Willow Lake High School - 01
Willow Lake · SD · Willow Lake School District 12-3 · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
De Smet High School - 01 → Henry High School - 01 → Iroquois High School - 01 → Clark High School - 01 → Arlington High School - 01 → Lake Preston High School - 01 → Waubay High School - 01 → Wilmot High School - 01 →At a glance
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- AP rigor: Bottom 25% of US high schools
- SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 26% by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 75% in 2019 (Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Willow Lake High School - 01 compares for families
What families should know about Willow Lake High School - 01.
- ▸ LocallySD students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+7 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: De Smet High School - 01, Henry High School - 01, Iroquois High School - 01 and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 26% by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts
What % of students graduate on time?
Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Federal Title I context
Mixed-income school
Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)
25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Your state's public flagship
University of South Dakota
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $19,858/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +5.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 69 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Smet High School - 01 De Smet |
Public | 17.3 | 95 | +31.9% |
| Henry High School - 01 Henry |
Public | 19.5 | 54 | -12.9% |
| Iroquois High School - 01 Iroquois |
Public | 21.0 | 45 | — |
| Clark High School - 01 Clark |
Public | 18.1 | 124 | +18.1% |
| Arlington High School - 01 Arlington |
Public | 30.8 | 76 | -20.0% |
| Lake Preston High School - 01 Lake Preston |
Public | 22.6 | 41 | — |
| Waubay High School - 01 Waubay |
Public | 51.6 | 65 | +27.5% |
| Wilmot High School - 01 Wilmot |
Public | 65.9 | 64 | -1.5% |