NCES CCD 2024-25 5 schools SD

Best-Resourced Schools in Chester, SD

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

5 public K-12 schools in Chester from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

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Schools

518

Students

48.6/100

Avg Resource Index

15.5:1

Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Compact, single-district system

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Chester has more public-school enrollment than 1% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Chester's 5 listed schools all sit inside one district, creating a compact governance structure with one budget, board, and reporting chain. That makes citywide comparisons cleaner than in places split across several districts, but it does not make the campuses interchangeable: elementary, middle, and high-school staffing needs differ. The ranked list is best read as variation inside one system rather than competition among separate local authorities.

Secondary campuses occupy an unusually large share

3 of the 5 listed Chester schools are classified as high schools, a substantial share of the local portfolio. Advanced-course access, counseling, and graduation-stage staffing therefore have more weight in the city Resource Index average than they do in an elementary-heavy system.

One district, but meaningful resource variation

Chester's schools share one district authority while their average Resource Investment Index ranks at the 83rd percentile among listed cities. Shared governance removes one source of policy variation, but it does not erase campus differences by grade span or enrollment. The 34-point gap between High Plains - 06 and Chester Area Cyber School - 92 measures the remaining local spread. Use the district-level picture for common budget context, then compare the school components to see whether staffing, counseling, gifted-program reporting, or attendance accounts for each campus's position.

City enrollment: Top 99%
School count: Top 99%
Resource Index average: 83rd percentile
Teacher staffing: 48th percentile

Chester Elementary -02 accounts for 29.7% of all Chester public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Chester-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: Combined. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Chester school enrollment varies 2.3× across entities

Chester school enrollment ranges from 67 students (lowest) to 154 students (highest), a spread of 87 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Chester operates one school district — a single-district system

Chester's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Chester student-teacher ratio is 15.5:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Chester is typically wider than the Chester-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Accessed 2026-08-26

#	School	Score	Enrollment	Level	District
1.	High Plains - 06	57	84	high	Chester Area School District 39-1
2.	Chester Elementary -02	56	154	Combined	Chester Area School District 39-1
3.	Chester High School - 01	55	107	high	Chester Area School District 39-1
4.	Chester Middle School - 03	52	67	middle	Chester Area School District 39-1
5.	Chester Area Cyber School - 92	23	106	high	Chester Area School District 39-1

What do families ask about schools in Chester?

Which Chester school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

High Plains - 06 has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Chester schools in this federal-data comparison at 57/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Chester, SD? ▼

Chester has 5 public schools with a total enrollment of 518 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.5:1.

Other Cities in South Dakota

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in South Dakota →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.