Best Middle Schools in South Dakota

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Find the best South Dakota middle 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 246)	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
21	Custer Junior High - 05	Public	7-8	1645 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 673-4473	101	8	13.4	27.7%	89 (88.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	$14,156			$445			$13,711	81.2	66.1	36	15		461695000992
22	Herreid Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	302 Main St N	Herreid	57632	Campbell County	Herreid School District 10-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 437-2263	35	4	9.3	28.6%	24 (68.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (17.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.9%)	$14,053			$2,058			$11,995	80.7	68.1	34	12		463243000910
23	Montrose Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	309 S Church Ave	Montrose	57048	McCook County	Montrose School District 43-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 363-5025	53	4	12.2	22.6%	49 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,480			$132			$14,348	80.6	86.6	11	12		464878000966
24	Harrisburg North Middle School - 08	Public	6-8	2201 W 95th St	Sioux Falls	57108	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	534	43	12.3	15.9%	417 (78.1%)	25 (4.7%)	31 (5.8%)	18 (3.4%)	9 (1.7%)	2 (0.4%)	32 (6.0%)	$12,124			$235			$11,889	80	67.4	35	11		463135001334
25	Ethan Junior High - 03	Public	7-8	320 S 2nd St	Ethan	57334	Davison County	Ethan School District 17-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 227-4211	39	2	16.4	28.2%	36 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.6%)	$11,011			$110			$10,901	79.9	78.6	22	3		462250000903
26	Howard Junior High - 05	Public	6-8	500 N Section Line	Howard	57349	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 772-5515	75	5	16.4	17.3%	69 (92.0%)	1 (1.3%)	5 (6.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,287			$426			$12,861	78.5	63.4	46	20		460002500913
27	Frederick Area Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	202 E Main St	Frederick	57441	Brown County	Frederick Area School District 06-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 329-2145	30	3	9.2	23.3%	27 (90.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (10.0%)	$17,722			$99			$17,622	78.1	80.7	18	9		462140000957
28	Dakota Valley Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	1150 Northshore Dr	North Sioux City	57049	Union County	Dakota Valley School District 61-8	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 422-3830	345	20	17	12.5%	257 (74.5%)	7 (2.0%)	35 (10.1%)	12 (3.5%)	5 (1.4%)	3 (0.9%)	26 (7.5%)	$11,293			$568			$10,724	77.9	76.9	25	3		463699000809
29	Arlington Junior High - 03	Public	7-8	306 S Main St	Arlington	57212	Kingsbury County	Arlington School District 38-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 983-5598	47	3	18.1	19.1%	45 (95.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,459			$27			$14,432	77.1	88.2	9	20		460372000877
30	Thunderbird Colony Elementary - 10	Public	K-8	15185 346th Ave	Faulkton	57438	Faulk County	Faulkton Area Schools 24-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 598-6266	33	2	16.5		33 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,892			$516			$11,376	76.9			(n/a)		462403001160

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

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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 Pacific Islander 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

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.