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
121	Plankinton Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	404 E Davenport St	Plankinton	57368	Aurora County	Plankinton School District 01-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 942-7743	49	4	13.8	36.7%	30 (61.2%)	1 (2.0%)	16 (32.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,956			$250			$13,706	53.1	17.4	131	10		465571000927
122	Lyman Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	201 S Birch Ave	Presho	57544	Lyman County	Lyman School District 42-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 869-2579	84	6	15.1	51.2%	48 (57.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (31.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (11.9%)	$18,601			$1,181			$17,420	52.5	38	99	23		464477000812
123	Stanley County Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	10 E Main Ave	Fort Pierre	57532	Stanley County	Stanley County School District 57-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 223-7743	106	6	16.7	23.6%	84 (79.2%)	2 (1.9%)	2 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (12.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.7%)	$14,250			$374			$13,875	52.4	20.6	126	3		462485000841
124	Platte Colony Elementary - 10	Public	K-8	35271 270 St	Academy	57369	Charles Mix County	Platte - Geddes School District 11-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 337-3391	22	3	6.8		22 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								52.2			(n/a)		468043801267
125	Hereford Elementary - 08	Public	K-8	15998 Cross S Rd	Hereford	57785	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 269-2264	13	1	9.3	23.1%	13 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								52.1			(n/a)		466993000735
126	Faith Junior High - 06	Public	7-8	206 W 5th St	Faith	57626	Meade County	Faith School District 46-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 967-2152	18	2	8.4	33.3%	13 (72.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (5.6%)	1 (5.6%)	3 (16.7%)	$11,743			$199			$11,544	52.1			(n/a)		462294000995
127	Hitchcock-Tulare Junior High School - 02	Public	7-8	401 4th Ave	Tulare	57476	Spink County	Hitchcock Tulare School District 56-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 596-4171	19	2	9.1	26.3%	19 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,881			$00			$15,881	51.9	45.2	89	38		460004601164
128	Willow Lake Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	400 Garfield Ave	Willow Lake	57278	Clark County	Willow Lake School District 12-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 625-5945	54	3	20.6	38.9%	53 (98.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,590			$102			$9,489	51.3	65.2	40	88		467935000952
129	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%)								51.2			(n/a)		467209000503
130	Hermosa Middle School - 07	Public	7-8	11 4th St	Hermosa	57744	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 255-4345	48	5	9	31.3%	40 (83.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.3%)	2 (4.2%)	2 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	$15,464			$445			$15,018	51.1			(n/a)		461695000320

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.