Chamberlain Elementary - 03

Chamberlain Elementary - 03, a sizable K-5 school in Chamberlain, South Dakota, run under Chamberlain School District 07-1, instructs 407 students, covering grades K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 100% above the state mean of about 204.

Chamberlain Elementary - 03 is one of 3 schools operated by Chamberlain School District 07-1, a district that educates 858 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Chamberlain Elementary - 03 records that the largest single group is White at 45%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school records 40% Native American, 10% multiracial, 5% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 82% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully less White than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 40 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 10.2:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.4:1 average. Roughly 59% of students at Chamberlain Elementary - 03 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Brule County runs at roughly 45%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Chamberlain Elementary - 03 tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 38.7% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 46.5%.

In the area at large, census data for Brule County shows median household income runs about $73,720, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Chamberlain Elementary - 03 is one of 9 public schools in Brule County (combined enrollment of about 1,249 students).

The closest other public school is Chamberlain High School - 01, roughly 0.0 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around Chamberlain Elementary - 03. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Chamberlain Elementary - 03 at 4th of 5; the average score across the group is 49.7%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Chamberlain Elementary - 03 has contracted 21%, going from 518 students in 2018 to 407 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 52% to 45% across the same window.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.