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
51	Sioux Valley Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	200 Hansina Ave	Volga	57071	Brookings County	Sioux Valley School District 05-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 627-5657	372	26	14.2	14.0%	338 (90.9%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.8%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.5%)	$10,839			$264			$10,575	75	60.1	77	26		466630000614
52	Gettysburg Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	100 E King Ave	Gettysburg	57442	Potter County	Gettysburg School District 53-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 765-2438	88	9	9.3	30.7%	67 (76.1%)	2 (2.3%)	8 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.4%)	3 (3.4%)	5 (5.7%)	$13,367			$894			$12,473	74.9	75.5	36	16		462697000231
53	Webster Area Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	733 E 2nd St	Webster	57274	Day County	Webster Area School District 18-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 345-4651	274	19	14.1	33.6%	245 (89.4%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.6%)	$12,051			$557			$11,494	74.6	74.7	40	13		467699000723
54	Canistota Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	431 4th Ave	Canistota	57012	McCook County	Canistota School District 43-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 296-3458	141	13	10.6	28.4%	121 (85.8%)	1 (0.7%)	4 (2.8%)	1 (0.7%)	10 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.8%)	$15,124			$534			$14,591	74.5	57.9	85	31		461032000104
55	Gregory Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	505 Logan St	Gregory	57533	Gregory County	Gregory School District 26-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 835-8771	237	17	13.6	43.5%	200 (84.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	26 (11.0%)	1 (0.4%)	7 (3.0%)	$12,415			$1,140			$11,275	74.4	74.6	41	14		462988000238
56	Tea Area Venture Elementary - 06	Public	K-5	101 E 7th St	Tea	57064	Lincoln County	Tea Area School District 41-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 498-2700	379	25	15	20.6%	310 (81.8%)	5 (1.3%)	22 (5.8%)	6 (1.6%)	6 (1.6%)	1 (0.3%)	29 (7.7%)	$9,998			$292			$9,706	74.3	68.5	52	4		460005201400
57	Selby Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	108 E Dakota St	Selby	57472	Walworth County	Selby Area School District 62-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 649-7818	93	9	10.8	21.5%	86 (92.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.2%)	1 (1.1%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.2%)	$16,101			$869			$15,231	74.2	59.4	79	22		460102801032
58	Burke Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	933 Lincoln St	Burke	57523	Gregory County	Burke School District 26-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 775-2246	105	9	11.2	37.1%	101 (96.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	$18,458			$1,423			$17,035	74.2	66.3	59	1		460951200100
59	Hamlin Elementary - 09	Public	PK, KG-5	44577 188th St	Hayti	57241	Hamlin County	Hamlin School District 28-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 783-3631	472	29	16.4	35.8%	443 (93.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$9,938			$1,498			$8,440	74.1	67.1	56	3		463080001111
60	Rockport Colony Elementary- 10	Public	K-8	25209 Rockport Rd	Alexandria	57311	Hanson County	Mitchell School District 17-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 239-4214	12	1	9		12 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,839			$1,826			$12,014	74			(n/a)		464839000444

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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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.