Best Public Schools in Clear Spring, MD

The three public schools serving Clear Spring, Maryland—Clear Spring Elementary (PK-5), Clear Spring Middle (6-8), and Clear Spring High (9-12)—are part of the Washington County Public Schools district and serve a combined enrollment of about 1,177 students. All three schools consistently outperform both the district and state averages in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, making Clear Spring a notably strong educational community within Maryland.

Clear Spring Middle stands out as the academic powerhouse, earning a 4-star rating and ranking in the 82nd percentile or higher among Maryland middle schools. It achieves a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Algebra I, dramatically exceeding the district’s 25% average, and leads the district in overall math proficiency at 43.3%. Clear Spring High is also a strong performer with a 4-star rating and an upward trend, leading in ELA proficiency at 64% and maintaining a graduation rate of 89.1% with a lower dropout rate than the district. Clear Spring Elementary provides a solid foundation with consistent 3-star ratings, achieving 41.3% math and 56.9% ELA proficiency despite spending significantly less per student ($14,992) compared to the middle ($21,956) and high ($22,608) schools.

Chronic absenteeism is a key challenge, particularly at the high school level (29.7%), which is notably higher than the elementary (20.1%) and middle (21.3%) schools. While all three schools have lower absenteeism than the district average of 29.0%, this sharp increase from middle to high school is an area to watch. A potential weakness exists at Clear Spring Middle in 8th Grade Social Studies, where only 32.1% of students are proficient—well below the district (41.6%) and state (39.3%) averages. Overall, the Clear Spring schools offer a cohesive, high-performing environment where the middle school reverses the typical academic decline, and all schools provide strong results relative to their peers.