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
211	Laura Wilder Elementary - 31	Public	K-5	2300 S Lyndale Ave	Sioux Falls	57105	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-4570	447	30	14.8	66.7%	226 (50.6%)	60 (13.4%)	65 (14.5%)	4 (0.9%)	40 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (11.6%)	$10,790			$621			$10,170	36.3	18.7	175	36		466627000598
212	Susan B. Anthony Elementary - 66	Public	K-5	2000 S Dakota Ave	Sioux Falls	57105	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-4560	472	31	15	61.4%	232 (49.2%)	89 (18.9%)	46 (9.7%)	2 (0.4%)	46 (9.7%)	1 (0.2%)	56 (11.9%)	$11,068			$651			$10,418	36.2	28.4	155	57		466627001351
213	New Underwood Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	300 E Ash St	New Underwood	57761	Pennington County	New Underwood School District 51-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 754-6485	113	10	11.5	26.5%	97 (85.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	5 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (8.0%)	$12,719			$1,000			$11,719	36.1	42.7	121	92		465067000463
214	Rosa Parks Elementary - 15	Public	K-5	5701 E Red Oak Dr	Sioux Falls	57710	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4170	618	39	15.7	59.4%	259 (41.9%)	74 (12.0%)	184 (29.8%)	28 (4.5%)	22 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (8.3%)	$11,225			$598			$10,626	36	22.5	167	47		466627001275
215	Gayville-Volin Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	100 Kingsbury St	Gayville	57031	Yankton County	Gayville-Volin School District 63-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 267-4476	136	10	13.2	31.6%	125 (91.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.7%)	$13,609			$936			$12,672	35.7	19.3	172	43		462649000228
216	Westside Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-4	320 W Walnut	Sisseton	57262	Roberts County	Sisseton School District 54-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 698-7613	380	33	11.6	73.9%	70 (18.4%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (12.4%)	4 (1.1%)	198 (52.1%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (16.1%)	$14,042			$3,264			$10,778	35.6	18.8	174	42		460005301241
217	Waverly-South Shore Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	319 Mary Pl	Waverly	57201	Codington County	Waverly School District 14-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 886-9174	128	11	11.4	50.8%	105 (82.0%)	1 (0.8%)	4 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (6.3%)	$15,192			$484			$14,708	34.2	26.2	162	55		467674000721
218	Maurine Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	17291 US Hwy 212	Faith	57626	Meade County	Faith School District 46-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 967-2152	17	2	8.5		16 (94.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (5.9%)	$13,742			$105			$13,637	33.9			(n/a)		462294000412
219	Webster Elementary - 06	Public	PK, KG-5	317 E 7th St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-2484	391	17	22.6	31.7%	273 (69.8%)	2 (0.5%)	72 (18.4%)	2 (0.5%)	15 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.9%)	$16,048			$926			$15,123	33.7	40.5	127	92		468043001009
220	Henry Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	111 N Cedar	Henry	57243	Codington County	Henry School District 14-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 532-5364	93	10	9.5	49.5%	87 (93.5%)	5 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,113			$611			$13,502	33.5	26.9	158	62		463234000275

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.