Hill City Elementary - 02

Hill City Elementary - 02 is a middle-of-the-pack elementary school in Hill City, South Dakota, run under Hill City School District 51-2. The school hosts 247 students in grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, South Dakota's public schools average about 204 students each, so Hill City Elementary - 02 sits 21% above that benchmark.

Hill City School District 51-2 comprises 3 schools with combined enrollment of 520 students; Hill City Elementary - 02 is among them.

In terms of who attends, Hill City Elementary - 02 logs that the largest single group is White, at 74% of enrollment; the rest is composed of 16% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 5% Native American.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Hill City Elementary - 02 has 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.3:1. The state averages around 15.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 32% of students at Hill City Elementary - 02 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Pennington County (around 41%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Hill City Elementary - 02 tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 50.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 47.4%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Pennington County) shows that median household earnings sit near $74,517, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Pennington County runs 41 public schools (combined enrollment of about 16,186 students), of which Hill City Elementary - 02 is one.

Hill City Middle School - 04 is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.1 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Hill City Elementary - 02 at 5th of 6; the average score across the group is 57.9%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Hill City Elementary - 02 has rose 27%, going from 194 students in 2018 to 247 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share declined from 24% to 16%. Class-load math has widened: from 11.2:1 in 2018 to 13.3:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.