Original Research by School Decision on Teachwell Thrive - 03
Teachwell Thrive - 03 sits on East 14th Street in Sioux Falls, serving students in grade twelve only. It operates under the East Dakota Educational Cooperative rather than a traditional local school district, which suggests it plays a specialized or alternative role rather than functioning as a neighborhood high school. The cooperative governance model is common for programs designed to serve particular student needs that member districts agree to share.
Almost everything a parent would want to evaluate about this school is missing from the available data. Enrollment is reported as zero, with no students counted across any racial or ethnic category. Free and reduced-price lunch information, individualized education program rates, and English learner figures are all absent. State assessment results were not available, and no multi-year academic trend data exists. There is no graduation rate, no course access information, no staffing data, no attendance record, and no discipline data. Program offerings were not reported. We looked for a comparison against neighboring schools and found none, so the school cannot be positioned against its peers in the county.
The absence of enrollment and performance data likely reflects the nature of this school rather than signaling a weakness. A grade-twelve-only program operating under an educational cooperative may serve a transient or very small population, or it may function as a placement option rather than a full-time enrollment site. Schools of this type often sit outside standard state testing and reporting frameworks. That said, the data does not tell us the specific reason, and a parent considering this option would want to ask the school directly how it operates, who it enrolls, and what academic pathway it provides.
What the data does describe is the surrounding community. Sioux Falls is South Dakota's most populous city, situated at the junction of Interstates 29 and 90. Its economy has shifted from an industrial base toward health care, finance, and retail, though manufacturing and food processing remain part of the mix. Sanford Health and Avera Health are the largest employers, with Wells Fargo and Citigroup also maintaining a major presence, drawn in part by the absence of a state corporate income tax. The city hosts Augustana University, the University of Sioux Falls, and Southeast Technical College, all of which could matter to a grade-twelve student thinking about next steps.
The housing market in the school's zip code is more affordable than the state as a whole. Typical home values run well below the South Dakota benchmark, and rents sit at a level that would be manageable for many families relative to the area's median household income. Mortgage rates have hovered in the mid-six percent range recently, which shapes what buying looks like for families relocating to the area. Sioux Falls has grown steadily over decades, with the metropolitan area now accounting for a substantial portion of the state's population. The city continues expanding southward into Lincoln County.
Downtown Sioux Falls offers active street life during warmer months, with a SculptureWalk, First Fridays, and an annual river festival along the Big Sioux. Falls Park, centered on the river cascades that gave the city its name, serves as a primary gathering space. A long paved loop trail connects parks and neighborhoods for biking and walking. Outside the downtown core, the city is largely car-dependent, with a bus system operating most routes Monday through Saturday.
For a parent, the takeaway is that Teachwell Thrive - 03 cannot be evaluated from publicly available data in any conventional way. The profile contains no academic results, no student demographics, no program details, and no staffing information. The grade-twelve-only structure and cooperative governance point toward a specialized function, but the data does not confirm what that function is. A family interested in this school should contact it directly to understand its purpose, enrollment process, and whether it fits their student's situation.
See more original research from School Decision →