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
121	South Central Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	401 Birdsell St	Bonesteel	57317	Gregory County	South Central School District 26-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 654-2314	52	7	7	69.2%	32 (61.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (36.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.9%)	$28,696			$00			$28,696	60.7			(n/a)		460767000882
122	Deubrook Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-6	695 Palisades Ave	Toronto	57268	Deuel County	Deubrook Area School District 05-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 794-1152	225	19	11.8	18.2%	215 (95.6%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$11,794			$01			$11,793	60.3	58.8	81	41		467830000559
123	White Lake Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	410 E 4th St	White Lake	57383	Aurora County	White Lake School District 01-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 249-2251	62	6	10.3	41.9%	61 (98.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,377			$1,746			$15,631	60.2	37.9	135	12		467851000745
124	Hill City Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	341 Main St	Hill City	57745	Pennington County	Hill City School District 51-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 574-3015	247	19	13.3	31.6%	182 (73.7%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (15.8%)	2 (0.8%)	12 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.9%)	$12,981			$1,637			$11,344	60	49.4	111	13		463336000279
125	Eureka Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	805 10th St	Eureka	57437	McPherson County	Eureka School District 44-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 284-2875	94	11	8.8	44.7%	73 (77.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (9.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (9.6%)	$19,520			$1,392			$18,128	59.8	63.4	66	59		462256000195
126	Grass Ranch Colony Elementary - 13	Public	K-8	36570 258th St	Kimball	57355	Brule County	Kimball School District 07-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 778-6231	53	3	17.3	5.7%	53 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,786			$957			$8,829	59.6			(n/a)		463822000917
127	Buffalo Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	12474 Tipperary St	Buffalo	57720	Harding County	Harding County School District 31-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 375-3241	101	10	10.3	25.7%	96 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	3 (3.0%)	$16,820			$875			$15,945	59.6	53.1	102	25		460930000087
128	Onida Elementary - 04	Public	K-5	500 8th St	Onida	57564	Sully County	Agar-Blunt-Onida School District 58-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 258-2617	79	12	6.8	26.6%	65 (82.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.1%)	$20,822			$1,326			$19,495	59.3	62.8	69	59		460004200655
129	Colome Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	105 Carr St	Colome	57528	Tripp County	Colome School District 59-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 842-1624	65	9	7.5	53.8%	43 (66.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (20.0%)	2 (3.1%)	6 (9.2%)	$20,079			$3,115			$16,965	59	34.8	144	15		461413000140
130	Jefferson Elementary - 09	Public	1-4	1701 N Maple St	Watertown	57201	Codington County	Watertown School District 14-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 882-6390	333	23	14.2	32.7%	278 (83.5%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (4.2%)	2 (0.6%)	19 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.7%)	$11,854			$908			$10,947	59	77.7	31	99		467662001083

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

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.