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!

JUST IN! South Dakota Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2023)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 147)	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 (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
462241001045	71	Estelline Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	708 Davis Ave	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 873-2201	62	5	13.7	21.0%	55 (88.7%)	1 (1.6%)	6 (9.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,243			$727			$12,516	52.4	55.5	65	6
466627001425	72	Ben Reifel Middle School - 68	Public	6-8	6700 E 41st St	Sioux Falls	57110	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4155	1,010	68	14.8	35.9%	591 (58.5%)	153 (15.1%)	109 (10.8%)	24 (2.4%)	40 (4.0%)	1 (0.1%)	92 (9.1%)	$10,835			$1,135			$9,700	52.2	45.6	89	17
466993000653	73	Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02	Public	5-8	1425 Cedar St	Sturgis	57785	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 347-5232	489	34	14.4	30.1%	431 (88.1%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.9%)	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (5.5%)	$8,875			$318			$8,557	52.2	64	42	31
463171000909	74	West Central Middle School - 04	Public	6-8	705 E 2nd St	Hartford	57033	Minnehaha County	West Central School District 49-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 528-3799	303	20	14.9	11.2%	283 (93.4%)	3 (1.0%)	8 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.0%)	$9,902			$324			$9,578	51.3	63.6	44	30
466993001392	75	Stagebarn Middle School - 10	Public	5-8	12500 Sturgis Rd	Summerset	57769	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 787-4172	457	31	14.7	22.3%	392 (85.8%)	2 (0.4%)	22 (4.8%)	2 (0.4%)	15 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.3%)	$8,730			$588			$8,142	51.3	59.5	54	21
463336000848	76	Hill City Middle School - 04	Public	6-8	341 Main St	Hill City	57745	Pennington County	Hill City School District 51-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 574-3025	120	6	18.6	30.0%	82 (68.3%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (21.7%)	2 (1.7%)	4 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (5.0%)	$11,116			$1,067			$10,049	51.2	58.4	58	18
460427000829	77	Avon Middle School - 05	Public	5-8	210 Pine St	Avon	57315	Bon Homme County	Avon School District 04-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 286-3291	64	6	11	25.0%	53 (82.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (6.3%)	$13,906			$670			$13,236	50.8	64.7	40	37
463448000911	78	Hot Springs Middle School - 06	Public	6-8	146 N 16th St	Hot Springs	57747	Fall River County	Hot Springs School District 23-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 745-4092	187	14	12.9	20.9%	129 (69.0%)	3 (1.6%)	14 (7.5%)	1 (0.5%)	11 (5.9%)	2 (1.1%)	27 (14.4%)	$10,023			$1,033			$8,990	50.7	63.8	43	35
463049000247	79	Philip Junior High - 03	Public	6-8	330 Scottie Ave	Philip	57567	Haakon County	Haakon School District 27-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 859-2680	49	3	17	12.2%	45 (91.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.0%)	3 (6.1%)	$14,395			$2,065			$12,330	49.2	65.2	39	40
461230000832	80	Chester Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	102 2nd Ave	Chester	57016	Lake County	Chester Area School District 39-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 489-2411	75	6	12.8	20.0%	71 (94.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.3%)	$11,309			$526			$10,783	49	59.8	52	28

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for SD student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status 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 17, 2024, 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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.