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South Middle School - 36

Q: Is South Middle School - 36 a good school?

South Middle School - 36 ranks 176 th of 246 South Dakota middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Public Grades 6-8

176^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 246 South Dakota Middle Schools

Better than 28% of South Dakota middle schools

Summary

South Middle School - 36 is a public middle school in Rapid City, South Dakota, serving 502 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Rapid City Area School District 51-4, which is ranked 112 out of 147 school districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

South Middle School - 36 faces significant challenges, including consistently high chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 20.2% to 36.2% over the past few years, well above the state average and the rates of nearby schools like Southwest Middle School - 38 (20.2%) and East Middle School - 30 (20.2%). Academically, the school consistently underperforms compared to the state and district averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics, with only 38.03% of students proficient or better in ELA and just 21.61% in Mathematics in the 2024-2025 school year.

While the school spends a relatively high amount per student, ranging from $11,240 to $12,578 over the past few years, it consistently underperforms compared to the state, district, and nearby schools. For example, Southwest Middle School - 38 ranked 14th out of 246 South Dakota middle schools in 2024-2025, with 67.44% of students proficient or better in ELA and 65.95% in Mathematics. Addressing the root causes of South Middle School - 36's challenges, such as socioeconomic factors and effective resource allocation, will be crucial for improving the school's outcomes.

618

Students ?

13.6

Student/teacher ratio ?

$12,597

Per pupil spending ?

60.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2 Indiana St
Rapid City, SD 57701

(605) 394-4024

District: Rapid City Area School District 51-4

Students who attend South Middle School - 36 usually attend:

High:

Central High School - 41

Feeder schools for South Middle School - 36:

Elementary:	Grandview Elementary - 06
	South Park Elementary - 16

Racial breakdown:

White:

45.3%

American Indian:

22.8%

Two or more races:

17.2%

See top rated South Dakota middle schools

Compare South Middle School - 36 to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Rebounding — 9th percentile in 2019 → 28th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is rebounding — up to 28th (2025) from a 9th-percentile low (2019)

Worth a look

!Test scores below the South Dakota average (30% vs 47% meeting standards)

!High chronic absenteeism (36% vs 20% South Dakota)

!Mathematics scores 22 pts below the South Dakota average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school30%

District avg39%

South Dakota avg47%

176^th of 246

South Dakota public middle schools ?

Bottom 28%▼ down 5 pts since 2015

From bottom 33% (2015) to bottom 28% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of South Dakota Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

4^th of 5Middle Schools in the Rapid City Area School District 51-4

112^th of 147Rapid City Area School District 51-4 among South Dakota districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	34.2	176 of 246	28.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	18.3	129 of 147	12.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	22.6	123 of 150	18.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	19.4	128 of 143	10.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	18.4	128 of 145	11.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	13.1	135 of 149	9.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	29.2	117 of 147	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	35.3	109 of 146	25.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2016	34.8	115 of 147	21.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	40.8	97 of 145	33.1%	★★☆☆☆
2013	40.4	113 of 145	22.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	35.8	113 of 146	22.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	32.7	116 of 140	17.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	33.6	119 of 139	14.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	38.3	110 of 139	20.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	37.6	111 of 136	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2007	42.5	109 of 136	19.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2006	33.5	120 of 141	14.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2005	42.7	104 of 136	23.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2004	33.2	117 of 134	12.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2003	35.4	109 of 133	18.0%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	62.1	10 of 47	78.7%	★★★★☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	46.7	24 of 39	38.5%	★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	54.6	28 of 117	76.1%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	32.4	172 of 229	24.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	21.6	97 of 107	9.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	24.2	98 of 112	12.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	16.8	94 of 102	7.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	13.7	103 of 113	8.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	12.8	96 of 107	10.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	24.7	84 of 99	15.2%	★☆☆☆☆

Foster Care

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	63.8	7 of 47	85.1%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	40.3	66 of 117	43.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	41.9	15 of 26	42.3%	★★★☆☆
2023	22.6	21 of 24	12.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	28.3	15 of 19	21.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	33.8	17 of 23	26.1%	★★☆☆☆
2019	31.5	15 of 21	28.6%	★★☆☆☆
2018	23.8	16 of 17	5.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	30.1	23 of 29	20.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	28.7	154 of 187	17.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	20.8	58 of 65	10.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	18.0	61 of 70	12.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	59.0	16 of 46	65.2%	★★★☆☆
2021	53.1	26 of 63	58.7%	★★★☆☆
2019	11.2	72 of 79	8.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	26.3	63 of 71	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	36.3	159 of 233	31.8%	★★☆☆☆
2024	13.5	108 of 115	6.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	17.7	100 of 116	13.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	22.5	96 of 104	7.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	26.4	96 of 115	16.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	14.7	97 of 110	11.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	32.2	93 of 111	16.2%	★☆☆☆☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	46.6	17 of 32	46.9%	★★★☆☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	37.0	85 of 115	26.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	36.5	16 of 22	27.3%	★★☆☆☆
2023	26.6	18 of 21	14.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	31.1	15 of 19	21.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	16.6	17 of 18	5.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	21.0	11 of 14	21.4%	★★☆☆☆
2018	28.0	10 of 14	28.6%	★★☆☆☆

Native American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	38.0	70 of 111	36.9%	★★☆☆☆
2024	28.0	25 of 31	19.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	29.7	25 of 27	7.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	40.0	19 of 24	20.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	18.6	25 of 25	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	13.3	29 of 29	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	45.6	18 of 30	40.0%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	35.6	125 of 181	30.9%	★★☆☆☆
2018	28.7	26 of 32	18.8%	★☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Dakota percentile	Rating
2025	39.0	165 of 230	28.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	22.6	113 of 132	14.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	33.8	98 of 136	27.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	28.5	103 of 132	22.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	27.9	110 of 136	19.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	18.2	121 of 136	11.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	31.2	101 of 131	22.9%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Foster Care (2025)85th percentile+57 vs school

African American (2025)79th percentile+50 vs school

English Language Learner (2025)76th percentile+48 vs school

Military Connected (2025)47th percentile+18 vs school

Hispanic (2025)44th percentile+15 vs school

Asian (2025)38th percentile+10 vs school

Native American (2025)37th percentile+8 vs school

Male (2025)32nd percentile+3 vs school

Special Education (2025)31st percentile~ school

White (2025)28th percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2025)26th percentile~ school

Female (2025)25th percentile-4 vs school

Homeless (2025)21st percentile-8 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)18th percentile-11 vs school

By subject vs South Dakota (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts38%-13 vs state

Science29%-13 vs state

Mathematics22%-22 vs state

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What people are saying

by a student
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

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Schools Near South Middle School - 36

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Science (2025)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Science All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
South Middle School - 36	Public	6-8	2 Indiana St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-4024	618	45	13.6	60.5%	280 (45.3%)	12 (1.9%)	73 (11.8%)	6 (1.0%)	141 (22.8%)	0 (0.0%)	106 (17.2%)	34.2	176^th of 246 public middle schools	28.5%		18.3	129^th of 147 public middle schools	12.2%	47		41.9	32.8	39.0	38.0		24.9	20.7	18.7	21.6		29.1		$12,597	$621	$11,976
North Middle School - 35	Public	6-8	1501 N Maple St	Rapid City	57701	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	Yes	(605) 394-4042	418	35	12.0	100.0%	87 (20.8%)	1 (0.2%)	64 (15.3%)	6 (1.4%)	204 (48.8%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (13.4%)	20	209^th of 246 public middle schools	15.0%		6	142^nd of 147 public middle schools	3.4%	67		7.2	26.8	22.1	18.4		6.5	17.3	19.9	14.4		23.7		$13,697	$1,382	$12,315
West Middle School - 37	Public	6-8	1003 Soo San Dr	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-4033	591	38	15.4	27.2%	421 (71.2%)	6 (1.0%)	55 (9.3%)	1 (0.2%)	40 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (11.5%)	56.3	108^th of 246 public middle schools	56.1%		46.4	86^th of 147 public middle schools	41.5%	22		55.9	40.4	52.9	49.6		43.6	36.3	46.0	41.9		38.0		$12,565	$631	$11,934
Southwest Middle School - 38	Public	6-8	4501 Park Dr	Rapid City	57702	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-6792	614	38	16.2	12.9%	471 (76.7%)	4 (0.7%)	39 (6.4%)	16 (2.6%)	22 (3.6%)	2 (0.3%)	60 (9.8%)	82.6	14^th of 246 public middle schools	94.3%		89.2	6^th of 147 public middle schools	95.9%	8		64.4	71.4	66.5	67.4		62.9	69.0	66.0	66.0		56.9		$12,004	$628	$11,376
East Middle School - 30	Public	6-8	4860 Homestead St	Rapid City	57703	Pennington County	Rapid City Area School District 51-4	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 394-4092	613	39	15.7	41.4%	384 (62.6%)	7 (1.1%)	69 (11.3%)	7 (1.1%)	55 (9.0%)	0 (0.0%)	91 (14.8%)	44.4	156^th of 246 public middle schools	36.6%		29.1	111^th of 147 public middle schools	24.5%	45		30.8	40.3	40.6	37.0		37.5	27.3	44.2	35.7		42.4		$11,586	$648	$10,938
Douglas Middle School - 01	Public	6-8	691 Tower Rd	Box Elder	57719	Pennington County	Douglas School District 51-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 923-0050	633	45	14.1	37.8%	410 (64.8%)	11 (1.7%)	77 (12.2%)	5 (0.8%)	47 (7.4%)	1 (0.2%)	82 (13.0%)	43.6	157^th of 246 public middle schools	36.2%		34.1	105^th of 147 public middle schools	28.6%	52		42.2	50.8	44.7	45.7		26.6	36.6	21.6	28.2		31.6		$11,637	$790	$10,847
Stagebarn Middle School - 10	Public	5-8	12500 Sturgis Rd	Summerset	57769	Meade County	Meade School District 46-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 787-4172	432	31	13.8	28.2%	363 (84.0%)	2 (0.5%)	24 (5.6%)	4 (0.9%)	16 (3.7%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (5.1%)	62	88^th of 246 public middle schools	64.2%		51.3	75^th of 147 public middle schools	49.0%	13	47.9	39.8	56.3	54.4	49.5	39.3	33.0	60.2	44.7	44.1	43.6	55.3	49.1	$10,504	$214	$10,290
Hermosa Middle School - 07	Public	7-8	11 4th St	Hermosa	57744	Custer County	Custer School District 16-1	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(605) 255-4345	48	5	9.0	31.3%	40 (83.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (6.3%)	2 (4.2%)	2 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.1%)	51.1	130^th of 246 public middle schools	47.2%					(n/a)			71.4	38.5	53.2			38.1	26.9	31.9		34.6		$15,464	$445	$15,018
New Underwood Middle School - 04	Public	6-8	300 E Ash St	New Underwood	57761	Pennington County	New Underwood School District 51-3	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	No	(605) 754-6485	75	4	17.3	18.7%	57 (76.0%)	1 (1.3%)	6 (8.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (13.3%)	49.4	133^rd of 246 public middle schools	45.9%		34.1	104^th of 147 public middle schools	29.3%	29		53.8	47.8	50.0	50.7		23.1	34.8	23.1	26.7		46.2		$11,306	$250	$11,055

Frequently Asked Questions about South Middle School - 36

What district is South Middle School - 36 in?

Rapid City Area School District 51-4

What is the racial makeup of South Middle School - 36?

Students at South Middle School - 36 are 45% White, 23% American Indian, 17% Two or more races, 12% Hispanic, 2% African American.

What high school do graduates of South Middle School - 36 attend?

Students who attend South Middle School - 36 usually go on to attend Central High School - 41

Is South Middle School - 36 a good school?

South Middle School - 36 ranks 176^th of 246 South Dakota middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend South Middle School - 36?

In the 2024-25 school year, 618 students attended South Middle School - 36.

Rate South Middle School - 36!

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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.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.