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
81	Stewart Elementary - 05	Public	K-5	208 W 21st St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-5765	271	21	12.7	38.0%	208 (76.8%)	2 (0.7%)	36 (13.3%)	4 (1.5%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.5%)	$12,131			$931			$11,199	70.5	41.3	125	44		468043000795
82	Hoven Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	551 S Main St	Hoven	57450	Potter County	Hoven School District 53-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 948-2252	69	9	7.8	33.3%	68 (98.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$20,779			$1,580			$19,199	70.5			(n/a)		463460000297
83	Wall Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	401 S Blvd W	Wall	57790	Pennington County	Wall School District 51-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 279-2156	107	9	11.8	39.3%	81 (75.7%)	1 (0.9%)	3 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (10.3%)	$15,549			$1,153			$14,396	70.3	74.2	42	41		467566000704
84	Parkston Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	102C S Chapman Dr	Parkston	57366	Hutchinson County	Parkston School District 33-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 928-3368	272	19	13.9	25.4%	242 (89.0%)	4 (1.5%)	6 (2.2%)	2 (0.7%)	4 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (5.1%)	$11,871			$914			$10,957	70.3	64.1	64	20		465430000491
85	Kadoka Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	800 Bayberry St	Kadoka	57543	Jackson County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2173	118	12	9.4	51.7%	66 (55.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (42.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	$19,677			$6,400			$13,277	70.2	77.2	34	51		468043701249
86	Hitchcock-Tulare Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-6	235 Palm St	Hitchcock	57348	Beadle County	Hitchcock Tulare School District 56-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 266-2151	116	10	11.2	24.1%	113 (97.4%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	$15,944			$00			$15,944	70.1	54.8	96	10		460004601167
87	Wessington Springs Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	904 2nd St NE	Wessington Springs	57382	Jerauld County	Wessington Springs School District 36-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 539-1754	145	13	10.9	41.4%	138 (95.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,482			$1,321			$12,160	69.8			(n/a)		467746000732
88	Corral Drive Elementary - 21	Public	K-5	3736 Corral Dr	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-6789	439	22	20	6.2%	364 (82.9%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (6.2%)	16 (3.6%)	7 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	23 (5.2%)	$10,513			$665			$9,848	69.8	80.3	26	62		465982000542
89	Faith Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	206 W 5th St	Faith	57626	Meade County	Faith School District 46-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 967-2152	69	7	9.5	27.5%	57 (82.6%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	2 (2.9%)	1 (1.4%)	6 (8.7%)	$17,094			$3,161			$13,933	69.6			(n/a)		462294000805
90	Kennedy Elementary - 08	Public	K-5	2306 Brookstone Loop	Pierre	57501	Hughes County	Pierre School District 32-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 773-7370	413	26	15.8	41.4%	254 (61.5%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (4.8%)	2 (0.5%)	83 (20.1%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (12.8%)	$11,670			$916			$10,754	69.3	64.9	63	27		465526001353

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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 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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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.