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
61	Beadle Elementary - 03	Public	K-5	1214 Mulberry St	Yankton	57078	Yankton County	Yankton School District 63-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 665-2282	412	26	15.5	33.0%	327 (79.4%)	8 (1.9%)	33 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.3%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (5.1%)	$11,746			$933			$10,813	73.7	61	75	14		468043000791
62	John F. Kennedy Elementary - 57	Public	K-5	4501 S Holbrook Ave	Sioux Falls	57106	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 362-2784	661	43	15.4	37.5%	481 (72.8%)	45 (6.8%)	48 (7.3%)	10 (1.5%)	17 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (9.1%)	$10,658			$608			$10,049	72.9	73.4	44	18		466627000976
63	Discovery Elementary - 26	Public	PK, KG-5	1506 S Discovery Ave	Sioux Falls	57106	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 362-3530	873	50	17.3	21.9%	699 (80.1%)	51 (5.8%)	51 (5.8%)	6 (0.7%)	25 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	41 (4.7%)	$10,792			$577			$10,214	72.8	71.6	46	17		466627001238
64	West Central Humboldt Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	600 S Main St	Humboldt	57035	Minnehaha County	West Central School District 49-7	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 363-3131	310	21	14.8	11.3%	288 (92.9%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.5%)	$10,596			$531			$10,065	72.8	61.6	73	9		463171000273
65	Estelline Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	404 6th St N	Estelline	57234	Hamlin County	Estelline School District 28-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 873-2201	149	11	14.1	34.9%	112 (75.2%)	1 (0.7%)	31 (20.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.4%)	$13,692			$1,363			$12,330	72.7	44.5	120	55		462241000191
66	Millbrook Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	41659 256th St	Mitchell	57301	Hanson County	Hanson School District 30-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 239-4387	6	1	5.4		6 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								72.6			(n/a)		460264000015
67	Orland Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	45050 246th St	Montrose	57048	McCook County	Montrose School District 43-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 363-5025	42	3	14		42 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,046			$269			$11,777	72.5			(n/a)		464878001095
68	Lakeview Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	28748 386th Ave	Lake Andes	57356	Charles Mix County	Andes Central School District 11-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 487-7655	23	2	11.5	87.0%	23 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$19,089			$2,240			$16,850	72.4			(n/a)		463954001080
69	Rolland Colony Elementary - 05	Public	K-8	48088 210th St	White	57276	Brookings County	Elkton School District 05-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 542-2541	9	1	9		9 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								72.3			(n/a)		462139001168
70	Harvey Dunn Elementary - 54	Public	PK, KG-5	2400 S Bahnson Ave	Sioux Falls	57103	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 371-4120	681	38	17.9	46.5%	431 (63.3%)	94 (13.8%)	47 (6.9%)	7 (1.0%)	29 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (10.7%)	$10,876			$643			$10,233	72.2	73	45	25		466627000588

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.