Summary:
Zip code 57451 has one middle school, Ipswich Middle School - 04, serving grades 6–8 with 85 students. Its latest results show stronger performance in English Language Arts (ELA) than in math: in 2025–2026, 84% of students were proficient in ELA and 56% in math. Both results were above South Dakota’s, but the school’s clearest strength is ELA.
Because it is the only school in the area, there are no local schools to compare as top or bottom performers. ELA proficiency was 35 percentage points above the state and 12 points above the Ipswich Public School District 22-6. Math was 12 points above the state but 5 points below the district, making it the school’s relative weakness. Grade-level results add an important exception: grade 8 math proficiency was 36%, 7 points below the state, while grade 6 and grade 7 math were above it. SchoolDigger gives the school 5 stars and a rank of 10 out of 151 for 2025–2026.
Results moved in different directions over time: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, ELA proficiency rose 5 points, while math fell 2 points. Grade 8 science also declined 7 points, to 61%, though that remained 20 points above the state. Chronic absenteeism was 5% in 2025–2026, similar to the district’s 5% and below the state’s 20%. For additional context, in 2024–2025 the school had a 15.1 student-teacher ratio, and 35% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible. These figures describe the school’s context, but do not establish what explains its academic results.
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