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
41	Big Stone City Elementary - 01	Public	PK, KG-5	655 Walnut St	Big Stone City	57216	Grant County	Big Stone City School District 25-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 862-8108	60	6	9.6	60.0%	48 (80.0%)	1 (1.7%)	2 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.7%)	$36,074			$2,921			$33,153	76.8			(n/a)		460696000053
42	Ipswich Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	510 2nd Ave	Ipswich	57451	Edmunds County	Ipswich Public School District 22-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 426-6832	182	15	12	22.5%	169 (92.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.8%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.7%)	$13,774			$988			$12,786	76.8	87.2	12	30		463606000332
43	Custer Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	1415 Wildcat Ln	Custer	57730	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 673-4483	269	26	10.3	34.2%	226 (84.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.8%)	$17,165			$950			$16,215	76.7	63.2	67	24		461695000154
44	Scotland Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-4	711 4th St	Scotland	57059	Bon Homme County	Scotland School District 04-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 583-2717	114	8	13.9	27.2%	100 (87.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.9%)	6 (5.3%)	$13,879			$946			$12,933	76.7	42	123	79		466518000568
45	John Harris Elementary - 23	Public	PK, KG-5	3501 E 49th St	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4111	666	38	17.7	21.0%	528 (79.3%)	35 (5.3%)	31 (4.7%)	8 (1.2%)	10 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (8.1%)	$11,015			$580			$10,436	76	80.6	25	20		466627001064
46	Miller Elementary - 02	Public	K-6	623 E 4th St	Miller	57362	Hand County	Miller School District 29-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 853-2711	231	21	10.8	22.5%	213 (92.2%)	2 (0.9%)	13 (5.6%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,505			$673			$12,832	75.8	87.3	11	35		464794200429
47	Milbank Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	507 S 9th St	Milbank	57252	Grant County	Milbank School District 25-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 432-6615	408	34	11.9	38.5%	311 (76.2%)	1 (0.2%)	80 (19.6%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.0%)	$13,631			$1,644			$11,987	75.4	75	39	8		460000200423
48	Montrose Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	309 S Church Ave	Montrose	57048	McCook County	Montrose School District 43-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 363-5025	108	10	10.9	13.9%	100 (92.6%)	1 (0.9%)	3 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.7%)	$13,873			$594			$13,279	75.4	57.9	84	36		464878000451
49	Avon Elementary - 02	Public	K-4	210 Pine St	Avon	57315	Bon Homme County	Avon School District 04-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 286-3291	74	7	10.5	31.1%	62 (83.8%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.4%)	$17,487			$1,977			$15,509	75.2	35.9	141	92		460427000028
50	Buchanan Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	100 N Buchanan Ave	Pierre	57501	Hughes County	Pierre School District 32-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 773-7310	432	26	16.6	36.6%	270 (62.5%)	4 (0.9%)	23 (5.3%)	11 (2.5%)	60 (13.9%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (14.8%)	$11,597			$863			$10,734	75.1	75.3	38	12		465526000494

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.