New Underwood Elementary - 02

As a close-knit K-5 school in New Underwood, South Dakota, New Underwood Elementary - 02 caters to 113 students from grades K through 5, run under New Underwood School District 51-3. Compared to the state average of about 204 students per school, that is 45% smaller than typical.

New Underwood Elementary - 02 is one of 3 schools operated by New Underwood School District 51-3, a district that serves 280 students overall.

Looking at the student body, New Underwood Elementary - 02 lists that 86% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Other groups include 8% multiracial, 4% Native American.

Looking at school resources, The school currently runs with 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.6:1. The state averages around 15.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 27% 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 below Pennington County's rate of about 41%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), New Underwood Elementary - 02 performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 52.1%, the actual is 39.1%, a residual of -13.0 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Pennington County indicate the typical household earns roughly $74,517 per year, about 35% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, Pennington County runs 41 public schools (combined enrollment of about 16,186 students), of which New Underwood Elementary - 02 is one.

New Underwood Middle School - 04 is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts New Underwood Elementary - 02 at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 40.9%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Looking at the recent track record. New Underwood Elementary - 02's enrollment has edged up 4% since 2018, when it stood at 109 (now 113). White enrollment moved from 77% to 86% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 13.7:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 in 2025.

On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.