Bison School District 52-1

The Bison School District 52-1 in South Dakota consists of 3 schools: 1 elementary school, 1 middle school, and 1 high school. While the district as a whole has struggled, with all three schools ranking in the bottom half of their respective school types in the state, there are some bright spots, particularly at the Bison Junior High - 04.

Bison Junior High - 04 has performed exceptionally well, ranking 15th out of 147 South Dakota middle schools and earning a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger. Its English Language Arts proficiency rates are significantly higher than the district and state averages. In contrast, Bison Elementary - 02 and Bison High School - 01 have struggled, with lower than average proficiency rates in both English Language Arts and Mathematics compared to the district and state.

The district as a whole faces challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates at the elementary and middle schools, and mixed results in test scores and graduation rates. However, Bison High School - 01 has shown improvement in recent years, now ranking 64th out of 166 high schools in the state. The variation in free/reduced lunch rates and student-teacher ratios across the schools may also be contributing factors to the differences in performance. Overall, the data suggests a need for a closer examination of district-level policies and practices to support student achievement across all grade levels.