Enrollment
278
Elementary
DISTRICT 193 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GROTON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 06-6·NCES 460004501156
Groton Area Elementary - 02
810 N 1st St, Groton, SD 57445 · (605) 397-2317 · Brown County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL278 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 76% of South Dakota public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.0:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
65 students
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 8 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 43 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 39 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 46 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 42 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 49 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (43) is 12% smaller than its 5th grade class (49).
Student demographics
18%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 14% · 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
Based on grade levels within Groton Area School District 06-6. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
69.2%
SD avg 50.3% . +6.4pp since 2022
Math
64.7%
SD avg 47.5% . +7.8pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 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 6 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 8 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 69.2% | 64.7% |
| 2023-24 | 58.0% | 59.4% |
| 2022-23 | 62.8% | 56.9% |
% 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
58.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
53.4%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 59% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 53% 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 Groton Area Elementary - 02
Groton Area Elementary - 02's state test result (58.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groton Area Elementary - 02 this school | 278 | 23.4% | 58.7% |
| Platte - Geddes Elementary - 02 Platte | 230 | 23.5% | 62.8% |
| Parkston Elementary - 02 Parkston | 272 | 25.4% | 52.3% |
| Lead-Deadwood Elementary - 03 Deadwood | 243 | 21.4% | 41.1% |
| Miller Elementary - 02 Miller | 231 | 22.5% | 65.0% |
| Garretson Elementary - 02 Garretson | 246 | 24.8% | 40.7% |
Matched among South Dakota elementary 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 Groton Area Elementary - 02 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Brown County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 58.7% | #45 of 193 | #3 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.7% | #47 of 199 ▲ 16 | #3 of 8 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.2% | #16 of 202 ▲ 37 | #2 of 8 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 278 | #104 of 331 | #6 of 11 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.7:1 | #57 of 131 | #6 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 18.2% | #111 of 131 | #7 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.4% | #158 of 209 | #6 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.5% | #81 of 87 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
278
-20 (-7%) vs 2020
-13% since 2010-11, when it was 318
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
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 | 278 | 20.4 | 13.7:1 | 23% (65) |
| 2023-24 | 304 | 19.6 | 15.5:1 | 21% (64) |
| 2022-23 | 295 | 19.7 | 15.0:1 | 17% (49) |
| 2020-21 | 298 | 19 | 15.7:1 | 20% (60) |
| 2017-18 | 285 | 20.7 | 13.8:1 | 15% (43) |
| 2015-16 | 285 | 19 | 15.0:1 | 24% (67) |
| 2010-11 | 318 | 24 | 13.3:1 | 21% (67) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Groton Area Elementary - 02.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (285 to 278); teachers down 2% (20.7 to 20.4).
About Groton Area Elementary - 02
Groton Area Elementary - 02 is a medium-sized elementary school for students in Groton, South Dakota. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 278 students. Enrollment is 36% higher than the average for elementary schools in South Dakota, which is about 204.
Groton Area School District 06-6 oversees Groton Area Elementary - 02 and 2 other schools, with 578 students in total.
Most students at Groton Area Elementary - 02 are White: 90% of enrollment. Other groups include 4% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Groton Area Elementary - 02 comes in at 18%.
Federal staffing data show 20.4 full-time-equivalent teachers at Groton Area Elementary - 02 and a ratio of 13.7:1. That ratio is under the 15.4:1 average for elementary schools in South Dakota. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 23% of students. On average, public schools in Brown County report 35%.
Measured against South Dakota public elementary schools, Groton Area Elementary - 02 receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Groton Area Elementary - 02's average proficiency rate on state tests of 58.7% is 5.2 points above the 53.4% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
County data help place the school in context: in Brown County, median household income is about $70,898, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 34%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Groton Area Elementary - 02 is among the 22 public schools in Brown County.
Groton Area High School - 01 is the closest public school, about 0.2 miles away in a straight line. Groton Area Elementary - 02 is one of several public schools in the area, with 2 others within five miles. Groton Area Elementary - 02 comes in 2nd of 5 nearby schools on average proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Groton Area Elementary - 02 as Rural: Remote, meaning in rural territory far from an urban area.
Enrollment was 298 in 2020-21 and 278 in 2024-25, a decrease of 20 students. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (13.7:1) than in 2020-21 (15.7:1).
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Brown County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
37,877
Census ACS
Median income
$70,898
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
22
5,354 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Groton Area School District 06-6
- Groton Area High School - 01High · 168 students
- Groton Area Middle School - 04Middle · 132 students
Other schools in Groton
- Groton Area High School - 01High · 168 students
- Groton Area Middle School - 04Middle · 132 students
Nearby schools
- Groton Area High School - 010.2 mi · 168
- Groton Area Middle School - 040.2 mi · 132
- Hutterville Colony Elementary - 0613.9 mi · 16
- Mike Miller Elementary - 0716.7 mi · 282
- Langford Area High School - 0116.7 mi · 59
- Langford Area Middle School - 0316.7 mi · 44
Frequently asked questions
About Groton Area Elementary - 02What is the total enrollment at Groton Area Elementary - 02?
Groton Area Elementary - 02 enrolls approximately 278 students in grades PK-05.
Is Groton Area Elementary - 02 an elementary, middle, or high school?
Groton Area Elementary - 02 is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Groton Area Elementary - 02?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Groton Area Elementary - 02 is approximately 13.7:1 (20 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Groton Area Elementary - 02?
Student demographics at Groton Area Elementary - 02 are roughly 90% White, 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Groton Area Elementary - 02 in?
Groton Area Elementary - 02 is part of Groton Area School District 06-6.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.