Leola Elementary - 02

Leola Elementary - 02 is a micro-enrollment elementary-level community in Leola, South Dakota, overseen by Leola School District 44-2. The school enrolls 57 students in grades pre-K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 204 students per school, that is 72% below typical.

Leola Elementary - 02 is one of 6 schools operated by Leola School District 44-2, a district that works with 170 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Leola Elementary - 02 logs that 89% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder reads as 11% multiracial.

On the resource side, The school employs 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 7.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.4:1 average. An estimated 30% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is south of McPherson County's rate of about 44%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Leola Elementary - 02 sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.8%; this one delivers 64.4%.

Across the wider county, McPherson County reports that median household income runs about $66,906, 27% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, McPherson County runs 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 345 students), of which Leola Elementary - 02 is one.

Nearest neighbor: Leola Jr. High - 03, around 0.0 miles off. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Leola Elementary - 02 operates from an outlying location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 26%: 77 students in 2018 compared to 57 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 10.8:1 in 2018 to 7.4:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.