The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in Math. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Andes Central Elementary - 02
Andes Central Elementary sits in Lake Andes, a small rural town that serves as the county seat of Charles Mix County, South Dakota. The town blends residential streets, civic-government functions, and natural-resource character. The Charles Mix County courthouse, a Prairie School building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, anchors the community's government role. The town sits adjacent to the Yankton Sioux Reservation, and its population is roughly split between American Indian or Alaska Native residents and White residents, with the American Indian community forming nearly half. The built environment is modest: a small Main Street with early-twentieth-century commercial architecture, government buildings, and residential streets, all within a compact footprint. The Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge borders the community and provides the dominant natural anchor. Community life centers on annual gatherings such as Fish Days in June and the Fort Randall traditional pow wow in August.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across those grades. It is part of the Andes Central School District 11-1. The student body is predominantly American Indian or Alaska Native, with smaller shares identifying as White and as two or more races. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. We looked for data on English-learner status and special-education enrollment, but those figures were not reported, so we cannot speak to those populations.
On state assessments, the school's results are low. In math, roughly a quarter of tested students in grades three through eight reached proficiency on the SBAC assessment. In English language arts, the share was similar. Science proficiency was lower still, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency on the South Dakota science assessment. Participation was full across all subjects, which means the results reflect the entire tested group. Average scale scores were not available, so there is no additional detail on how students clustered within or below the proficiency bands. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what intervention and support structures are in place and how growth is measured for students who are not yet proficient. Trend data was not available either, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent an improvement or decline from prior years.
Because this is an elementary school serving only pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. State testing applies only to grades three through eight, so pre-kindergarten through second-grade classrooms at this school are not captured in the assessment data.
Beyond the assessment numbers, the available data is thin. No program offerings, course-access information, staffing levels, attendance data, or discipline data were provided. We looked for the school's Title I status and locale classification, but those fields were not reported. The school is not a charter school and is not designated as a magnet. No neighbor comparison fact-set was available to position this school against others in the region.
At the district level, we searched for recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property-tax adjustments and found little of lasting impact. No major new housing developments, commercial expansions, or infrastructure projects were identified for Lake Andes itself, which is experiencing a modest population decline rather than growth. The local employer base appears concentrated in public-sector and natural-resource management roles, including county government, the school district, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge. YST Transit provides public transit connecting Lake Andes to nearby communities including Marty, Ravinia, and Wagner.
What the picture amounts to is a small, rural elementary school serving a largely Native American student body in a town where economic resources are limited and the community is contracting rather than growing. The proficiency data is a clear soft spot, and families considering or currently in this school would benefit from asking directly what academic supports, tutoring, or intervention programs are available and how the school measures student growth over time. The cultural context of the community, with its proximity to the Yankton Sioux Reservation and its annual pow wow and Fish Days gatherings, is a defining characteristic of the environment children grow up in here.
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