The top reported proficiency rate is 66% in Math. The lowest is 50% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Jones County School District 37-3
Jones County School District 37-3 is a small, rural South Dakota district serving students from kindergarten through twelfth grade across three schools: Jones County Elementary, Jones County Middle School, and Jones County High School. The enrollment is modest, with each grade level holding roughly a dozen to a dozen-and-a-half students. That size shapes nearly everything about the experience here. Classrooms are small, teachers know their students by name, and the peer group in any given grade is intimate. For families drawn to that kind of setting, the district offers a close-knit environment where children move through their entire K-12 career alongside the same cohort. For families seeking a larger social environment or a wider range of extracurriculars and specialized course offerings, the small scale is a constraint worth weighing.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small representation of American Indian and Alaska Native students and students identifying as two or more races. The district did not report free or reduced-price lunch data, special-education enrollment, or English-learner counts, so it is hard to gauge the economic profile of the community or the scope of specialized student services from the available information. A parent may want to ask the district directly about these supports.
On state assessments, the most recent results from the 2024-25 school year show real academic strength in the core subjects. In both math and English language arts, tested in grades three through eight, the district posted proficiency rates well above the midpoint, with full participation among tested students. Science proficiency, measured across a smaller group of tested students, landed at about half, which is a softer result and a reasonable area for a parent to explore further with school staff. Average scale scores were not reported for any subject, so the picture is limited to proficiency levels. No multi-year trend data was available, which means there is no way to tell from this data whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining over time.
The district operates under South Dakota's state assessment system, using SBAC for math and English language arts and the state's own science assessment. The assessment framework has been stable, with no reported changes to test names or proficiency cut scores, so the results are comparable on their face.
Beyond assessment results and enrollment, the data is thin. No graduation rate was provided, which limits the picture for families evaluating the high school. No course-access or program-offering information was available, so there is no way to speak to AP offerings, dual-credit pathways, career and technical education, or gifted services from the data. Staffing ratios, discipline data, attendance figures, and Title I status were also absent. Housing values and rental data for the community were not included, so a family considering a move into the district would need to look elsewhere for cost-of-living context. A locale brief describing the town or towns the district covers was not available, so the community character is something a parent would need to experience firsthand or research independently.
The district brief noted no publicly reported parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax adjustments in the recent span reviewed. That absence does not mean nothing is happening. It means the search did not surface lasting, parent-facing changes worth flagging.
What the data does support is this: Jones County is a very small, rural district where state assessment proficiency in math and reading is a clear strength, science results are middling, and the full range of program, support, housing, and community context is not available in this dataset. Families drawn to small-class intimacy and a stable rural setting will find academic indicators that hold up well. Families who need richer information about graduation outcomes, advanced coursework, special populations, or the local housing market should go directly to the district and to local real estate sources, because those pieces are missing here.
See more original research from School Decision →