New Underwood School District 51-3, SD

Original Research by School Decision on New Underwood School District 51-3

New Underwood School District 51-3 sits in Pennington County, South Dakota, and serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade across three schools: an elementary, a middle school, and a high school, all open and operating. The district is small by any standard, with a total enrollment that fills roughly two dozen seats per grade level. That kind of scale means students learn in tight cohorts, and families tend to know one another across grade bands. The student body is predominantly white, with a small share identifying as two or more races, and very small Hispanic and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. Asian, Black, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are not represented in the reported counts. The district did not report free-or-reduced-price lunch data, nor did it provide counts for special education or English learner populations, so the economic and special-population picture remains incomplete from what is available.

On state assessments for the most recent reported year, the district's results paint a mixed picture. In English language arts, fewer than half of tested students in grades three through eight reached proficiency, though the share clearing that bar was meaningfully stronger than in math. Science proficiency, tested in a smaller subset of grades, came in close to the ELA level. Math was the clear soft spot, with only about a quarter of tested students scoring proficient or above. Participation was full across all three subjects. A parent whose child tends to do well in reading and writing may find reasonable alignment here, while one concerned about math foundations may want to look into this further with the school and ask how the district is addressing that gap. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, stable, or declining over time.

The district did not report a graduation rate, and because it does serve high school grades, that absence is a data gap rather than a structural one. A parent weighing high school options should ask the district directly for its most recent cohort graduation and post-secondary placement information. Civil rights data, course access details, staffing ratios, and discipline figures were also not provided, so there is little to report on advanced coursework availability, teacher-to-student ratios, or student climate from the data on hand. Program offerings were not listed, and we looked for the district's strategic priorities or recent parent-relevant changes but found none publicly reported, so that picture stays blank rather than guessed at.

Housing in the area tells its own story. The district-weighted home value sits well above both the South Dakota state benchmark and the national benchmark, with the New Underwood ZIP code itself showing a sharp year-over-year increase. Nearby Rapid City and Box Elder ZIP codes that feed into the weighting carry somewhat lower values and more moderate appreciation. Rentals, where data was available, run cheaper than a monthly mortgage payment by a meaningful margin, and rent-to-income ratios sit in a generally affordable range. For a family considering buying, the price-to-income ratio suggests the market is on the pricier side relative to earnings, and current mortgage rates make ownership a real cost consideration. For a family open to renting, the economics are gentler.

What this district offers is a small, rural-to-exurban community with a single continuous K through twelve pathway, full assessment participation, and a housing market that has been appreciating steadily. What it does not offer, from the available data, is a complete picture of graduation outcomes, special-population services, advanced coursework, or recent district-level initiatives. Families considering New Underwood should treat the academic data as a starting point and ask the district to fill in the gaps that the public record currently leaves open.

See more original research from School Decision →

District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

274

Grades

KG–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 4%

White 84%

Two+ 10%

Am. Indian / AK Native 2%

By economic status

Percent proficient by grade, as reported

Economically disadvantaged

Not disadvantaged

ELA

Gr 3

—

30%

Gr 4

—

58%

Gr 5

—

18%

Gr 6

—

58%

Gr 7

—

44%

Gr 8

—

63%

Gr 38

29%

47%

Math

Gr 3

—

40%

Gr 4

—

26%

Gr 5

—

18%

Gr 6

—

21%

Gr 7

—

39%

Gr 8

—

26%

Gr 38

21%

27%

Science

Gr 5

—

53%

Gr 8

—

58%

Gr 38

—

56%

Schools in this District

3 schools are officially reported under this district.

New Underwood Middle School - 04

New Underwood Elementary - 02

New Underwood High School - 01

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

1 grade reported

26%

Grades 3-8

English Language Arts

1 grade reported

43%

Grades 3-8

Science

1 grade reported

47%

Grades 3-8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$410,216

Year-over-year change+8.1%

Range across 3 ZIP codes$359K to $413K

vs. state typical1.28x

vs. national typical1.11x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (3 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
57761	New Underwood	$413K	+8.4%	41.3%
57719	Box Elder	$368K	+3.1%	1.4%
57703	Rapid City	$359K	+2.2%	0.8%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,512/mo

Year-over-year change+7.5%

Range across 2 ZIP codes$1,473 to $1,576/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (2 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
57719	Box Elder	$1,473	+7.9%	1.4%
57703	Rapid City	$1,576	+7.0%	0.8%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$2,070/mo

Home price / national median income4.9x

Annual rent / national median income21.7%

Est. mortgage exceeds rent by$558/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$319,255 (+2.8% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.