High Schools in De Smet School District 38-2

Summary:

The De Smet School District 38-2 in South Dakota is home to a single high school, De Smet High School - 01, which serves students in grades 9-12. The school's performance has seen a concerning decline in recent years, with its statewide ranking dropping from 60th out of 138 South Dakota high schools in 2022-2023 to 125th out of 166 in 2024-2025. Additionally, the school's SchoolDigger rating has decreased from 3 stars out of 5 to 1 star out of 5 during the same period.

Academically, De Smet High School - 01 has struggled, with the percentage of 11th-grade students proficient or better in Smarter Balanced Assessments falling below the state average in all three subjects: English Language Arts (48.28% vs. 63.84%), Mathematics (31.03% vs. 36.27%), and Science (31.04% vs. 48.95%). The school's performance in these assessments has been mixed, with some improvements in ELA proficiency but a significant decline in Mathematics proficiency from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025.

Despite the school's higher per-student spending compared to the state average, the data suggests that factors beyond socioeconomic status may be influencing the school's performance. The school's four-year graduation rate of 86.4% in 2024-2025 is lower than the state average, and its dropout rate of 2.6% is slightly higher. These findings indicate the need for further investigation and targeted interventions to address the underlying issues and improve the overall quality of education at De Smet High School - 01.

District Detail

405 SW 3rd Street SW
De Smet, SD 57231

(605) 854-3963

SchoolDigger Rank:
55^th of 147 South Dakota districts

See the 2025 South Dakota District rankings!

Grades served: PK, KG-12
Students: 362

Primary Schools: 1
Middle Schools: 1
High Schools: 1
Alternative Schools: 0

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores 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)	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/Discounted Lunch Recipients	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 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 11th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
De Smet High School - 01	Public	9-12	405 3rd St SW	De Smet	57231	Kingsbury County	De Smet School District 38-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 854-3423	95	9	10.1	27.4%	87 (91.6%)	1 (1.1%)	7 (7.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34.7	125^th of 166 public high schools	24.7%		41.2	86^th of 141 public high schools	39.0%	39	48.3	31.0	31.0	$15,341	$92	$15,249

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Lake Preston School District 38-3	9.22 mi	3	4^th
Willow Lake School District 12-3	13.27 mi	7	131^st
Iroquois School District 02-3	14.66 mi	4	133^rd
Arlington School District 38-1	20.81 mi	4	5^th
Oldham-Ramona-Rutland School District 39-6	21.74 mi	6	139^th

See the top SD South Dakota districts

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.