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
151	Stanley County Elementary - 08	Public	K-5	17 E 2nd Ave	Fort Pierre	57532	Stanley County	Stanley County School District 57-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 223-7745	178	18	9.8	32.6%	136 (76.4%)	4 (2.2%)	7 (3.9%)	2 (1.1%)	16 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.3%)	$15,856			$885			$14,972	53.7	57.7	87	64		462485000213
152	Tea Area Frontier Elementary - 05	Public	K-5	2700 S Lancaster Dr	Sioux Falls	57106	Minnehaha County	Tea Area School District 41-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 498-2700	292	21	13.9	40.1%	158 (54.1%)	39 (13.4%)	57 (19.5%)	12 (4.1%)	5 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (7.2%)	$10,586			$412			$10,174	53.6	49.2	113	39		460005201358
153	Britton-Hecla Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	759 5th St	Britton	57430	Marshall County	Britton-Hecla School District 45-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 443-2234	166	16	10.6	22.9%	147 (88.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.8%)	$11,126			$808			$10,318	53.6	40.1	128	25		460004101140
154	Vandenberg Elementary - 02	Public	4-5	561 Briggs St	Box Elder	57719	Pennington County	Douglas School District 51-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 923-0060	454	30	15.3	40.5%	294 (64.8%)	8 (1.8%)	45 (9.9%)	5 (1.1%)	45 (9.9%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (12.6%)	$11,299			$875			$10,424	53.3	54.1	98	56		461941000436
155	Edmunds Central Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-5	105 1st Ave	Roscoe	57471	Edmunds County	Edmunds Central School District 22-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 287-4251	61	9	6.8	34.4%	47 (77.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (18.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.3%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,855			$2,814			$19,040	53.3	3.1	198	43		463444001066
156	Elk Point-Jefferson Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	500 S Franklin St	Elk Point	57025	Union County	Elk Point-Jefferson School District 61-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 356-5801	334	26	12.8	17.1%	302 (90.4%)	5 (1.5%)	15 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.6%)	$7,538			$44			$7,495	53.2	37.8	136	20		462134000185
157	Lincoln Elementary - 05	Public	1-4	1100 13th St NE	Watertown	57201	Codington County	Watertown School District 14-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 882-6340	361	24	14.8	37.1%	272 (75.3%)	1 (0.3%)	50 (13.9%)	5 (1.4%)	13 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.5%)	$11,908			$962			$10,946	53	84.2	19	138		467662000944
158	Parker Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	335 W 1st St	Parker	57053	Turner County	Parker School District 60-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 297-3237	238	19	12.2	19.7%	218 (91.6%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.9%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	$10,566			$392			$10,174	52.6	49.6	109	49		465427000487
159	Chamberlain Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	1000 Sorensen Dr	Chamberlain	57325	Brule County	Chamberlain School District 07-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 234-4460	407	40	10.1	59.5%	182 (44.7%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (4.9%)	1 (0.2%)	162 (39.8%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (10.1%)	$14,062			$2,490			$11,571	52.5	40.9	126	33		461200000118
160	Wolf Creek Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	42906 Colony Rd	Olivet	57052	Hutchinson County	Freeman School District 33-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 925-4216	34	3	12.5		34 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,871			$1,928			$10,944	52.1			(n/a)		462550000222

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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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.