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
91	Explorer Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	4010 W 82nd St	Sioux Falls	57108	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 743-2567	338	25	13.2	27.8%	223 (66.0%)	33 (9.8%)	28 (8.3%)	11 (3.3%)	14 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (8.6%)	$10,968			$251			$10,716	68.5	56.3	93	2		463135001169
92	Glendale Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	17866 Glendale Dr	Frankfort	57440	Spink County	Hitchcock Tulare School District 56-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 266-2151	22	3	8.4		22 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,817			$00			$15,817	67.3			(n/a)		460004601166
93	Klein Elementary - 08	Public	K-8	28959 299th St	Valentine	69201	Todd County	Todd County School District 66-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 378-3854	5	1	5		0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (20.0%)	3 (60.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (20.0%)								67.3			(n/a)		467209000503
94	Beresford Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	209 S 4th St	Beresford	57004	Union County	Beresford School District 61-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 763-5012	273	20	13.3	28.9%	220 (80.6%)	1 (0.4%)	30 (11.0%)	2 (0.7%)	10 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.7%)	$12,077			$539			$11,538	67.2	67.3	54	40		460636000047
95	Alcester-Hudson Elementary - 04	Public	K-6	409 E 6th St	Alcester	57001	Union County	Alcester-Hudson School District 61-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 934-2171	166	14	11.9	33.7%	151 (91.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.4%)	1 (0.6%)	3 (1.8%)	$13,589			$650			$12,939	67.1	54.1	97	2		460002800013
96	Piedmont Valley Elementary - 05	Public	K-4	16159 2nd St	Piedmont	57769	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 787-5295	514	37	13.8	25.3%	435 (84.6%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.6%)	4 (0.8%)	12 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.6%)	$10,908			$800			$10,108	66.7	68.9	51	45		466993000644
97	Tschetter Colony Elementary - 03	Public	K-8	27709 Tschetter Ave	Olivet	57052	Hutchinson County	Freeman School District 33-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 925-4216	50	2	21.7		50 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,905			$889			$10,017	66.6			(n/a)		462550000221
98	Tri-Valley Elementary in Colton - 02	Public	K-4	46450 252nd St	Colton	57018	Minnehaha County	Tri-Valley School District 49-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 446-3538	154	13	12	16.2%	139 (90.3%)	2 (1.3%)	9 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	$14,169			$704			$13,465	66.5	34.3	145	47		464494000776
99	Shannon Colony Elementary - 08	Public	K-8	43945 235th St.	Winfred	57076	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 772-4443	27	2	11.9		27 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,770			$426			$13,344	66.4			(n/a)		460002501161
100	Madison Elementary - 07	Public	K-5	700 NW 9th St	Madison	57042	Lake County	Madison Central School District 39-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 256-7721	515	33	15.6	28.5%	412 (80.0%)	3 (0.6%)	58 (11.3%)	5 (1.0%)	9 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.4%)	$10,752			$967			$9,785	66.4	55.9	94	6		463960001189

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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.

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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.