Original Research by School Decision on Spring Lake Colony High School
Spring Lake Colony High School sits at a rural address in the Arlington area of South Dakota, serving grades nine through twelve. The enrollment is extremely small, with just a handful of students spread across the four high school grades. The student body is entirely white. No free-or-reduced-price lunch data, special education figures, or English learner counts were reported, so the economic and special-population profile of the school cannot be characterized from available data. The name "Colony" and the school's characteristics are consistent with a Hutterite colony school, a common arrangement in rural South Dakota where colony communities operate their own schools tied to the local public district.
No state assessment results were available for this school. No multi-year academic trend data was provided either. This kind of gap often reflects the nature of a very small colony school rather than a signal of poor performance. With so few students, state reporting may suppress results for privacy reasons, or the school may sit outside standard testing frameworks. No graduation rate was reported. A parent wanting to understand academic outcomes here would need to contact the school directly, because the publicly available data does not offer a picture of proficiency, growth, or completion.
No course access, staffing, attendance, or discipline data was provided, so the school environment cannot be described in those terms. No information on AP courses, dual-credit options, career pathways, or extracurricular programs was available. Given the size of the school, a narrow curriculum focused on core requirements would be expected, but the data does not confirm specifics. A family considering this school should ask directly what coursework and support are offered to high school students.
The school belongs to the Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 39-6 school district, a newly formed entity. Publicly reported information indicates the district was created through consolidation of the Oldham-Ramona and Rutland districts, with classes beginning in August 2023. The consolidation reshaped school governance across communities in Kingsbury, Lake, Miner, and Moody counties. A 2025 referendum on whether to dissolve the district was defeated by a margin of just five votes, revealing deep community division about the district's future. That close result signals ongoing uncertainty that families would reasonably weigh when considering the area.
Arlington itself is a small rural town with agricultural roots, originally settled by Norwegian immigrants and once called Nordland. It retains a prairie-town character, with a Main Street commercial core and low-density residential streets radiating outward. The town is compact enough to cross on foot, but daily life is automobile-oriented. There is no public transit. Lake Poinsett lies to the northeast and serves as a regional recreational draw. The Arlington Auditorium functions as a community gathering space. The population has been relatively stable with slight long-term decline, though a modest uptick was estimated recently. No major employers were identified in the available research, and the school district and city government are likely among the largest local employers given the town's size.
Housing in the area has appreciated sharply. The typical home value sits just below the South Dakota state benchmark and below the national figure, but the year-over-year increase has been substantial, far outpacing both the state and national rates. Mortgage costs against local incomes are elevated, and rental data was not available for the immediate area. Homes here are more affordable than the national market on a price basis, but the rapid appreciation is a factor for families looking to buy.
Spring Lake Colony High School is a niche setting within a very new and politically unsettled district. The available data is too thin to characterize academic quality, and the school's tiny size and colony affiliation mean standard metrics may not apply in the usual way. Families connected to the colony community will find a school structured around their needs. Those outside that community would likely look elsewhere, and the district's unresolved governance questions add a layer of caution for anyone weighing a move into the area.
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