Schools · Willow Lake

Willow Lake, SD schools

Kids attend Willow Lake Elementary - 02 through grade 5, then Willow Lake Middle School - 03.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

TownTapestry School GradeNew

Willow Lake’s School Grade: C

The public schools Willow Lake’s kids attend trail 69% of South Dakota’s districts on state tests. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the bottom.

CTest scores

South Dakota school districts we grade (146)Better than 31%

Lower resultsHigher results

South Dakota towns with similar household incomes (340)Better than 32%

Good confidence. Built on 156 tested students; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.

How the School Grade works

Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on South Dakota’s state tests, each against the state average. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each.
Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of South Dakota only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in South Dakota with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.

School path

Where Willow Lake kids go to school

Grades PK–5

CWillow Lake Elementary - 02 153 students · Willow Lake Willow Lake School District 12-3

Grades 6–8

B-Willow Lake Middle School - 03 54 students · Willow Lake Willow Lake School District 12-3

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

State test results

Math (grades PK–8, Willow Lake School District 12-3)37%

State average 42.2%

Graduation · class of 2020

75% graduate on time

Graduation rate

75%

SD: 84.5%

Graduating class

students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.

Districts

The district serving Willow Lake

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Willow Lake School District 12-3Grades PK–12 · 6 schools · 344 students

$11,201 per studentSD $13,040C

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

Within reach

Colleges near Willow Lake

There’s no college within 30 miles of Willow Lake. The closest is Lake Area Technical College in Watertown, SD, 32.7 miles away.

Lake Area Technical CollegeCommunity college · Public · Watertown32.7 mi1,709 students

Institute of Lutheran TheologyUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Brookings47.3 mi

South Dakota State UniversityUniversity or college · Public · Brookings47.3 mi9,372 students

Straight-line distance from the center of Willow Lake. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus. Colleges marked › have their own page; the others are too small or don’t report enough to the Department of Education for one.

Every school