Best Elementary Schools in South Dakota

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
241	Lakeview Elementary - 09	Public	K-8	26886 299th St	Crookston	69212	Todd County	Todd County School District 66-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 429-3339	44	3	14.6	100.0%	6 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (72.7%)	1 (2.3%)	1 (2.3%)	$16,932			$3,191			$13,741	25.1			(n/a)		467209000504
242	Opal Elementary - 15	Public	K-8	18010 Opal Rd	Opal	57765	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 269-2264	13	1	9.2	23.1%	13 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								24.8			(n/a)		466993000741
243	Laura B. Anderson Elementary - 10	Public	PK, KG-5	1600 N Wayland Ave	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 367-6130	291	26	11.3	85.2%	95 (32.6%)	31 (10.7%)	105 (36.1%)	9 (3.1%)	26 (8.9%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (8.6%)	$13,906			$2,305			$11,601	23	9.8	186	57		466627000597
244	Bennett County Elementary School - 03	Public	PK, KG-5	201 5th St	Martin	57551	Bennett County	Bennett County School District 03-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 685-6717	217	21	10.1	100.0%	41 (18.9%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.5%)	4 (1.8%)	124 (57.1%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (16.6%)	$18,143			$3,891			$14,252	23	9.5	187	57		460624000045
245	Hutterville Colony Elementary - 06	Public	K-8	14625 401st Ave	Stratford	57474	Brown County	Northwestern Area School District 56-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 396-7497	16	3	5.5		16 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,043			$23			$11,020	22.4			(n/a)		465175001432
246	Summit Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-8	400 W Sherman Ave	Summit	57266	Roberts County	Summit School District 54-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 398-6211	132	13	10.1	51.5%	74 (56.1%)	4 (3.0%)	13 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (23.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (7.6%)	$15,464			$1,325			$14,139	22.1	10.7	185	61		467014000662
247	Cleveland Elementary - 14	Public	PK, KG-5	1000 S Edward Dr	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 367-6150	465	35	13.4	82.6%	111 (23.9%)	167 (35.9%)	99 (21.3%)	12 (2.6%)	22 (4.7%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (11.4%)	$12,612			$1,749			$10,863	21.8	7.2	190	57		466627000581
248	White River Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	501 E 3rd St	White River	57579	Mellette County	White River School District 47-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 259-3137	172	16	11	98.3%	33 (19.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	1 (0.6%)	118 (68.6%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (9.9%)	$15,296			$3,793			$11,503	21	10.8	184	64		467857000753
249	Blue Sky Colony - 04	Public	K-8	15765 484th Ave	Milbank	57252	Grant County	Milbank School District 25-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 432-6615	10	1	10		10 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								20.5			(n/a)		460000201390
250	Hillcrest Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	1004 Hillcrest Dr	Garden City	57236	Clark County	Clark School District 12-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 532-3606	31	2	15.5	90.3%	31 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,141			$34			$11,106	20.1			(n/a)		461294001082

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for South Dakota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.