Enrollment
145
Elementary
DISTRICT 105 · STATE 204
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WOLSEY WESSINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT 02-6·NCES 468010000783
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02
375 Ash St SE, Wolsey, SD 57384 · (605) 883-4221 · Beadle County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL145 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 14% 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.
- FBeats 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
12.7:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.4:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
42 students
DISTRICT 34% · 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 | 16 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 17 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 21 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 20 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 21 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 21 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 29 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (17) is 41% smaller than its 5th grade class (29).
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 19% · 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
Students here typically continue to
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02→Wolsey Wessington Middle School - 03→Wolsey Wessington High School - 01
Based on grade levels within Wolsey Wessington School District 02-6. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
33.8%
SD avg 50.3% . +14.3pp since 2022
Math
28.2%
SD avg 47.5% . +4.8pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 34 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 28 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 14 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 5 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 33.8% | 28.2% |
| 2023-24 | 37.3% | 46.3% |
| 2022-23 | 19.5% | 23.4% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of SD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
34.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.1%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 34% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 51% typical for South Dakota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02's state test result (34.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 this school | 145 | 29.0% | 34.4% |
| Castlewood Elementary - 02 Castlewood | 140 | 26.4% | 54.5% |
| Viborg-Hurley Elementary - 02 Viborg | 153 | 26.8% | 60.5% |
| Scotland Elementary - 02 Scotland | 114 | 27.2% | 56.7% |
| Centerville Elementary - 02 Centerville | 108 | 28.7% | 52.5% |
| Alcester-Hudson Elementary - 04 Alcester | 166 | 33.7% | 50.1% |
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 Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota | In Beadle County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.4% | #155 of 193 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 28.2% | #177 of 199 ▼ 56 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.8% | #164 of 202 ▼ 9 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 145 | #174 of 331 | #4 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.0% | #128 of 209 | N/A |
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
145
-37 (-20%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 192
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
was 13.0:1
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 | 145 | 11.4 | 12.7:1 | 29% (42) |
| 2023-24 | 140 | 11.9 | 11.7:1 | 27% (38) |
| 2022-23 | 166 | 11.1 | 15.0:1 | 25% (42) |
| 2020-21 | 182 | 14 | 13.0:1 | 32% (59) |
| 2017-18 | 155 | 14.7 | 10.6:1 | 41% (63) |
| 2015-16 | 218 | 15 | 14.5:1 | 34% (74) |
| 2010-11 | 131 | 7 | 18.7:1 | 37% (49) |
| 2000-01 | 57 | 6 | 9.5:1 | 44% (25) |
| 1990-91 | 192 | 12 | 16.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (155 to 145); teachers down 22% (14.7 to 11.4).
About Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02
The public elementary school Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 is located in Wolsey, South Dakota. The school's enrollment of 145 students covers pre-K through 5. Enrollment is 29% lower than the average for elementary schools in South Dakota, which is about 204.
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 is one of 3 schools in Wolsey Wessington School District 02-6, which enrolls 316 students in total.
At Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02, White students make up 91% of the student body. Smaller groups are 7% Hispanic and 2% multiracial. County-wide, 72% of Beadle County residents are White. By the diversity index, Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 comes in at 17%.
Federal data list 11.4 full-time-equivalent teachers at Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 in 2024-25, for a ratio of 12.7:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in South Dakota is 15.4:1, higher than at this school. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 29%. On average, public schools in Beadle County report 62%.
The allk12 Grade for Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 is D. Compared with South Dakota public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 14% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Test results at Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 are 16.7 points below what its student poverty level predicts. The average proficiency rate on state tests is 34.4%, compared with a predicted 51.1%, which ranks in the bottom 10% in South Dakota.
Beadle County has about 19,309 residents, and median household income is about $67,681, about 27% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 17 public schools in Beadle County, with a combined enrollment of about 3,544.
The closest other public school is Wolsey Wessington Middle School - 03, less than a tenth of a mile away. There are 2 other public schools within five miles. Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02's average proficiency of 34.4% compares with 32.8% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school's locale code, Rural: Remote, means it is in rural territory far from an urban area.
The number of students declined from 182 to 145 over 4 years.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Beadle County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
19,309
Census ACS
Median income
$67,681
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
27%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
17
3,544 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wolsey Wessington School District 02-6
- Wolsey Wessington High School - 01High · 96 students
- Wolsey Wessington Middle School - 03Middle · 75 students
Other schools in Wolsey
- Wolsey Wessington High School - 01High · 96 students
- Wolsey Wessington Middle School - 03Middle · 75 students
Nearby schools
- Wolsey Wessington Middle School - 030.0 mi · 75
- Wolsey Wessington High School - 010.0 mi · 96
- Buchanan K-1 Center - 1811.9 mi · 467
- Huron Middle School - 0212.4 mi · 716
- Huron High School - 0112.7 mi · 852
- Huron Virtual High School - 9212.7 mi · 53
Frequently asked questions
About Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02How large is Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02?
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 enrolls approximately 145 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 serve?
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 serves grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 have?
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 employs 11 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02?
Student demographics at Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 are roughly 91% White, 7% Hispanic, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02?
Wolsey Wessington Elementary - 02 is overseen by Wolsey Wessington School District 02-6 in Beadle County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.