Enrollment
56
Middle
DISTRICT 32 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORTHWESTERN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 56-7·NCES 465175000924
Northwestern Middle School - 02
221 3rd St, Mellette, SD 57461 · (605) 887-3467 · Spink County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL56 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 85% of South Dakota public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
4 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 24.7:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
16%
9 students
DISTRICT 14% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 15 | 27% |
| Grade 7 | 24 | 43% |
| Grade 8 | 17 | 30% |
Student demographics
20%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
Northwestern Middle School - 02→Northwestern High School - 01
Feeds from
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 Middle School - 02.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
66.7%
SD avg 50.3% . +12.5pp since 2022
Math
46.3%
SD avg 47.5% . +3.9pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 46 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores are up about 13 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 4 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 66.7% | 46.3% |
| 2023-24 | 60.3% | 56.9% |
| 2022-23 | 54.2% | 42.4% |
% 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
61.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.4%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 61% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 56% 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 Middle School - 02
Northwestern Middle School - 02's state test result (61.1% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern Middle School - 02 this school | 56 | 16.1% | 61.1% |
| Castlewood Middle School - 03 Castlewood | 76 | 18.4% | 38.6% |
| Centerville Middle School - 03 Centerville | 61 | 19.7% | 50.2% |
| Howard Jr. High - 05 Howard | 75 | 17.3% | 54.8% |
| Chester Middle School - 03 Chester | 67 | 19.4% | 47.2% |
| Garretson Middle School - 03 Garretson | 105 | 19.0% | 46.5% |
Matched among South Dakota middle 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 Middle School - 02 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 56 | #106 of 165 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
56
-8 (-12%) vs 2020
-8% since 1990-91, when it was 61
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 16.0:1
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 | 56 | 4.5 | 12.6:1 | 16% (9) |
| 2023-24 | 59 | 4.4 | 13.4:1 | 14% (8) |
| 2022-23 | 59 | 4.4 | 13.4:1 | 10% (6) |
| 2020-21 | 64 | 4 | 16.0:1 | 22% (14) |
| 2017-18 | 63 | 4.7 | 13.5:1 | 19% (12) |
| 2015-16 | 72 | 4 | 18.0:1 | 31% (22) |
| 2010-11 | 58 | 3 | 19.3:1 | 28% (16) |
| 2000-01 | 45 | 4 | 11.3:1 | 29% (13) |
| 1990-91 | 61 | 1 | 61.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Northwestern Middle School - 02.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (63 to 56); teachers down 5% (4.7 to 4.5).
About Northwestern Middle School - 02
Northwestern Middle School - 02 is a small middle-grades school that serves part of Mellette, South Dakota. Enrolled students number 56 students, in grades 6 through 8. Enrollment is 70% lower than the average for middle schools in South Dakota, which is about 187.
Northwestern Area School District 56-7 has 6 schools and 387 students, and Northwestern Middle School - 02 is one of those schools.
About 89% of the student body at Northwestern Middle School - 02 is White. The remaining students are 5% Hispanic and 4% Native American. The county population is about 93% White, within a few points of the school. Pick two students at random and there is a 20% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school has about 12.6 students per teacher and 4.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. This ratio sits 0.9 below the 13.4:1 average for middle schools in South Dakota. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 16%. The rate at public schools in Spink County averages 24%, higher than here.
Northwestern Middle School - 02 is graded A by allk12, scoring above 85% of South Dakota public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Northwestern Middle School - 02's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (61.1%) and its predicted rate (56.4%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of South Dakota schools.
Census estimates describe Spink County this way: the median household income is $70,139, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Northwestern Middle School - 02, Spink County has 21 other public schools.
The nearest public school is Northwestern Elementary - 04, at less than a tenth of a mile. Around the school, 4 other public schools are within five miles. By average proficiency, Northwestern Middle School - 02 is 3rd among 4 schools close by.
NCES describes the area around Northwestern Middle School - 02 as Rural: Remote, meaning in rural territory far from an urban area.
Enrollment has fallen by 8 students since 2020-21, to 56. The school's ratio fell from 16.0:1 to 12.6:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
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 Elementary - 04Elementary · 135 students
- Northwestern High School - 01High · 91 students
- iSucceed - 92High · 82 students
- Hutterville Colony Elementary - 06Elementary · 16 students
- iSucceed Middle School - 93Middle · 7 students
Other schools in Mellette
- Northwestern Elementary - 04Elementary · 135 students
- Northwestern High School - 01High · 91 students
- iSucceed - 92High · 82 students
- iSucceed Middle School - 93Middle · 7 students
Other Northwestern Middle schools
7 other US public schools in 8 states are named Northwestern Middle. Northwestern Middle School - 02 is the 8th largest of the 8.
- Northwestern Middle SchoolAlpharetta, GA · 1,167 students
- Northwestern Middle SchoolZachary, LA · 841 students
- Northwestern Middle SchoolKokomo, IN · 324 students
- Northwestern MiddlePoplar, WI · 289 students
- Northwestern Middle SchoolWest Salem, OH · 284 students
Nearby schools
- Northwestern Elementary - 040.0 mi · 135
- iSucceed Middle School - 930.0 mi · 7
- Northwestern High School - 010.0 mi · 91
- iSucceed - 920.0 mi · 82
- Warner High School - 0111.6 mi · 85
- Warner Elementary - 0211.6 mi · 145
Frequently asked questions
About Northwestern Middle School - 02What is the total enrollment at Northwestern Middle School - 02?
Northwestern Middle School - 02 enrolls approximately 56 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Northwestern Middle School - 02 serve?
Northwestern Middle School - 02 serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Northwestern Middle School - 02?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Northwestern Middle School - 02 is approximately 12.6:1 (4 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Northwestern Middle School - 02?
Student demographics at Northwestern Middle School - 02 are roughly 89% White, 5% Hispanic, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Northwestern Middle School - 02?
Northwestern Middle School - 02 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.