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Alumni: what's one memory from Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
414
Middle
DISTRICT 255 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BELLE FOURCHE SCHOOL DISTRICT 09-1·NCES 460561001117
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07
1302 Ziebach St, Belle Fourche, SD 57717 · (605) 723-3367 · Butte County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL414 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 46% of South Dakota public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded South Dakota public middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.9:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
187 students
DISTRICT 42% · STATE 42%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 108 | 26% |
| Grade 6 | 104 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 107 | 26% |
| Grade 8 | 95 | 23% |
Student demographics
29%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 28% · STATE 53% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Belle Fourche School District 09-1. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
49.5%
SD avg 50.3% . -2.9pp since 2022
Math
38.5%
SD avg 47.5% . +5.2pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 5 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 49.5% | 38.5% |
| 2023-24 | 50.1% | 36.4% |
| 2022-23 | 52.4% | 33.3% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SD Smarter Balanced. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
42.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.5%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% typical for South Dakota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among South Dakota's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Belle Fourche Middle School - 07
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07's state test result (42.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 this school | 414 | 45.2% | 42.8% |
| Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02 Sturgis | 490 | 43.1% | 47.1% |
| Watertown Intermediate School - 13 Watertown | 532 | 38.5% | 51.1% |
| Mitchell Middle School - 02 Mitchell | 578 | 40.0% | 52.9% |
| Watertown Middle School - 02 Watertown | 575 | 35.0% | 52.6% |
| East Middle School - 30 Rapid City | 613 | 41.4% | 37.5% |
Matched among South Dakota middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 42.8% | #47 of 64 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.5% | #47 of 64 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.5% | #46 of 65 ▼ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 414 | #31 of 165 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.5:1 | #13 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.8% | #35 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.2% | #15 of 65 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.1% | #20 of 26 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
414
+17 (+4%) vs 2020
-6% since 2000-01, when it was 441
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
was 13.2:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 414 | 30.6 | 13.5:1 | 45% (187) |
| 2023-24 | 405 | 32.6 | 12.4:1 | 34% (138) |
| 2022-23 | 401 | 34.6 | 11.6:1 | 29% (117) |
| 2020-21 | 397 | 30 | 13.2:1 | 34% (133) |
| 2017-18 | 441 | 30 | 14.7:1 | 46% (204) |
| 2015-16 | 418 | 29 | 14.4:1 | 53% (223) |
| 2010-11 | 402 | 29 | 13.9:1 | 44% (177) |
| 2000-01 | 441 | 31 | 14.2:1 | 40% (175) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Belle Fourche Middle School - 07.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (441 to 414); teachers up 2% (30 to 30.6).
About Belle Fourche Middle School - 07
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 is a large middle-grades school in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. The school teaches grades 5 through 8 and enrolls 414 students. It has 121% more students than the average for middle schools in South Dakota (about 187).
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 is a school in Belle Fourche School District 09-1. The district has 5 schools and 1,274 students.
Roughly 84% of students at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 are White. The remaining students are 7% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, and 4% Native American. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 scores 29%.
With 30.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 13.5:1. That is in line with the 13.4:1 average for middle schools in South Dakota. Roughly 45% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Butte County is similar, at 44%.
On the allk12 Grade, Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 lands at B-, ahead of 46% of South Dakota public middle schools.
Schools in South Dakota with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 44.5%. Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 scores 42.8%.
American Community Survey estimates for Butte County show that median household income comes to about $75,652, roughly 20% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Butte County counts 8 public schools with about 1,504 students.
Measured in a straight line, South Park Elementary - 03 is about 0.9 miles from Belle Fourche Middle School - 07. Within five miles are 4 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 is 6th of 6 on proficiency.
Federal records code the school's setting as Town: Remote.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 had a net gain of 17 students, or 4%.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Butte County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
10,676
Census ACS
Median income
$75,652
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
8
1,504 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Belle Fourche School District 09-1
- Belle Fourche High School - 01High · 389 students
- South Park Elementary - 03Elementary · 347 students
- North Park Elementary - 08Elementary · 89 students
- Belle Fourche Education Connection - 09High · 35 students
Other schools in Belle Fourche
- Belle Fourche High School - 01High · 389 students
- South Park Elementary - 03Elementary · 347 students
- North Park Elementary - 08Elementary · 89 students
- Belle Fourche Education Connection - 09High · 35 students
Nearby schools
- South Park Elementary - 030.9 mi · 347
- Belle Fourche High School - 011.1 mi · 389
- Belle Fourche Education Connection - 091.1 mi · 35
- North Park Elementary - 082.3 mi · 89
- Creekside Elementary - 079.7 mi · 553
- Spearfish High School - 0110.2 mi · 787
Frequently asked questions
About Belle Fourche Middle School - 07How many students attend Belle Fourche Middle School - 07?
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 enrolls approximately 414 students in grades 05-08.
What grades does Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 serve?
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 serves grades 05-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 is approximately 13.5:1 (31 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07?
Student demographics at Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 are roughly 84% White, 7% Hispanic, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Belle Fourche Middle School - 07?
Belle Fourche Middle School - 07 is overseen by Belle Fourche School District 09-1 in Butte County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.