Enrollment
135
Elementary
DISTRICT 76 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORTHWESTERN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 56-7·NCES 465175000820
Northwestern Elementary - 04
221 3rd St, Mellette, SD 57461 · (605) 887-3467 · Spink County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL135 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 52% of South Dakota public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+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
14.1:1
10 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 9.8:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
26 students
DISTRICT 14% · 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 | 13 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 24 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 23 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 28 | 21% |
| Grade 3 | 12 | 9% |
| Grade 4 | 22 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 13 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (24) is 85% larger than its 5th grade class (13).
Student demographics
19%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 20% · 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 Northwestern Area School District 56-7. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Northwestern Elementary - 04.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
55.3%
SD avg 50.3% . -6.7pp since 2022
Math
48.9%
SD avg 47.5% . -11.1pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 49 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores are down about 7 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 11 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.3% | 48.9% |
| 2023-24 | 59.2% | 55.1% |
| 2022-23 | 62.0% | 60.0% |
% 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
52.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.1%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 Northwestern Elementary - 04
Northwestern Elementary - 04's state test result (52.8% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Elementary - 04 this school | 135 | 19.3% | 52.8% |
| Arlington Elementary - 02 Arlington | 152 | 20.4% | 63.9% |
| Chester Elementary -02 Chester | 154 | 20.1% | 49.8% |
| Tri-Valley Elementary in Colton - 02 Colton | 154 | 16.2% | 50.4% |
| Worthing Elementary - 05 Worthing | 119 | 24.4% | 72.7% |
| Britton-Hecla Elementary - 02 Britton | 166 | 22.9% | 47.4% |
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 Northwestern Elementary - 04 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Spink County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.8% | #83 of 193 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 48.9% | #107 of 199 ▼ 22 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.3% | #78 of 202 ▼ 27 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 135 | #182 of 331 | #2 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 19.3% | #181 of 209 | N/A |
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
135
+11 (+9%) vs 2020
-11% since 1990-91, when it was 152
Student : Teacher
14.1:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 135 | 9.6 | 14.1:1 | 19% (26) |
| 2023-24 | 124 | 10 | 12.4:1 | 15% (19) |
| 2022-23 | 119 | 8.7 | 13.7:1 | 10% (12) |
| 2020-21 | 124 | 9 | 13.8:1 | 24% (30) |
| 2017-18 | 124 | 9.5 | 13.1:1 | 30% (37) |
| 2015-16 | 114 | 10 | 11.4:1 | 34% (39) |
| 2010-11 | 130 | 10 | 13.0:1 | 30% (39) |
| 2000-01 | 146 | 8 | 18.3:1 | 34% (50) |
| 1990-91 | 152 | 9 | 16.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwestern Elementary - 04.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (124 to 135); teachers up 1% (9.5 to 9.6).
About Northwestern Elementary - 04
Northwestern Elementary - 04 is a small elementary school for students in Mellette, South Dakota. The school serves pre-K through 5. Enrollment is 135 students. It has 34% fewer students than the average for elementary schools in South Dakota (about 204).
A total of 6 schools make up Northwestern Area School District 56-7, with 387 students enrolled.
White students are 90% of those enrolled at Northwestern Elementary - 04. The rest of enrollment is 6% multiracial and 4% Hispanic. That is in line with Spink County, where about 93% of residents are White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 19%.
Based on 9.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, Northwestern Elementary - 04 has a ratio of 14.1:1. The average for elementary schools in South Dakota, 15.4:1, is higher. Income data for the school show 19% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Northwestern Elementary - 04 lands at B-, ahead of 52% of South Dakota public elementary schools.
In South Dakota, Northwestern Elementary - 04 is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 52.8% actual against a predicted 55.1%.
In Spink County, home to about 6,219 people, median household income comes to about $70,139, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 28%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. There are 22 public schools in the county, enrolling about 1,155, Northwestern Elementary - 04 among them.
Measured in a straight line, Northwestern High School - 01 is less than a tenth of a mile from Northwestern Elementary - 04. Within five miles are 4 other public schools. In a group of 4 nearby schools with scores, Northwestern Elementary - 04 ranks 4th on average proficiency.
Northwestern Elementary - 04 is in rural territory far from an urban area, a location NCES labels Rural: Remote.
Enrollment in 2024-25 stood at 135, compared with 124 in 2020-21.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Spink County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
6,219
Census ACS
Median income
$70,139
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
22
1,155 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Northwestern Area School District 56-7
- Northwestern High School - 01High · 91 students
- iSucceed - 92High · 82 students
- Northwestern Middle School - 02Middle · 56 students
- Hutterville Colony Elementary - 06Elementary · 16 students
- iSucceed Middle School - 93Middle · 7 students
Other schools in Mellette
- Northwestern High School - 01High · 91 students
- iSucceed - 92High · 82 students
- Northwestern Middle School - 02Middle · 56 students
- iSucceed Middle School - 93Middle · 7 students
Other Northwestern Elementary schools
9 other US public schools in 9 states are named Northwestern Elementary. Northwestern Elementary - 04 is the 9th largest of the 10.
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolSpringfield, OH · 950 students
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolKokomo, IN · 665 students
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolWest Salem, OH · 632 students
- Northwestern ElementaryPoplar, WI · 515 students
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolAlbion, PA · 350 students
Nearby schools
- Northwestern High School - 010.0 mi · 91
- iSucceed - 920.0 mi · 82
- iSucceed Middle School - 930.0 mi · 7
- Northwestern Middle School - 020.0 mi · 56
- Warner High School - 0111.6 mi · 85
- Warner Elementary - 0211.6 mi · 145
Frequently asked questions
About Northwestern Elementary - 04What is the total enrollment at Northwestern Elementary - 04?
Northwestern Elementary - 04 enrolls approximately 135 students in grades PK-05.
Is Northwestern Elementary - 04 an elementary, middle, or high school?
Northwestern Elementary - 04 is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Northwestern Elementary - 04?
Approximately 14.1:1 students per teacher at Northwestern Elementary - 04.
How diverse is Northwestern Elementary - 04?
Northwestern Elementary - 04 reports a student body of 90% White, 4% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Northwestern Elementary - 04?
Northwestern Elementary - 04 is overseen by Northwestern Area School District 56-7 in Spink County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.