Best Public Schools in Zip Code 57717

ZIP code 57717 has four schools—two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school—serving kindergarten through grade 12. Listed tested grades are 3–4 at South Park Elementary - 03, 5–8 at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07, and grade 11 at Belle Fourche High School - 01; North Park Elementary - 08 has no test scores listed. The clearest academic standout is Belle Fourche Middle: in 2025–2026, it was above state results in every listed grade-specific ELA, math, and science comparison.

Belle Fourche Middle also had the strongest SchoolDigger ranking among the schools with a listed ranking, at the 59th percentile, compared with the 25th for South Park and the 22nd for Belle Fourche High. South Park’s results were mixed: its all-grades math proficiency was 48% versus 44% statewide, a 4-point advantage, while its ELA was 36% versus 49%, a 13-point shortfall. The high school’s grade 11 ACT proficiency was below state results in all three subjects, with gaps of 3 points in ELA, 9 in math, and 12 in science. Its graduation rate was a stronger point: 95%, compared with 88% statewide, a 7-point advantage. Because the tested grades do not overlap, these figures do not provide a like-for-like academic comparison between schools.

Belle Fourche Middle improved across all three all-grades subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: ELA rose 6 points, math 5, and science 7. Its ELA gap with the state shifted from 2 points below to 6 points above, and its science gap moved from 5 points below to 4 above; math moved from 5 points below to about even. South Park’s all-grades ELA fell 7 points, and its gap with the state widened from 8 to 13 points below, while its math rose 2 points and its state-relative advantage grew from 3 to 4 points. As context, free/reduced lunch eligible shares in 2024–2025 were 54% at South Park, 45% at Belle Fourche Middle, 45% at North Park, and 32% at Belle Fourche High; student-teacher ratios ranged from 10.6 at North Park to 14.5 at the high school.