Best Elementary Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish South Dakota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the South Dakota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 300)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
31	Howard Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	201 N Minnie St	Howard	57349	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 772-4443	158	12	13	16.5%	151 (95.6%)	2 (1.3%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,225			$1,182			$13,042	80.1	79.3	28	3		460002500304
32	Hanson Elementary - 06	Public	PK, KG-5	230 6th St	Alexandria	57311	Hanson County	Hanson School District 30-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 239-4387	151	11	14.2	25.2%	137 (90.7%)	1 (0.7%)	5 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	$11,417			$528			$10,888	79.7	77.5	32			460264000876
33	Journey Elementary - 05	Public	K-5	6801 S Grange Ave	Sioux Falls	57108	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	340	26	13.1	16.5%	270 (79.4%)	19 (5.6%)	17 (5.0%)	11 (3.2%)	8 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.1%)	$11,449			$438			$11,011	79.5	76.1	35	2		463135001288
34	Timber Lake Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	500 Main St	Timber Lake	57656	Dewey County	Timber Lake School District 20-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 865-3654	185	19	9.9	38.9%	69 (37.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	108 (58.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.2%)	$19,985			$1,688			$18,297	79.1	88.7	9	25		467188000664
35	Brandon Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-4	501 Holly Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 582-6315	728	48	15.1	29.8%	565 (77.6%)	41 (5.6%)	52 (7.1%)	6 (0.8%)	10 (1.4%)	4 (0.5%)	50 (6.9%)	$10,254			$487			$9,766	78.8	87.7	10	25		460795000414
36	Dawson Colony School - 20	Public	K-8	41544 Hwy 46	Scotland	57059	Bon Homme County	Bon Homme School District 04-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 589-3166	34	3	9.8		34 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,249			$35			$12,214	78.5			(n/a)		460740001393
37	Baltic Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	1 Bulldog Ave	Baltic	57003	Minnehaha County	Baltic School District 49-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 529-5464	307	18	16.9	16.0%	277 (90.2%)	2 (0.7%)	12 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	1 (0.3%)	8 (2.6%)	$11,079			$680			$10,399	78	68	53	16		460468000035
38	Groton Area Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	810 N 1st St	Groton	57445	Brown County	Groton Area School District 06-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 397-2317	278	20	13.6	23.4%	251 (90.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.9%)	5 (1.8%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.3%)	$11,705			$617			$11,088	77.3	70.3	49	11		460004501156
39	Bridgewater-Emery Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	510 N Main St	Bridgewater	57319	McCook County	Bridgewater-Emery 30-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 729-2541	143	12	11.7	30.8%	134 (93.7%)	1 (0.7%)	4 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.1%)	$15,142			$906			$14,236	77.3	85.8	14	25		462142010071
40	Leola Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	820 Leola Ave	Leola	57456	McPherson County	Leola School District 44-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 439-3477	57	8	7.4	29.8%	51 (89.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (10.5%)	$18,113			$1,000			$17,113	77.1			(n/a)		464164000390

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Foster Care Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, Smarter Balanced Assessments Science test scores released by the South Dakota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the South Dakota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the South Dakota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.