The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Math. The lowest is 10% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Doland Jr. High - 02
Doland Jr. High - 02 sits in the very small rural community of Doland in Spink County, South Dakota, serving seventh and eighth graders as part of the Doland School District 56-2. The town was platted in the late nineteenth century as a railroad depot stop along the Chicago and North Western line, built for shipping farm products, and named for Civil War veteran Franklin Henry Doland. Today it retains its agricultural identity, with farming and related businesses anchoring the local economy. The community calls itself "Home of Heroes," a nod to figures raised there including Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Publicly reported sources describe an active business district and churches alongside the independent school district.
This is an exceptionally small junior high. The total enrollment sits in the mid-teens, with more students in seventh grade than eighth. The student body is entirely white, and a small portion qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those population details remain unknown here. Because the school serves only two grades and no high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report; that metric simply does not apply to this grade band.
On state assessments, math and English language arts proficiency each landed at four in ten tested students, with full participation. Science results were lower, with only a single tested student reaching proficiency. The tested group is small enough that each student's performance shifts the picture considerably, and trend data was not available, so it is hard to read direction from year to year. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly in science, to understand how instruction and support are structured across these two grade levels.
The school sits within a district that also operates Doland Elementary, Hillside Colony School, and Doland High School, all in close proximity given the town's tiny footprint. We looked for the district's strategic priorities or recent changes and found little, so we left that out rather than guess. No course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance data was provided, and no neighbor comparison set was available, so this account cannot position the school against nearby districts.
The housing market in Doland is very affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks. The typical home value sits well below the South Dakota and national medians, and the price-to-income ratio is low. For a family considering a move, the cost barrier to homeownership here is modest. Rental data was not available. The town is car-dependent by nature, with residents commuting significant distances to work, reinforcing its rural character. Civic infrastructure is minimal; residents may travel to nearby Redfield, the county seat, for library and other services.
Doland has been experiencing long-term population decline, a trajectory common to many small Great Plains communities. No major new housing developments or growth initiatives surfaced in available sources. This context shapes the school environment in ways a parent should weigh: peer groups will be small, and the social circle in these two grades is tightly knit by necessity. For some families that intimacy is a draw. For others the limited peer pool and the town's contraction are real considerations. What is clear is that this is a small, rural, agriculturally rooted community with a very small junior high serving it.
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