Best Elementary Schools in South Dakota for African American Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in South Dakota!

Every year, the South Dakota Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, African American students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

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 (African American vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 81)	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	Statewide Rank Percentile (African American)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (African American)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	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	98.8%	78.3%	20.43%			462241000191
1	Faith Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-6	206 W 5th St	Faith	57626	Meade County	Faith School District 46-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 967-2152	69	7	9.5	27.5%	57 (82.6%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	1 (1.4%)	2 (2.9%)	1 (1.4%)	6 (8.7%)	$17,094			$3,161			$13,933	98.8%	70.3%	28.43%			462294000805
3	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	96.3%	92.0%	4.30%			460795001237
4	Challenge Center - 51	Public	2-5	3101 S 4th Ave	Sioux Falls	57105	Minnehaha County	Sioux Falls School District 49-5	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 367-6170	165	11	14.8	15.8%	136 (82.4%)	8 (4.8%)	9 (5.5%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.5%)	$6,651			$560			$6,091	95.1%	99.3%	4.27%			466627001129
5	Hanson Elementary - 06	Public	PK, KG-5	230 6th St	Alexandria	57311	Hanson County	Hanson School District 30-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 239-4387	151	11	14.2	25.2%	137 (90.7%)	1 (0.7%)	5 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	$11,417			$528			$10,888	93.8%	89.3%	4.49%			460264000876
6	Hot Springs Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	240 N 19th St	Hot Springs	57747	Fall River County	Hot Springs School District 23-2	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 745-4149	306	25	12.4	35.6%	215 (70.3%)	2 (0.7%)	24 (7.8%)	5 (1.6%)	30 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (9.8%)	$11,124			$1,229			$9,894	92.6%	30.7%	61.93%			463448000287
6	Mount Vernon Elementary - 02	Public	PK, KG-5	500 N Main	Mount Vernon	57363	Davison County	Mount Vernon School District 17-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 236-5237	110	10	11.3	34.5%	100 (90.9%)	5 (4.5%)	2 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,720			$1,042			$13,678	92.6%	76.0%	16.59%			464965000454
8	Stanley County Elementary - 08	Public	K-5	17 E 2nd Ave	Fort Pierre	57532	Stanley County	Stanley County School District 57-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 223-7745	178	18	9.8	32.6%	136 (76.4%)	4 (2.2%)	7 (3.9%)	2 (1.1%)	16 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.3%)	$15,856			$885			$14,972	90.1%	49.7%	40.46%			462485000213
9	Meadowbrook Elementary - 10	Public	K-5	3125 W Flormann St	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-1821	478	29	16.5	24.7%	329 (68.8%)	5 (1.0%)	49 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (10.5%)	$11,023			$704			$10,319	88.9%	66.0%	22.89%			465982000549
10	Gettysburg Elementary - 02	Public	K-5	100 E King Ave	Gettysburg	57442	Potter County	Gettysburg School District 53-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 765-2438	88	9	9.3	30.7%	67 (76.1%)	2 (2.3%)	8 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.4%)	3 (3.4%)	5 (5.7%)	$13,367			$894			$12,473	87.7%	82.7%	4.99%			462697000231

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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 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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.