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Welcome to the RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 community. What's one thing that would make RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 even better?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
846
Elementary
DISTRICT 466 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SIOUX FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT 49-5·NCES 466627001300
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17
7900 W 53rd St, Sioux Falls, SD 57106 · (605) 362-3560 · Minnehaha County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL846 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 68% 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.
- 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
49 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
38%
320 students
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 42%
Community
1
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 | 122 | 14% |
| Kindergarten | 103 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 128 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 118 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 118 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 116 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 141 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (103) is 27% smaller than its 5th grade class (141).
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 65% · 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
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
53.6%
SD avg 50.3% . -1.2pp since 2022
Math
58.2%
SD avg 47.5% . +0.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 58 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 1 points since 2022, while math scores have held steady.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 53.6% | 58.2% |
| 2023-24 | 55.5% | 60.2% |
| 2022-23 | 54.8% | 58.2% |
% 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
53.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.5%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 53% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17's state test result (53.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 this school | 846 | 37.8% | 53.5% |
| John F. Kennedy Elementary - 57 Sioux Falls | 661 | 37.5% | 57.8% |
| Brandon Elementary - 03 Brandon | 728 | 29.8% | 71.6% |
| Horizon Elementary - 09 Sioux Falls | 458 | 28.2% | 37.8% |
| Harvey Dunn Elementary - 54 Sioux Falls | 681 | 46.5% | 60.0% |
| Robert Frost Elementary - 18 Sioux Falls | 447 | 42.1% | 50.4% |
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 RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Minnehaha County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 53.5% | #79 of 193 | #16 of 35 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 58.2% | #72 of 199 ▼ 10 | #16 of 35 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.6% | #83 of 202 ▼ 12 | #17 of 35 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 846 | #3 of 331 | #2 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.4:1 | #123 of 131 | #27 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.6% | #37 of 131 | #15 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 37.8% | #92 of 209 | #19 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.8% | #38 of 87 | #7 of 16 |
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
846
-119 (-12%) vs 2020
+53% since 2010-11, when it was 554
Student : Teacher
17.4:1
was 19.7:1
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 | 846 | 48.5 | 17.4:1 | 38% (320) |
| 2023-24 | 910 | 50 | 18.2:1 | 30% (275) |
| 2022-23 | 952 | 51.1 | 18.6:1 | 23% (222) |
| 2020-21 | 965 | 49 | 19.7:1 | 26% (252) |
| 2017-18 | 970 | 51.2 | 18.9:1 | 21% (206) |
| 2015-16 | 921 | 46 | 20.0:1 | 23% (212) |
| 2010-11 | 554 | 32 | 17.3:1 | 18% (100) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (970 to 846); teachers down 5% (51.2 to 48.5).
About RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 is a high-enrollment elementary school that serves part of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 846 students on the rolls. That compares with an average of about 204 students for elementary schools in South Dakota.
The district for RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 is Sioux Falls School District 49-5, with 44 schools and 25,060 students.
Federal enrollment data show RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 is 64% White. Other groups make up 12% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, 9% Black, and 3% Native American. Minnehaha County as a whole is about 80% White, so the school's share is lower. A diversity index of 56% means there is a 56% chance two randomly chosen students at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 are from different groups.
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 has a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.4:1, with 48.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in South Dakota, 15.4:1, is lower. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 38% at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17.
Among South Dakota public elementary schools, RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 outscored 68%, which works out to a B+ on the allk12 Grade.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 53.5%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 47.5%.
The school's county is Minnehaha County. According to Census Bureau estimates, the median household earns about $76,880 a year, roughly 35% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Minnehaha County number 83, with about 34,919 students.
Of the public schools around it, RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 is closest to Tea Area Frontier Elementary - 05, about 1.1 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 ranks 4th of 6 nearby schools, at 53.5% versus a 52.9% average.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
A 12% decline took enrollment from 965 in 2020-21 to 846 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 19.7:1; by 2024-25 it was 17.4:1.
The RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 discussion page is a place for special education services, counseling, and support programs. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Minnehaha County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
203,289
Census ACS
Median income
$76,880
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
34,919 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Sioux Falls School District 49-5
- Lincoln High School - 02High · 1,954 students
- Jefferson High School - 67High · 1,888 students
- Washington High School - 01High · 1,819 students
- Roosevelt High School - 03High · 1,785 students
- Memorial Middle School - 04Middle · 1,133 students
- Edison Middle School - 06Middle · 937 students
Other schools in Sioux Falls
- Lincoln High School - 02High · 1,954 students
- Jefferson High School - 67High · 1,888 students
- Washington High School - 01High · 1,819 students
- Roosevelt High School - 03High · 1,785 students
- Memorial Middle School - 04Middle · 1,133 students
- Edison Middle School - 06Middle · 937 students
Nearby schools
- Tea Area Frontier Elementary - 051.1 mi · 292
- Roosevelt High School - 031.1 mi · 1,785
- John F. Kennedy Elementary - 571.2 mi · 661
- Oscar Howe Elementary - 581.5 mi · 608
- Memorial Middle School - 041.9 mi · 1,133
- Discovery Elementary - 261.9 mi · 873
Frequently asked questions
About RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17How large is RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17?
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 enrolls approximately 846 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 serve?
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17?
Approximately 17.4:1 students per teacher at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17.
What is the student diversity at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17?
Student demographics at RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 are roughly 64% White, 12% Hispanic, 9% Black, 2% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17?
RF Pettigrew Elementary - 17 is overseen by Sioux Falls School District 49-5 in Minnehaha County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.