West Elementary - 03

Located at 920 W King St, in Spearfish, South Dakota, West Elementary - 03 is a roomy elementary-level community that serves 322 students (grades 1 through 2), operated by Spearfish School District 40-2. Enrollment runs roughly 58% larger than the state mean of about 204.

Within Spearfish School District 40-2, which oversees 7 schools and 2,398 students, West Elementary - 03 is one campus in the system.

Demographically, West Elementary - 03 lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (88%); the rest is composed of 5% multiracial, 4% Hispanic, 3% Native American. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, West Elementary - 03 has 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 10.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.4:1 average. Around 17% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

After controlling for student poverty, West Elementary - 03 performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 56.0%, the actual is 56.0%, a residual of +0.0 points.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Lawrence County put median household income runs about $73,384, about 33% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Lawrence County runs 14 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,183 students), of which West Elementary - 03 is one.

Nearest neighbor: Spearfish Middle School - 05, around 0.7 miles off. 6 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts West Elementary - 03 at 1st of 6; the average score across the group is 48.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Trend over the last 7 years. West Elementary - 03's enrollment has declined 12% since 2018, when it stood at 365 (now 322). Class-load math has narrowed: from 12.0:1 in 2018 to 10.5:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the West Elementary - 03 community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.