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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Spearfish Middle School - 05 administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
545
Middle
DISTRICT 274 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SPEARFISH SCHOOL DISTRICT 40-2·NCES 466693000622
Spearfish Middle School - 05
1600 N Canyon, Spearfish, SD 57783 · (605) 717-1215 · Lawrence County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE32-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL545 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 45% of South Dakota public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
14.9:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 7.8:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
97 students
DISTRICT 18% · STATE 42%
Community
1
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 | 173 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 180 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 192 | 35% |
Student demographics
23%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 26% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Spearfish School District 40-2. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
55.9%
SD avg 50.3% . +4.4pp since 2022
Math
49.3%
SD avg 47.5% . +3.2pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 56 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 up about 4 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 3 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 55.9% | 49.3% |
| 2023-24 | 50.6% | 47.4% |
| 2022-23 | 51.5% | 46.1% |
% 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
47.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.7%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% 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 Spearfish Middle School - 05
Spearfish Middle School - 05's state test result (47.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spearfish Middle School - 05 this school | 545 | 17.8% | 47.9% |
| Harrisburg South Middle School - 03 Harrisburg | 519 | 20.2% | 54.8% |
| Southwest Middle School - 38 Rapid City | 614 | 12.9% | 65.6% |
| West Central Middle School - 04 Hartford | 297 | 13.8% | 44.2% |
| Dell Rapids Middle School - 03 Dell Rapids | 295 | 15.6% | 66.1% |
| Stagebarn Middle School - 10 Summerset | 432 | 28.2% | 46.6% |
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 Spearfish Middle School - 05 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.9% | #32 of 64 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.3% | #22 of 64 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.9% | #32 of 65 ▲ 7 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 545 | #21 of 165 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.9:1 | #25 of 42 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 23.3% | #39 of 42 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.8% | #57 of 65 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.2% | #17 of 26 |
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
545
-71 (-12%) vs 2020
+68% since 1990-91, when it was 324
Student : Teacher
14.9:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 545 | 36.7 | 14.9:1 | 18% (97) |
| 2023-24 | 573 | 39.9 | 14.4:1 | 17% (97) |
| 2022-23 | 600 | 41 | 14.6:1 | 16% (95) |
| 2020-21 | 616 | 39 | 15.8:1 | 17% (105) |
| 2017-18 | 587 | 37.3 | 15.7:1 | 26% (155) |
| 2015-16 | 496 | 34 | 14.6:1 | 33% (163) |
| 2010-11 | 419 | 32 | 13.1:1 | 29% (122) |
| 2000-01 | 491 | 34 | 14.4:1 | 21% (102) |
| 1990-91 | 324 | 22 | 14.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Spearfish Middle School - 05.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (587 to 545); teachers down 2% (37.3 to 36.7).
About Spearfish Middle School - 05
Spearfish Middle School - 05 is a large middle-grades school in South Dakota, located in Spearfish. A total of 545 students attend the school, which covers grades 6 through 8. The average for middle schools in South Dakota is about 187 students, so this school is 191% larger than average.
Spearfish Middle School - 05 is one school in a 7-school district, Spearfish School District 40-2, which enrolls 2,398 students.
White students make up 87% of enrollment at Spearfish Middle School - 05. The remaining shares are 5% Hispanic and 4% multiracial. The White share in Lawrence County as a whole is similar, at about 90%. Pick two students at random and there is a 23% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Staffing totals 36.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 14.9:1. On average, middle schools in South Dakota have 13.4:1, compared with 14.9:1 here. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Spearfish Middle School - 05 is 18%.
Spearfish Middle School - 05 is graded B- by allk12, scoring above 45% of South Dakota public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Spearfish Middle School - 05, the prediction is 55.7% and the result is 47.9%.
Census Bureau estimates for Lawrence County show that the median household income is $73,384, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 33%, and roughly 8% of residents are in poverty. Spearfish Middle School - 05 is one of 14 public schools in the county.
The next-closest public school is Spearfish High School - 01, less than a tenth of a mile away. The count of other public schools within five miles is 6. On proficiency, Spearfish Middle School - 05 is behind the 50.0% nearby average, ranking 4th of 6.
Spearfish Middle School - 05 is coded as Town: Distant in federal locale data.
Enrollment declined 12% from its 2020-21 level of 616.
Posts about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Lawrence County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
27,233
Census ACS
Median income
$73,384
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
33%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
14
3,183 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Spearfish School District 40-2
- Spearfish High School - 01High · 787 students
- Creekside Elementary - 07Elementary · 553 students
- West Elementary - 03Elementary · 322 students
- Mountain View Elementary - 08Elementary · 168 students
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills High School - 10High · 21 students
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills Elementary - 09Middle · 2 students
Other schools in Spearfish
- Spearfish High School - 01High · 787 students
- Creekside Elementary - 07Elementary · 553 students
- West Elementary - 03Elementary · 322 students
- Mountain View Elementary - 08Elementary · 168 students
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills High School - 10High · 21 students
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills Elementary - 09Middle · 2 students
Nearby schools
- Spearfish High School - 010.1 mi · 787
- Creekside Elementary - 070.6 mi · 553
- West Elementary - 030.7 mi · 322
- Mountain View Elementary - 080.8 mi · 168
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills High School - 102.5 mi · 21
- Spearfish Academy at Canyon Hills Elementary - 092.5 mi · 2
Frequently asked questions
About Spearfish Middle School - 05How large is Spearfish Middle School - 05?
Spearfish Middle School - 05 enrolls approximately 545 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Spearfish Middle School - 05 serve?
Spearfish Middle School - 05 serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does Spearfish Middle School - 05 have?
Spearfish Middle School - 05 employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Spearfish Middle School - 05?
Student demographics at Spearfish Middle School - 05 are roughly 87% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Spearfish Middle School - 05 public or private?
Spearfish Middle School - 05 is a public K-12 school, overseen by Spearfish School District 40-2.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.