Enrollment
295
Middle
DISTRICT 322 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DELL RAPIDS SCHOOL DISTRICT 49-3·NCES 461812000837
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03
1216 N Garfield Ave, Dell Rapids, SD 57022 · (605) 428-5473 · Minnehaha County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL295 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 97% of South Dakota public middle schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
16.1:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.1:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
16%
46 students
DISTRICT 15% · 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 5 | 80 | 27% |
| Grade 6 | 64 | 22% |
| Grade 7 | 71 | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 80 | 27% |
Student demographics
14%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 16% · 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
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03→Dell Rapids High School - 01
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Dell Rapids School District 49-3. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
70.7%
SD avg 50.3% . +4.5pp since 2022
Math
68.6%
SD avg 47.5% . +5.8pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 71 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 69 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 5 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 6 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 70.7% | 68.6% |
| 2023-24 | 67.4% | 69.6% |
| 2022-23 | 66.2% | 62.8% |
% 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
66.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.6%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 57% 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 Dell Rapids Middle School - 03
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03's state test result (66.1% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 this school | 295 | 15.6% | 66.1% |
| West Central Middle School - 04 Hartford | 297 | 13.8% | 44.2% |
| Lennox Intermediate - 09 Lennox | 185 | 16.2% | 62.6% |
| Lennox Jr. High - 08 Lennox | 169 | 15.4% | 66.8% |
| Sioux Valley Middle School - 04 Volga | 156 | 14.1% | 49.3% |
| Canton Middle School - 04 Canton | 194 | 21.6% | 51.2% |
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 Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Minnehaha County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #3 of 64 | #2 of 13 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 68.6% | #2 of 64 no change | #2 of 13 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 70.7% | #5 of 65 ▲ 2 | #3 of 13 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 295 | #37 of 165 | #11 of 14 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.1:1 | #33 of 42 | #8 of 11 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.2% | #41 of 42 | #11 of 11 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 15.6% | #60 of 65 | #12 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.6% | #11 of 12 | N/A |
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
295
-3 (-1%) vs 2020
+195% since 1990-91, when it was 100
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 295 | 18.3 | 16.1:1 | 16% (46) |
| 2023-24 | 280 | 20.3 | 13.8:1 | 19% (53) |
| 2022-23 | 299 | 21.5 | 13.9:1 | 15% (44) |
| 2020-21 | 298 | 19 | 15.7:1 | 21% (64) |
| 2017-18 | 282 | 16.8 | 16.8:1 | 18% (50) |
| 2015-16 | 272 | 19 | 14.3:1 | 23% (63) |
| 2010-11 | 265 | 20 | 13.3:1 | 20% (53) |
| 2000-01 | 129 | 7 | 18.4:1 | 11% (14) |
| 1990-91 | 100 | 2 | 50.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Dell Rapids Middle School - 03.
Since 2017-18: students up 5% (282 to 295); teachers up 9% (16.8 to 18.3).
About Dell Rapids Middle School - 03
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 is a public middle school run by Dell Rapids School District 49-3 in Dell Rapids, South Dakota. The school serves grades 5 through 8. Enrollment is 295 students. That is 58% larger than the average of about 187 students for middle schools in South Dakota.
Dell Rapids School District 49-3 operates 3 schools. Combined enrollment is 965 students.
White students are 93% of those enrolled at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03. The next largest groups are 3% multiracial and 2% Hispanic. In Minnehaha County overall, about 80% of residents are White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 14, compared with 70 nationally.
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 has 18.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 16.1:1. Middle schools in South Dakota have an average ratio of 13.4:1. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 16%. For comparison, public schools in Minnehaha County average 42%.
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 holds an A+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 97% of South Dakota public middle schools.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 56.6% for Dell Rapids Middle School - 03. The school posts 66.1%, 9.5 points above the prediction.
American Community Survey estimates for Minnehaha County show that the median household earns about $76,880 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 35%, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Across Minnehaha County, 83 public schools serve about 34,919 students.
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 is less than a tenth of a mile from Dell Rapids High School - 01, its nearest public school. Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 has 2 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 ranks 2nd of 6 nearby schools, at 66.1% versus a 52.6% average.
The school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area, according to its NCES locale (Rural: Distant).
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 298 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 295.
This page collects posts and questions about Dell Rapids Middle School - 03, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Minnehaha County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
203,289
Census ACS
Median income
$76,880
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
34,919 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Dell Rapids School District 49-3
- Dell Rapids Elementary - 02Elementary · 355 students
- Dell Rapids High School - 01High · 315 students
Other schools in Dell Rapids
- Dell Rapids Elementary - 02Elementary · 355 students
- Dell Rapids High School - 01High · 315 students
Nearby schools
- Dell Rapids High School - 010.0 mi · 315
- Dell Rapids Elementary - 020.8 mi · 355
- Baltic High School - 015.3 mi · 151
- Baltic Middle School - 035.3 mi · 110
- Baltic Elementary - 025.3 mi · 307
- Colman-Egan Jr. High - 0211.5 mi · 36
Frequently asked questions
About Dell Rapids Middle School - 03What is the total enrollment at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03?
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 enrolls approximately 295 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 serve?
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 is approximately 16.1:1 (18 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Dell Rapids Middle School - 03?
At Dell Rapids Middle School - 03, the student body is approximately 93% White, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, 3% Two or more.
Is Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 public or private?
Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 is a public K-12 school, overseen by Dell Rapids School District 49-3.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.