Central Meade County School - 09

Central Meade County School - 09 is an elementary-level community of one-room-style scale in Union Center, South Dakota, part of Meade School District 46-1, enrolling 49 students in grades K through 8. That puts it 76% leaner than the typical public school in South Dakota, which averages around 204 students.

Within Meade School District 46-1, which oversees 11 schools and 3,047 students, Central Meade County School - 09 is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Central Meade County School - 09 shows that 90% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest is composed of 10% multiracial. Compared to Meade County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 9.2:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 15.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 6% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Meade County runs at roughly 32%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat below the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Central Meade County School - 09 sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 60.5%; actual is 41.5%, a gap of -19.0 points.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Meade County indicate median household income runs about $74,790, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Meade County's 16 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,395 students), Central Meade County School - 09 is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Atall Elementary - 17, roughly 8.4 miles away.

The campus sits in a low-density setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 9%: 54 students in 2018 compared to 49 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 11.5:1 in 2018 to 9.2:1 today.

On this page, members of the Central Meade County School - 09 community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.