Timber Lake Elementary - 02

Timber Lake Elementary - 02, a mid-sized elementary school in Timber Lake, South Dakota, operated by Timber Lake School District 20-3, hosts 185 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Within Timber Lake School District 20-3, which oversees 3 schools and 372 students, Timber Lake Elementary - 02 is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Timber Lake Elementary - 02 shows that the largest single group is Native American, at 58% of enrollment; the rest comes out to 37% White, 2% Hispanic, 2% multiracial.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school lists 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.9:1. The state averages around 15.4:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 39% of students at Timber Lake Elementary - 02 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is below Dewey County's rate of about 84%.

After controlling for student poverty, Timber Lake Elementary - 02 ranks in the top 10% of South Dakota public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 47.1%; Timber Lake Elementary - 02 posts 67.7%, +20.6 points above that line.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Dewey County put the typical household earns roughly $54,104 per year, about 19% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 29%. In all, Dewey County runs 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,466 students), of which Timber Lake Elementary - 02 is one.

The closest other public school is Timber Lake High School - 01, roughly 0.0 miles away. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Timber Lake Elementary - 02 comes 1st of 4 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 26.5%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count stayed largely flat: 187 students in 2018 compared to 185 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 43% to 37% over that span. Class-load math has pulled in: from 11.2:1 in 2018 to 9.9:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Timber Lake Elementary - 02 typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.