Beresford School District 61-2

Beresford School District 61-2 has three schools serving students from kindergarten through grade 12: Beresford Elementary - 02 (K–5), Beresford Middle School - 03 (grades 6–8), and Beresford High School - 01 (grades 9–12). In 2025–2026, ELA results at all three were above their state comparisons: 53% at Elementary, 52% at Middle, and 53% at High School. Math was less consistent: Elementary was above the state, while Middle and High School were below. The clearest overall finding is that ELA is a shared strength, but math results differ sharply by school.

Beresford Elementary - 02 led the two schools with all-grades Smarter Balanced results in both ELA and math: its 53% ELA result was 1 point above Middle’s 52%, and its 50% math result was 14 points above Middle’s 36%. Elementary was 4 points above the state in ELA and 6 points above in math; Middle was 3 points above the state in ELA but 8 points below in math. Grade-level results show an even wider spread: Elementary fourth-grade math was 64%, 15 points above the state, while Middle sixth-grade math was 20%, 22 points below. At High School, grade 11 ACT science was the standout result at 57%, 12 points above the state; its math result was 25%, 9 points below, while ELA was 53%, 5 points above.

Recent results moved in different directions: Elementary’s all-grades ELA fell 8 points and math fell 3, while Middle’s ELA rose 5 points and math rose 4. SchoolDigger rankings also diverged: Elementary went from the 73rd to the 55th percentile between 2023–2024 and 2025–2026, Middle rose from the 9th to the 42nd percentile, and High School rose from the 41st to the 58th. Student–teacher ratios were 13.3 at Elementary, 14.9 at Middle, and 14.7 at High School; free/reduced lunch eligible shares in school year 2024–2025 were 29%, 22%, and 19%, respectively—context, not an explanation for results. High School’s prior-year scores used a different exam, so they do not provide a direct test-score trend.