Enrollment
67
Middle
DISTRICT 83 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHESTER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 39-1·NCES 461230000832
Chester Middle School - 03
102 2nd Ave, Chester, SD 57016 · (605) 489-2411 · Lake County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL67 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 43% of South Dakota public middle schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
11.2:1
6 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 112.5:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
13 students
DISTRICT 16% · STATE 42%
Community
0
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 6 | 24 | 36% |
| Grade 7 | 19 | 28% |
| Grade 8 | 24 | 36% |
Student demographics
14%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 8% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Chester Middle School - 03→Chester High School - 01
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Chester Area School District 39-1. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
64.2%
SD avg 50.3% . +8.8pp since 2022
Math
50.8%
SD avg 47.5% . +4.8pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 64 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 51 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores are up about 9 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 | 64.2% | 50.8% |
| 2023-24 | 56.7% | 38.8% |
| 2022-23 | 55.4% | 46.0% |
% 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
47.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.1%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Chester Middle School - 03
Chester Middle School - 03's state test result (47.2% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Middle School - 03 this school | 67 | 19.4% | 47.2% |
| Centerville Middle School - 03 Centerville | 61 | 19.7% | 50.2% |
| Hanson Middle School - 02 Alexandria | 71 | 21.1% | 61.9% |
| Montrose Middle School - 03 Montrose | 53 | 22.6% | 68.7% |
| Gettysburg Middle School - 03 Gettysburg | 54 | 24.1% | 63.7% |
| Baltic Middle School - 03 Baltic | 110 | 19.1% | 52.6% |
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 Chester Middle School - 03 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 67 | #94 of 165 |
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
67
-17 (-20%) vs 2020
+2% since 1990-91, when it was 66
Student : Teacher
11.2:1
was 16.8:1
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 | 67 | 6 | 11.2:1 | 19% (13) |
| 2023-24 | 69 | 5.9 | 11.8:1 | 16% (11) |
| 2022-23 | 75 | 5.9 | 12.8:1 | 20% (15) |
| 2020-21 | 84 | 5 | 16.8:1 | 27% (23) |
| 2017-18 | 85 | 5.2 | 16.3:1 | 18% (15) |
| 2015-16 | 75 | 4 | 18.8:1 | 31% (23) |
| 2010-11 | 79 | 5 | 15.8:1 | 30% (24) |
| 2000-01 | 57 | 3 | 19.0:1 | 30% (17) |
| 1990-91 | 66 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Chester Middle School - 03.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (85 to 67); teachers up 15% (5.2 to 6).
About Chester Middle School - 03
Chester Middle School - 03 is classified as a middle school. It is located in Chester, South Dakota. It covers grades 6 through 8, with a total enrollment of 67 students. Statewide, middle schools in South Dakota average about 187 students each.
In Chester Area School District 39-1, 7 schools enroll a combined 582 students.
White students make up 93% of enrollment at Chester Middle School - 03. The remaining shares are 4% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. The White share in Lake County as a whole is similar, at about 91%. Pick two students at random and there is a 14% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Teachers at Chester Middle School - 03 total 6 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 11.2:1. That is 2.2 students per teacher below the 13.4:1 average for middle schools in South Dakota. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 19%.
Measured against South Dakota public middle schools, Chester Middle School - 03 receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Chester Middle School - 03 falls in the middle 80% of South Dakota schools: 47.2% actual against 55.1% predicted.
Lake County census figures show that the median household income is $76,808, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. There are 21 public schools in Lake County, enrolling about 2,009 students in all.
Chester High School - 01 is located less than a tenth of a mile from Chester Middle School - 03. Around the school, 4 other public schools are within five miles. On proficiency, Chester Middle School - 03 is ahead of the 41.5% nearby average, ranking 3rd of 4.
The NCES locale for Chester Middle School - 03 is Rural: Distant, which covers schools in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
2024-25 enrollment was 67, a 20% decrease from 84 in 2020-21. The number of students per teacher fell from 16.8 to 11.2 over 4 years.
Conversations here can range across enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Lake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
10,972
Census ACS
Median income
$76,808
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
21
2,009 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chester Area School District 39-1
- Chester Elementary -02Elementary · 154 students
- Chester High School - 01High · 107 students
- Chester Area Cyber School - 92High · 106 students
- High Plains - 06High · 84 students
- Rustic Acres Elementary - 04Elementary · 41 students
- Graceville Colony - 07Elementary · 23 students
Other schools in Chester
- Chester Elementary -02Elementary · 154 students
- Chester High School - 01High · 107 students
- Chester Area Cyber School - 92High · 106 students
- High Plains - 06High · 84 students
Other Chester Middle schools
One other US public school is named Chester Middle. Chester Middle School - 03 is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Chester MiddleChester, SC · 479 students
Nearby schools
- Chester High School - 010.0 mi · 107
- Chester Elementary -020.0 mi · 154
- High Plains - 060.5 mi · 84
- Chester Area Cyber School - 920.5 mi · 106
- Colman Elementary - 038.2 mi · 193
- Colman-Egan Jr. High - 028.2 mi · 36
Frequently asked questions
About Chester Middle School - 03What is the total enrollment at Chester Middle School - 03?
Chester Middle School - 03 enrolls approximately 67 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Chester Middle School - 03 serve?
Chester Middle School - 03 serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Chester Middle School - 03 have?
Chester Middle School - 03 employs 6 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.2:1.
What is the student diversity at Chester Middle School - 03?
Student demographics at Chester Middle School - 03 are roughly 93% White, 3% Hispanic, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Chester Middle School - 03?
Chester Middle School - 03 is overseen by Chester Area School District 39-1 in Lake County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.