Can I use Stanley County's school score to choose a house?

No. Use the Stanley County school score as a first-pass county screen, then verify the exact district, attendance boundary, transfer rules, and grade pathway for any address you are considering.

Does SchoolsByCounty confirm school attendance boundaries in Stanley County?

No. SchoolsByCounty publishes NCES and Census-backed public-school records. Attendance zones, magnet eligibility, charter lotteries, transportation, and transfer rules must be confirmed with local districts.

How should parents compare public schools in Stanley County?

Start with the 4 listed public schools and 1 district entry, then compare similar grade bands and confirm the address-level rules locally.

Stanley County Schools & Education

Name: Stanley County, South Dakota Education Data
Creator: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Stanley County, South Dakota

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

School Score

74/100

Percentile-style score

Score Band

Higher Signal

Graduation Rate

95.0%

National avg 87.5%

Education Statistics

Graduation Rate

95.0%

National avg 87.5%

State avg 82.4%

Per-Pupil Spending

$7,881

National avg $13,239

State avg $7,409

School Score

74/100

Percentile-style score

State avg 38/100

State Score Position

of 65 counties by score

Education Data Brief: Stanley County

Measured School Summary

Stanley County has a higher measured school signal with a school score of 74/100 and a graduation rate of 95.0%, based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-score inputs.

Funding Context

At $7,881 per pupil, Stanley County operates with limited funding, which may constrain staffing, materials, and extracurricular offerings.

Neighbor Context

Its school score is 95% above the South Dakota average, and its graduation rate exceeds the state average by 12.6 percentage points, while per-pupil spending is 6% higher than the state norm.

School Data Brief

How to read Stanley County before comparing districts

County-level education data is best used as a screening layer. It summarizes the local school environment, then points you toward the district and school records that matter for local review.

Local context that changes the interpretation

4 public schools and 1 district are represented below. Use those school and district records to confirm whether the county-level context fits the neighborhoods you are actually considering.

Overall screen

74/100

Higher measured signal. Ranks #1 of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data.

Completion

95.0%

12.6 pts above the state average

Funding context

$7,881

$472 above the state average

School coverage

1 district represented in the county school list.

Start with measured county context

This county screens well on the combined school metrics available here. Compare the score, graduation rate, and spending together rather than treating any single metric as final.

Check the local school mix

Stanley County has 4 public schools across 1 district, so school-level fit can vary inside the county.

Verify local rules

Use this page as county-level context, then confirm attendance zones, transportation, special programs, and current school boundaries with local districts.

View Public Schools Compare Counties

Parent decision brief

What Stanley County school data means before you move

County averages are useful for screening, but parents choose addresses, grade pathways, and district rules. This brief turns the public data into the checks that matter before you sign a lease or mortgage.

Small-system county

Stanley County has a compact public-school footprint. A single school change, boundary rule, or district update can move the lived experience more than the county score suggests.

State position

of 65 South Dakota counties with school score data. The county score is 36 points above the state average.

Data confidence

Usable

3 of 5 county signals are present, and 100% of listed schools report enrollment. Compare schools, then verify missing fields locally.

K-12 continuity check

These are the largest visible district slices in the county data. They show whether elementary, middle, and high school records appear together or whether a family needs to investigate transition points.

Stanley County School District 57-1

Elementary to high school visible

416 students

Elementary 2Middle 1High 1Other 0

4 listed schools in this county slice.

District reality check

Stanley County School District 57-1 is the largest listed district slice, with 4 schools. County pages do not prove address assignment, so verify boundaries with local district tools.

What the data cannot tell you

NCES records do not confirm current attendance zones, private-school options, transfer approvals, program capacity, transportation, or whether a listed school is available to a specific address.

Questions to ask before choosing an address

Which district actually serves the addresses we are considering in Stanley County?

Which attendance zones, transfer rules, and transportation policies apply inside the local district?

What changes at the elementary-to-middle and middle-to-high transitions in the district pathway we would likely use?

If we need a program not visible in the NCES flags, which district office can confirm current offerings?

Are the largest listed schools the ones our address can actually attend, or are they only county-level context?

Data Story

Stanley County School Score Exceeds State and National Medians

Education data brief for Stanley County, South Dakota.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorPublished Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Lead metric:School score

Stanley County maintains a composite school score of 74.0, a figure that nearly doubles the South Dakota state average of 38.3 and sits significantly higher than the national median of 50.0. This metric coincides with a graduation rate of 95.0%, which is notably higher than both the state average of 82.4% and the national benchmark of 87.0%. The Stanley County School District 57-1 serves the entire county population of 416 public school students across four buildings. The largest facility, Stanley County Elementary, enrolls 188 students. While performance metrics are high relative to benchmarks, per-pupil expenditure is $7,881, which is only slightly above the state average of $7,409 and well below the national average of $13,000. Public schools in this county are situated in either town or rural locales, with no charter schools present. See the NCES Common Core of Data for school-level records.

Sources

NCES Common Core of Data
U.S. Census Bureau ACS

School Overview

Total Schools

in Stanley County

Reported Enrollment

416

4 schools reporting

School Districts

district

Charter Schools

0% of total

School Level Breakdown

Elementary2

Middle1

High1

Other0

1 School District in Stanley County

Stanley County School District 57-1

4 schools

416 students enrolled

4 Public Schools in Stanley County

Sorted by reported enrollment. Every NCES public school remains listed here; no school-level profile pages are included in the current generated coverage for this county.

NCES 2022-23 public school data and FY 2022 school-finance data

Search schools

Level

Sort

Showing 4 of 4 matching schools

Public schools in Stanley County, including district, location, profile availability, grades, type, and enrollment.
School Name	Profile	District	Location	Grades	Type / Flags	Reported Enrollment
Stanley County Elementary - 08	Record	Stanley County School District 57-1	Fort Pierre, 57532Town: Remote	KG–5	Primary	188
Stanley County High School - 01	Record	Stanley County School District 57-1	Fort Pierre, 57532Town: Remote	9–12	High	133
Stanley County Middle School - 02	Record	Stanley County School District 57-1	Fort Pierre, 57532Town: Remote	6–8	Middle	86
Cheyenne Elementary - 06	Record	Stanley County School District 57-1	Fort Pierre, 57532Rural: Remote	KG–8	Primary	9

Stanley County Elementary - 08

Stanley County School District 57-1

Fort Pierre, 57532 / Town: Remote

RecordKG–5Primary188 students

Stanley County High School - 01

Stanley County School District 57-1

Fort Pierre, 57532 / Town: Remote

Record9–12High133 students

Stanley County Middle School - 02

Stanley County School District 57-1

Fort Pierre, 57532 / Town: Remote

Record6–8Middle86 students

Cheyenne Elementary - 06

Stanley County School District 57-1

Fort Pierre, 57532 / Rural: Remote

RecordKG–8Primary9 students

Education Funding Detail

Annual Per-Pupil Expenditure

$7,881

State avg $7,409

Compare Nearby Counties

Review Stanley County against other counties using the same NCES-backed metrics.

Open Compare

Browse Public Schools

See school-level enrollment, grade ranges, school type, and district affiliation.

View Schools

Frequently Asked Questions

Which South Dakota counties have the highest graduation rates?

Deuel County (95.0%), Stanley County (95.0%), and Hamlin County (92.8%) currently lead South Dakota among counties with available NCES four-year adjusted cohort graduation-rate data. This answer is generated from the same dataset used in the county table and can change when federal data refreshes.

What is per-pupil spending like in South Dakota?

Across South Dakota counties with available NCES district-finance data, average per-pupil spending is $7,409. The highest current county values are Ziebach County ($13,420), Corson County ($10,486), and Sully County ($10,373). Compare counties in the table before treating the statewide average as representative of a local district.

How should I read the school score in Stanley County?

Stanley County has a school score of 74/100, which is a higher measured signal in this county-level index. This score is calculated from available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance data, with school-level records shown separately below.

What is the graduation rate in Stanley County?

The high school graduation rate in Stanley County is 95.0%, which is above the national average of 87.5%. This figure is based on NCES district-level data for public high schools in the county.

How much does Stanley County spend per student?

Stanley County spends $7,881 per pupil annually on public education, based on NCES district finance data. Current operating spending per fall enrollment, including instruction, support services, administration, transportation, and operations. It excludes capital outlays and debt service in the SchoolsByCounty methodology.

Counties with Similar School Profile

Sully County

South Dakota

-4 pts

70/100

School score

Jackson County

South Dakota

-5 pts

69/100

School score

Dewey County

South Dakota

-6 pts

68/100

School score

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Jul 7, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

Data Sources

Education data sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data and School District Finance Survey. School scores are derived composite metrics based on available NCES graduation-rate and school-finance signals.

Data is informational only. Coverage varies by county and reporting year. Not for use as the sole basis for educational decisions.

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