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
201	Freedom Elementary - 06	Public	K-5	1101 Tom Sawyer Trl	Harrisburg	57032	Lincoln County	Harrisburg School District 41-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 743-2567	442	32	13.6	23.3%	357 (80.8%)	15 (3.4%)	36 (8.1%)	2 (0.5%)	10 (2.3%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (4.8%)	$11,088			$786			$10,302	39.7	29.1	154	47		463135001318
202	Old Elm Spring Colony Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-8	42021 268th St	Parkston	57366	Hutchinson County	Parkston School District 33-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 928-3368	31	3	12.4	90.3%	31 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,368			$252			$10,116	39.7			(n/a)		465430000489
203	Jamesville Colony Elementary - 03	Public	K-8	43582 NE Jim River Rd	Utica	57067	Yankton County	Menno School District 33-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 387-5161	19	3	6.7		19 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$15,544			$36			$15,508	39.2			(n/a)		464710000417
204	Irene - Wakonda Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	202 Nebraska St	Wakonda	57073	Clay County	Irene - Wakonda School District 13-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 267-2644	161	13	12.1	34.8%	138 (85.7%)	3 (1.9%)	9 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.3%)	$14,974			$691			$14,283	38.9	26.2	161	43		468043901255
205	Black Hawk Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	7108 Seeaire St	Black Hawk	57718	Meade County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 787-6701	305	20	15	34.1%	228 (74.8%)	2 (0.7%)	33 (10.8%)	1 (0.3%)	15 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (8.5%)	$11,703			$726			$10,976	38.6	12.6	182	23		465982000538
206	Mayfield Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	43188 Mayfield Rd	Willow Lake	57278	Clark County	Willow Lake School District 12-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 625-5945	31	2	15.5		31 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,730			$95			$10,635	38.6			(n/a)		467935001067
207	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%)								38.4			(n/a)		466993000735
208	Hot Springs Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	240 N 19th St	Hot Springs	57747	Fall River County	Hot Springs School District 23-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 745-4149	306	25	12.4	35.6%	215 (70.3%)	2 (0.7%)	24 (7.8%)	5 (1.6%)	30 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.8%)	$11,124			$1,229			$9,894	38.4	38.1	134	74		463448000287
209	Herreid Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	302 Main St N	Herreid	57632	Campbell County	Herreid School District 10-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 437-2263	77	8	9.9	27.3%	67 (87.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.5%)	$14,044			$3,603			$10,441	37.5	61	74	135		463243000277
210	Longvalley Elementary - 10	Public	K-8	26840 SD Hwy 73	Long Valley	57547	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2173	22	4	5	13.6%	12 (54.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (45.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$17,582			$6,648			$10,935	36.5			(n/a)		468043701256

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.