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
181	Spring Valley Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	23064 365th Ave	Wessington Springs	57382	Jerauld County	Wessington Springs School District 36-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 539-9311	16	1	16		16 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,068			$381			$14,687	45.7			(n/a)		467746000731
182	Wilmot Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	800 Ordway St	Wilmot	57279	Roberts County	Wilmot School District 54-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 938-4647	112	11	10.3	48.2%	89 (79.5%)	1 (0.9%)	5 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	$15,089			$2,342			$12,747	45.6	20	171	11		460000300757
183	Mellette Elementary - 07	Public	1-4	619 2nd St NW	Watertown	57201	Codington County	Watertown School District 14-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 882-6385	267	20	13.6	47.6%	192 (71.9%)	3 (1.1%)	20 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (13.1%)	$11,594			$1,010			$10,584	45.1	39.4	131	52		467662000714
184	Woodrow Wilson Elementary - 17	Public	K-5	827 Franklin St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 394-1837	328	21	15.8	41.8%	172 (52.4%)	12 (3.7%)	43 (13.1%)	6 (1.8%)	62 (18.9%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (10.1%)	$11,683			$1,137			$10,546	44.6	35.9	140	44		465982000530
185	May Overby Elementary - 09	Public	K-5	612 14th Ave SE	Aberdeen	57401	Brown County	Aberdeen School District 06-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 725-7300	327	29	11.4	53.5%	197 (60.2%)	14 (4.3%)	43 (13.1%)	19 (5.8%)	22 (6.7%)	1 (0.3%)	31 (9.5%)	$13,095			$1,647			$11,448	44	39.2	133	52		460207000008
186	Clark Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	41181 179th St	Raymond	57258	Spink County	Doland School District 56-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 635-6302	24	2	11.5		23 (95.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								44			(n/a)		461917001101
187	Deerfield Colony Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-8	12434 364th Ave	Leola	57456	Edmunds County	Ipswich Public School District 22-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 426-6832	26	2	11.7		26 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,597			$263			$13,334	43.9			(n/a)		463606001085
188	Highmore Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	415 Iowa Ave S	Highmore	57345	Hyde County	Highmore-Harrold School District 34-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 852-2276	133	12	11.4	36.8%	105 (78.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (17.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,618			$1,696			$13,922	43.9	51.2	105	83		468044000323
189	Washington 4-5 Center - 20	Public	4-5	1451 McClellan Dr	Huron	57350	Beadle County	Huron School District 02-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 353-7895	453	28	16.1	71.7%	157 (34.7%)	4 (0.9%)	159 (35.1%)	106 (23.4%)	8 (1.8%)	4 (0.9%)	15 (3.3%)	$11,740			$989			$10,751	43.4	18.9	173	16		463548001373
190	Silver Lake Colony - 07	Public	K-8	17354 430th Ave	Clark	57225	Clark County	Clark School District 12-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 532-3606	16	2	8	81.3%	16 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$16,690			$34			$16,656	43.1			(n/a)		461294001319

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.