Summary:
Custer School District 16-1 has five schools—two elementary, two middle and one high school—with 871 students and school enrollments ranging from 48 to 272. Across the four elementary and middle schools, the average all-grades math result was 56% proficient, compared with 44% statewide, while the ELA average was 54% versus 49%. The district’s clearest strength is math, but results vary considerably by school and grade.
Custer Elementary stands out in upper-grade math: 85% of sixth graders were proficient, 43 points above the state, and its sixth-grade result was 55 points higher than Hermosa Elementary’s 30%. Hermosa Elementary has strengths in the earlier grades, leading Custer Elementary in third-grade ELA by 13 points and math by 12 points. It was also 21 points below the state in fifth-grade math. Among middle schools, Custer Junior High led Hermosa Middle School in both reported math grades and seventh-grade ELA; Hermosa Middle led in eighth-grade ELA. Both middle schools were above state results in eighth-grade math and science.
Math results improved overall: the four-school average rose 10 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, led by a 20-point gain at Hermosa Middle and a 13-point gain at Hermosa Elementary. ELA moved the other way, falling 4 points on average, with Custer Junior High down 13 points. SchoolDigger lists the district at rank 34 of 126, in the 73rd percentile, with four stars. Student-teacher ratios range from 9.0 to 13.7; free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–25 range from 27% at Custer High School to 34% at Custer Elementary, useful context but not an explanation for results. The high school’s reported graduation rate was 92% versus 88% statewide; its 2025–26 test results are not directly comparable with the other schools’ results, and small grade groups may make individual school results vary.
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