Lincoln Building - 44

Lincoln Building - 44 is a senior high of minimally staffed scale in Rapid City, South Dakota, overseen by Rapid City Area School District 51-4, teacheing 23 students in grade 12. Enrollment runs roughly 90% below the state mean of about 225.

Across the 26 schools in Rapid City Area School District 51-4 (12,610 students total), Lincoln Building - 44 accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, Lincoln Building - 44 reports that 57% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder comes out to 22% multiracial, 22% Native American. By comparison, Pennington County as a whole is about 79% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 1 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 23.0:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 20.6:1, putting Lincoln Building - 44 higher than the state norm the norm. About 61% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably above Pennington County's rate of about 41%.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Pennington County put median household earnings sit near $74,517, roughly 35% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Pennington County's 41 public schools (combined enrollment of about 16,186 students), Lincoln Building - 44 is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Rapid City Online High School - 92, around 0.4 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

Geographically, the school is in a city-core area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 30%: 33 students in 2018 compared to 23 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share edged down from 9% to 0%. Class-load math has rose: from 16.5:1 in 2018 to 23.0:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.