Clio Area School District

The Clio Area School District serves approximately 2,482 students across five schools—two elementary campuses, one middle school, one traditional high school, and one alternative school—spanning grades PK-12 in a predominantly economically disadvantaged area of Michigan.

For parents, the standout success story is Clio Area High School, which posts a 93.4% graduation rate—well above the state's 84%—and outperforms state averages in science and social studies. The high school also has the district's lowest dropout rate at 2.4%. At the other end of the spectrum, Clio Community High School, the alternative school, faces severe challenges with a 14.8% graduation rate, a 79.6% chronic absenteeism rate, and the highest student-teacher ratio in the district at 27:1. Among elementary schools, Clio Elementary showed dramatic year-over-year improvement, jumping from below state averages to above them in both third-grade ELA (43.3% vs. 38.2% state) and math (46.3% vs. 42.9% state). Clio Intermediate School shines in 5th-grade ELA at 56.1% proficiency (12.3 points above state) but struggles in math, while Clio Middle School shows a concerning dip in 6th grade before rebounding strongly by 8th grade, where PSAT ELA proficiency reaches 72.6%—nearly 8 points above the state average.

The most striking pattern is a district-wide math weakness: SAT math proficiency at the high school sits at just 18.4% versus the state's 26.5%, and math scores lag in nearly every grade. Chronic absenteeism strongly tracks with poor outcomes—the alternative school's 79.6% absenteeism rate aligns with its low graduation rate, while Clio Elementary's 19.6% rate (best in district) corresponds with its academic gains. The district's overall 62nd percentile ranking masks significant variation, with the high school performing notably stronger than lower grades, suggesting students may experience meaningful academic growth during their high school years.