 256-2267	23	2	11.5	—	23 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12.6	272^nd of 300 public elementary schools	9.3%					(n/a)	0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0	100.0			18.2	0.0	0.0	50.0		0.0	50.0			18.2	0.0	0.0		0.0	0%	100%	$12,045	$417	$11,628
Madison High School - 01	Public	9-12	800 NE 9th St	Madison	57042	Lake County	Madison Central School District 39-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 256-7706	384	26	14.8	20.1%	322 (83.9%)	2 (0.5%)	41 (10.7%)	3 (0.8%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.9%)	66.4	50^th of 166 public high schools	69.9%		45.3	80^th of 141 public high schools	43.3%	30							70.6	100.0	71.2							36.7	50.0	36.9			54.1	55.0			$11,493	$343	$11,151
Madison Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	830 NE 9th St	Madison	57042	Lake County	Madison Central School District 39-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 256-7717	270	22	12.2	23.3%	223 (82.6%)	3 (1.1%)	28 (10.4%)	3 (1.1%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.3%)	64.4	78^th of 246 public middle schools	68.3%		62	50^th of 147 public middle schools	66.0%	28				48.9	72.5	55.6			59.5				41.1	51.0	37.0			43.5		45.7					$11,507	$300	$11,207
Madison Elementary - 07	Public	K-5	700 NW 9th St	Madison	57042	Lake County	Madison Central School District 39-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 256-7721	515	33	15.6	28.5%	412 (80.0%)	3 (0.6%)	58 (11.3%)	5 (1.0%)	9 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.4%)	66.4	100^th of 300 public elementary schools	66.7%		55.9	94^th of 201 public elementary schools	53.2%	6	41.5	57.1	69.4						56.2	41.5	56.0	57.6						51.8	57.7				85.9%	4.7%	$10,752	$967	$9,785
Oldham-Ramona-Rutland High School	Public	9-12	102 School St	Rutland	57057	Lake County	Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 586-4352	77	7	11.1	32.5%	72 (93.5%)	2 (2.6%)	2 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	39.3	112^th of 166 public high schools	32.5%					(n/a)							52.9									17.7					47.1				$16,752	$1,098	$15,654
Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	102 School St	Rutland	57057	Lake County	Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 586-4352	116	14	8.0	21.6%	103 (88.8%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	47.2	177^th of 300 public elementary schools	41.0%					(n/a)	35.7	57.2	41.2						44.5	28.6	71.4	23.5						40.0	35.3				75%	37.5%	$18,035	$1,300	$16,735
Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Junior High	Public	6-8	102 School St	Rutland	57057	Lake County	Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 586-4352	41	5	8.1	19.5%	39 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36.6	173^rd of 246 public middle schools	29.7%					(n/a)				33.3	35.3	58.3			41.5				25.0	11.8	16.7			17.1		41.7					$15,910	$1,194	$14,717
Camridge Colony School	Public	K-8	102 School St	Rutland	57057	Lake County	Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 586-4352	24	2	10.5	—	24 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18.6	256^th of 300 public elementary schools	14.7%					(n/a)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	25.0	0.0			5.3	66.7	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0			15.8	0.0	0.0		0.0	0%	100%	$15,690	$1,291	$14,400

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.