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
41	Shannon Colony Elementary - 08	Public	K-8	43945 235th St.	Winfred	57076	Miner County	Howard School District 48-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 772-4443	27	2	11.9		27 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,770			$426			$13,344	73.2			(n/a)		460002501161
42	Freeman Junior High - 05	Public	7-8	1001 S Wipf St	Freeman	57029	Hutchinson County	Freeman School District 33-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 925-4214	49	3	15.1	38.8%	40 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.0%)	$12,486			$00			$12,486	73.1	76.7	26	16		462550000842
43	Timber Lake Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	500 Main St	Timber Lake	57656	Dewey County	Timber Lake School District 20-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 865-3654	70	8	8.3	37.1%	33 (47.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (51.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$21,365			$1,182			$20,183	73.1	85.4	12	31		467188000940
44	De Smet Middle School - 03	Public	6-8	405 3rd St SW	De Smet	57231	Kingsbury County	De Smet School District 38-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 854-3423	91	6	16.3	25.3%	82 (90.1%)	2 (2.2%)	5 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	$12,660			$68			$12,592	72.9	41.8	95	51		461785000993
45	Spring Creek Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	36562 102nd St	Forbes	58439	McPherson County	Leola School District 44-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 439-3477	35	2	15.2	8.6%	35 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,113			$1,000			$17,113	72.7			(n/a)		464164000394
46	Platte - Geddes Junior High - 03	Public	6-8	400 Illinois Ave	Platte	57369	Charles Mix County	Platte - Geddes School District 11-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 337-3391	94	7	12.8	17.0%	82 (87.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	2 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (8.5%)	$12,563			$416			$12,147	72.2	77.8	24	22		468043801250
47	Miller Junior High - 04	Public	7-8	623 E 4th St	Miller	57362	Hand County	Miller School District 29-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 853-2455	74	5	14.6	28.4%	69 (93.2%)	2 (2.7%)	3 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,036			$296			$10,740	71.8	59.4	55	8		464794201051
48	Northwestern Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	221 3rd St	Mellette	57461	Spink County	Northwestern Area School District 56-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 887-3467	56	4	12.5	16.1%	50 (89.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	$12,403			$101			$12,302	71.4	79.3	21	27		465175000924
49	Milbank Middle School - 02	Public	6-8	1001 E Park Ave	Milbank	57252	Grant County	Milbank School District 25-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 432-5519	222	17	12.9	26.6%	179 (80.6%)	1 (0.5%)	29 (13.1%)	1 (0.5%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.6%)	$13,672			$698			$12,974	71.3	65.5	38	11		460000200425
50	Highmore Junior High - 03	Public	7-8	415 Iowa Ave S	Highmore	57345	Hyde County	Highmore-Harrold School District 34-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 852-2275	34	4	9.5	32.4%	25 (73.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.9%)	1 (2.9%)	4 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (5.9%)	$14,078			$609			$13,469	70.5	80.9	17	33		468044001049

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.