The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in English language arts. The lowest is 48% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lemmon Elementary - 02
Lemmon Elementary sits in a small rural prairie town along US Highway 12, just south of the North Dakota border in Perkins County. The town serves as a regional hub for surrounding ranches and farms, with a traditional Main Street commercial core, a grocery store, hardware store, a movie theater, a clinic, and several churches and financial institutions. Manufacturing provides local jobs through Wheeler Manufacturing, which produces jewelry products, along with Gregorian Inc. and Dakota Woodcrafts. The Lemmon Livestock Sale Barn operates just west of town with weekly Wednesday sales. The Grand River and Cedar River National Grasslands surround the community, and the town has experienced long-term population decline, with a shrinking census count over the decades. A Lemmon Area Charitable and Economic Development organization exists, though available sources point to no major new housing developments or growth initiatives. The town has received recognition through the South Dakota Community of the Year Award.
The school itself is a public elementary serving kindergarten through sixth grade within the Lemmon School District 52-4. Enrollment is small, distributed fairly evenly across the seven grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A moderate share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education enrollment and English learner populations was not available, so those figures are left out rather than estimated.
On state assessments, Lemmon Elementary shows solid proficiency in English language arts and math, with roughly half or more of tested students reaching proficiency in both subjects. Science proficiency sits a bit lower, with under half of the small group of tested students reaching proficient levels. Because the tested population in science is quite small, a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what is driving that result and how science instruction is structured across the upper grades. Participation rates across all three subjects were high, with nearly all eligible students tested. Average scale scores were not reported, and no multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining over time. The assessment system itself has not undergone changes in test name or cut scores that would complicate comparisons.
Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate, no AP or dual-credit data, and no high school course access information to report. Those gaps reflect the grade band served, not a missing obligation. The school does not carry charter or magnet status. Title I status was not reported. Locale classification, discipline data, staffing ratios, and attendance figures were also not available in the provided data, so those areas are left out. Program offerings were not listed, which limits the picture of what enrichment or intervention supports exist beyond the core curriculum.
The housing market in the Lemmon zip code is notably affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Home values sit well below the South Dakota statewide figure and far below the national figure, and the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home is modest. Year-over-year home value growth has been strong in percentage terms, suggesting some appreciation even in a community with long-term population decline. Rental data was not available. The Lemmon School District recently made a capital investment in school facilities, with construction expenditures in a recent fiscal year and an ongoing bond redemption levy that carries property tax implications for local homeowners. For a small rural district, this represents a commitment to maintaining and improving school buildings.
For a family considering Lemmon Elementary, the picture is one of a small-town school in a community with deep ranching and agricultural roots, affordable housing, and a stable but declining population. Academic results in reading and math are reasonably strong for a school of this size and setting. Science is the area where the data is softest, and the absence of trend information, staffing data, and program details means a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand the full range of supports and offerings. What the data does show is a school that appears to be performing competently in core subjects while serving a tight-knit rural community that has invested in its school facilities.
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