Summary:
Estelline School District 28-2 serves 292 students across three schools, from prekindergarten through grade 12, in South Dakota. In 2025–2026, Estelline Elementary had stronger all-grades results than Estelline Middle in both ELA (57% versus 37%) and math (71% versus 48%). Elementary was above the state in both subjects, while middle was below state in ELA but above it in math. Across the two schools, the unweighted average was 60% in math—16 points above the state—and 47% in ELA—2 points below. The clearest districtwide takeaway is that elementary-and-middle results are much stronger relative to the state in math than in ELA.
Estelline Elementary is the academic standout among the comparable all-grades results: it led Estelline Middle by 20 points in ELA and 22 points in math, and was 8 and 27 points above state, respectively. Middle-school ELA is the clearest weakness: its 37% result was 12 points below state, even as its math result was 5 points above. At Estelline High School, 2025–2026 grade-11 ACT results were below state in ELA, math, and science by 11, 5, and 12 points. Its completion measures were stronger: graduation was 94%, 6 points above state, and dropout was 0%, 2 points below. Because the high school’s assessment changed between years, its scores cannot be read as a year-over-year trend.
Elementary and middle math improved from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: elementary rose 10 points and middle rose 5, while middle ELA rose 6 points; elementary ELA fell 2 points but remained about 8 points above state. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rose from 40 to 82 for elementary, while middle moved from 52 to 46 and high from 30 to 18; its 2025–2026 ratings were 4, 2, and 1 stars, respectively. The 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 35% at elementary, 37% at middle, and 21% at high school; student-teacher ratios were 14.1, 13.9, and 9.8. These are context, not explanations for results.
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