The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Science. The lowest is 50% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Medary Elementary - 05
Medary Elementary sits on the south side of Brookings, a college town in eastern South Dakota anchored by South Dakota State University. The school serves kindergarten through third grade, which means most of its students are too young for state testing. Only the third graders take the statewide assessments, and their results give a limited window into the school's academic picture. The building recently underwent a major renovation, publicly reported as producing new, updated facilities for young learners, which parents visiting will likely notice.
On the most recent state assessments, Medary's third graders performed at a solid level in math, with a clear majority of tested students reaching proficiency. English language arts was more middling, with about half of tested students proficient. Full participation was reported, so these results reflect the entire tested cohort. A parent may want to look into how the school supports students who are approaching but not yet meeting proficiency in literacy, especially given how foundational early reading is for everything that follows. No science results are available for the current grade configuration. A science score from many years back appears in the data, but it dates to when the school served older grades and used a different assessment, so it tells nothing about Medary as it operates today.
The student body is moderately sized for an early elementary school. It is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that makes up a meaningful minority and smaller shares of American Indian, Asian, Black, and multiracial students. About three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is below the level many rural South Dakota schools see but still represents a notable group of families who may rely on school-based support. Data on English learners and special education enrollment was not reported, so families whose children receive those services should ask the school directly about what is available.
Brookings itself shapes the school environment in ways parents should understand. The city is home to SDSU, the state's largest university, and the population swells during the academic year when students return. Manufacturing is a major economic driver, with companies like Daktronics, 3M, Larson Manufacturing, and Bel Brands operating locally. The Brookings School District is itself one of the city's larger employers. The downtown runs along Main Avenue and is described by the local tourism site as a tidy, walkable corridor. The city sits on Interstate 29, giving it straightforward regional access. Cultural anchors tied to the university, including the South Dakota Art Museum and the Children's Museum of South Dakota, add to the community's resources for families with young children.
Housing in the school's zip code is relatively affordable compared with national figures, with typical home values sitting below both the national benchmark and just under the state benchmark. Rent is also modest, and the estimated monthly cost of renting runs below the estimated monthly cost of owning at current mortgage rates. Home values have been appreciating at a healthy clip recently, which reflects the town's steady growth. For families considering buying, the market is more accessible than many college towns of similar size elsewhere in the country.
The district operates six public schools spread across the city: three elementary schools, an intermediate school, a middle school, a high school, and an alternative high school. Medary is one of those three elementaries, and after kindergarten through third grade here, students would move on to the intermediate school for upper elementary grades. The district brief did not surface any major recent structural or programmatic changes, so nothing along those lines can be reported here.
What is missing from the available data is worth naming. No information was provided on staffing ratios, teacher qualifications, discipline data, attendance patterns, course access, or specific programs like dual language, gifted services, or counseling support. No civil rights data was included. No neighbor comparison against other Brookings-area elementaries was available, so families comparing Medary with Hillcrest or other district schools will need to visit and ask directly. Title I status was not reported, so whether the school receives federal funding targeted at low-income students cannot be confirmed from the data provided. Locale classification, which would describe the school's urban or rural setting in federal terms, was also absent.
For a parent weighing Medary, the picture is this: a recently renovated early elementary school in a growing, economically diverse college town, with math results that suggest reasonable strength and literacy results that warrant a closer conversation with teachers. The community offers the cultural and recreational amenities of a university town, housing that remains affordable by national standards, and a district with enough scale to offer a full K-12 pathway. The gaps in the data mean a family will learn the most by visiting the building, talking with the principal about reading instruction and support services, and seeing the renovated spaces firsthand.
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