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
21	Midland Elementary - 11	Public	K-8	104 Main St	Midland	57552	Haakon County	Kadoka Area School District 35-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 837-2171	6	1	6		6 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								82.1			(n/a)		468043701257
22	Dell Rapids Elementary - 02	Public	K-4	309 W 15th St	Dell Rapids	57022	Minnehaha County	Dell Rapids School District 49-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 428-5473	355	28	12.9	12.7%	324 (91.3%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)	$11,806			$480			$11,326	81.9	89	7	15		461812000164
23	Elm Springs Elementary - 13	Public	K-8	21309 Elm Springs Rd	Wasta	57791	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 269-2264	10	1	7.1	30.0%	10 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								81.7			(n/a)		466993000740
24	Robert Bennis Elementary - 05	Public	K-4	2001 S Sioux Blvd	Brandon	57005	Minnehaha County	Brandon Valley School District 49-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 582-8010	542	32	16.7	10.1%	470 (86.7%)	7 (1.3%)	17 (3.1%)	6 (1.1%)	11 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (5.7%)	$10,253			$509			$9,744	81.5	82	22	2		460795001237
25	Lake Preston Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	300 1st St NE	Lake Preston	57249	Kingsbury County	Lake Preston School District 38-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 847-4464	96	11	9.1	38.5%	89 (92.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (5.2%)	$18,707			$1,189			$17,518	81.5	79	29	4		463999000367
26	Spring Creek Colony Elementary - 04	Public	K-8	36562 102nd St	Forbes	58439	McPherson County	Leola School District 44-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 439-3477	35	2	15.2	8.6%	35 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$18,113			$1,000			$17,113	81.2			(n/a)		464164000394
27	Ethan Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	320 S 2nd St	Ethan	57334	Davison County	Ethan School District 17-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 227-4211	155	11	14	26.5%	140 (90.3%)	1 (0.6%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.5%)	$9,734			$833			$8,901	81.2	88.7	8	19		462250000193
28	Castlewood Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	310 E Harry St	Castlewood	57223	Hamlin County	Castlewood School District 28-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 793-2497	140	11	13	26.4%	131 (93.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,151			$664			$12,487	80.9	55.4	95	67		461128000113
29	Worthing Elementary - 05	Public	PK, KG-4	230 Cedar St	Worthing	57077	Lincoln County	Lennox School District 41-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 372-4114	119	7	18.1	24.4%	107 (89.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.4%)	$10,545			$263			$10,283	80.3	89.4	6	23		464155000389
30	Thunderbird Colony Elementary - 10	Public	K-8	15185 346th Ave	Faulkton	57438	Faulk County	Faulkton Area Schools 24-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 598-6266	33	2	16.5		33 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,892			$516			$11,376	80.3			(n/a)		462403001160

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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

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.