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
261	Hawthorne Elementary - 56	Public	PK, KG-5	601 N Spring Ave	Sioux Falls	57104	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 367-4580	443	34	12.9	100.0%	136 (30.7%)	90 (20.3%)	97 (21.9%)	15 (3.4%)	58 (13.1%)	6 (1.4%)	41 (9.3%)	$12,992			$2,182			$10,810	16.9	4.2	196	65		466627000936
262	Knollwood Heights Elementary - 08	Public	K-5	1701 Downing St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 394-1851	368	28	13	100.0%	78 (21.2%)	4 (1.1%)	43 (11.7%)	1 (0.3%)	181 (49.2%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (16.6%)	$12,239			$1,513			$10,726	16.8	3.7	197	65		465982000539
263	Oelrichs Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	214 W 7th St	Oelrichs	57763	Fall River County	Oelrichs School District 23-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 535-2631	55	6	9.6	100.0%	4 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (90.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$27,191			$4,491			$22,700	16			(n/a)		465277000481
264	Robbinsdale Elementary - 14	Public	PK, KG-5	424 E Indiana St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 394-1825	328	25	12.9	100.0%	153 (46.6%)	2 (0.6%)	40 (12.2%)	3 (0.9%)	78 (23.8%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (15.9%)	$12,516			$1,553			$10,962	15.4	5.9	193	71		465982000541
265	Hayward Elementary - 38	Public	PK, KG-5	400 N Valley View Rd	Sioux Falls	57107	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 367-4590	728	51	14.1	83.5%	202 (27.7%)	73 (10.0%)	342 (47.0%)	4 (0.5%)	44 (6.0%)	2 (0.3%)	61 (8.4%)	$11,446			$1,508			$9,938	14.8	6.1	192	73		466627000590
266	Pearl Creek Colony Elementary - 05	Public	4-8	21085 415th Ave	Iroquois	57353	Beadle County	Iroquois School District 02-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 546-2210	13	1	13		13 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,745			$493			$13,252	14.7			(n/a)		463615000340
267	Rosette Colony Elementary - 03	Public	PK, KG-8	12465 359th Ave	Leola	57456	Edmunds County	Ipswich Public School District 22-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 426-6832	31	2	14		31 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,619			$263			$14,356	14.4			(n/a)		463606000334
268	Red Willow Colony School - 09	Public	K-8	20019 474th Ave	White	57276	Brookings County	Deubrook Area School District 05-6	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 629-1152	26	2	14.8		26 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,693			$00			$11,693	14			(n/a)		467830001320
269	Brentwood Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	15442 343rd Ave	Faulkton	57438	Faulk County	Faulkton Area Schools 24-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 598-6266	20	2	9.8		20 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,704			$266			$6,439	13.7			(n/a)		462403001090
270	Horace Mann Elementary - 07	Public	K-5	902 Anamosa St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 394-1847	274	20	13.5	100.0%	66 (24.1%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (16.8%)	2 (0.7%)	111 (40.5%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (17.9%)	$12,171			$1,548			$10,622	13.5	5.8	194	76		465982000550

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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:

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

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

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.