Garretson Elementary - 02

Garretson Elementary - 02 is a middle-of-the-pack K-5 school in Garretson, South Dakota, part of Garretson School District 49-4. The school caters to 246 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 204 students per school, that is 21% bigger than typical.

Garretson School District 49-4 runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 493 students. Garretson Elementary - 02 is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Garretson Elementary - 02 logs that nearly all students (90%) are White. Beyond that, the school records 5% multiracial, 3% Hispanic, 2% Native American. The wider county runs roughly 80% White, putting the school's mix meaningfully more White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Garretson Elementary - 02 has 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.4:1 average. An estimated 25% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is below Minnehaha County's rate of about 42%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Garretson Elementary - 02 performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 52.9%, the actual is 40.7%, a residual of -12.1 points.

Across the wider county, Minnehaha County reports that median household income runs about $76,880, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Minnehaha County runs 83 public schools (combined enrollment of about 34,919 students), of which Garretson Elementary - 02 is one.

The closest other public school is Garretson High School - 01, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Garretson Elementary - 02 comes 6th of 6 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 61.1%.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 6%: 231 students in 2018 compared to 246 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.