Enrollment
274
Elementary
DISTRICT 386 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·RAPID CITY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT 51-4·NCES 465982000527
South Canyon Elementary - 15
218 Nordbye Ln, Rapid City, SD 57702 · (605) 394-1801 · Pennington County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL274 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 34% of South Dakota public elementary schools
- C+Test 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
14.4:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
31%
84 students
DISTRICT 48% · 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 | 9 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 40 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 36 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 45 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 52 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 41 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 51 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (40) is 22% smaller than its 5th grade class (51).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
45.9%
SD avg 50.3% . -5.3pp since 2022
Math
40.6%
SD avg 47.5% . -1.3pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 41 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 5 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 1 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.9% | 40.6% |
| 2023-24 | 55.8% | 43.3% |
| 2022-23 | 51.2% | 41.9% |
% 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
44.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.5%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% 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 South Canyon Elementary - 15
South Canyon Elementary - 15's state test result (44.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Canyon Elementary - 15 this school | 274 | 30.7% | 44.2% |
| Black Hawk Elementary - 03 Black Hawk | 305 | 34.1% | 29.9% |
| Hill City Elementary - 02 Hill City | 247 | 31.6% | 47.4% |
| Beresford Elementary - 02 Beresford | 273 | 28.9% | 54.9% |
| Webster Elementary - 06 Yankton | 391 | 31.7% | 37.5% |
| Custer Elementary - 02 Custer | 269 | 34.2% | 57.4% |
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 South Canyon Elementary - 15 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Pennington County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.2% | #125 of 193 | #9 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 40.6% | #146 of 199 ▼ 13 | #10 of 19 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.9% | #123 of 202 ▼ 54 | #7 of 19 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 274 | #106 of 331 | #15 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.4:1 | #80 of 131 | #7 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.5% | #43 of 131 | #13 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.7% | #125 of 209 | #15 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.9% | #74 of 87 | #12 of 14 |
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
274
+50 (+22%) vs 2020
-19% since 1990-91, when it was 338
Student : Teacher
14.4:1
was 12.4:1
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 | 274 | 19 | 14.4:1 | 31% (84) |
| 2023-24 | 259 | 19 | 13.6:1 | 24% (61) |
| 2022-23 | 266 | 19 | 14.0:1 | 27% (72) |
| 2020-21 | 224 | 18 | 12.4:1 | 41% (91) |
| 2017-18 | 285 | 19.1 | 15.0:1 | 39% (111) |
| 2015-16 | 260 | 16 | 16.3:1 | 46% (119) |
| 2010-11 | 285 | 20 | 14.3:1 | 39% (112) |
| 2000-01 | 235 | 15 | 15.7:1 | 23% (53) |
| 1990-91 | 338 | 18 | 18.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Canyon Elementary - 15.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (285 to 274); teachers unchanged (19.1 to 19).
About South Canyon Elementary - 15
South Canyon Elementary - 15, located in Rapid City, South Dakota, is a medium-sized elementary school. A federal count lists 274 students at the school, in kindergarten through 5. An average school in this group (elementary schools in South Dakota) has about 204 students.
South Canyon Elementary - 15 is in Rapid City Area School District 51-4, a district with 12,610 students across 26 schools.
At 66%, White students outnumber all other groups at South Canyon Elementary - 15 combined. It is also 13% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 10% Native American. Pennington County's residents are about 79% White, 13 points above the school's share. By the diversity index, South Canyon Elementary - 15 comes in at 53%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 14.4:1, with 19 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. For comparison, elementary schools in South Dakota average 15.4:1. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 31%. The average for public schools in Pennington County is 41%.
The allk12 Grade for South Canyon Elementary - 15 is C. Compared with South Dakota public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 34% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The model predicts 50.5% for a school in South Dakota with South Canyon Elementary - 15's free or reduced-price lunch share. South Canyon Elementary - 15 posts 44.2%.
Census Bureau estimates for Pennington County show that median household income is about $74,517, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 41 public schools operate in Pennington County, serving about 16,186 students.
The nearest other public school, West Middle School - 37, is about 0.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 48.8%; South Canyon Elementary - 15's is 44.2%, ranking 4th of 5.
South Canyon Elementary - 15 is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000, a location NCES labels City: Small.
The student count in 2024-25 was 274, 22% above the 224 of 2020-21. The number of students per teacher rose from 12.4 to 14.4 over 4 years.
If you have questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at South Canyon Elementary - 15, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Pennington County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
113,512
Census ACS
Median income
$74,517
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
16,186 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Rapid City Area School District 51-4
- Central High School - 41High · 1,998 students
- Stevens High School - 42High · 1,771 students
- South Middle School - 36Middle · 618 students
- Southwest Middle School - 38Middle · 614 students
- East Middle School - 30Middle · 613 students
- Valley View Elementary - 13Elementary · 605 students
Other schools in Rapid City
- Central High School - 41High · 1,998 students
- Stevens High School - 42High · 1,771 students
- South Middle School - 36Middle · 618 students
- Southwest Middle School - 38Middle · 614 students
- East Middle School - 30Middle · 613 students
- Valley View Elementary - 13Elementary · 605 students
Nearby schools
- West Middle School - 370.7 mi · 591
- Stevens High School - 420.7 mi · 1,771
- Pinedale Elementary - 110.8 mi · 377
- Canyon Lake Elementary - 041.0 mi · 297
- Meadowbrook Elementary - 101.6 mi · 478
- Lincoln Building - 442.2 mi · 23
Frequently asked questions
About South Canyon Elementary - 15What is the total enrollment at South Canyon Elementary - 15?
South Canyon Elementary - 15 enrolls approximately 274 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does South Canyon Elementary - 15 serve?
South Canyon Elementary - 15 serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at South Canyon Elementary - 15?
The student-to-teacher ratio at South Canyon Elementary - 15 is approximately 14.4:1 (19 FTE teachers).
How diverse is South Canyon Elementary - 15?
South Canyon Elementary - 15 reports a student body of 66% White, 13% Hispanic, 0% Black, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees South Canyon Elementary - 15?
South Canyon Elementary - 15 is overseen by Rapid City Area School District 51-4 in Pennington County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.