Summary:
Zip code 49236 in Clinton, Michigan, is served by two elementary schools within the Clinton Community Schools district, which together educate roughly 607 students from Pre-K through 5th grade in a moderate-poverty community where about 30% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Clinton Elementary School is the district's main K-5 campus with 569 students, and it shows a clear split in academic performance. The school outperforms state averages in 3rd-grade ELA (+5.2 points), 5th-grade ELA (+5.1 points), 5th-grade science (+5.3 points), and 5th-grade social studies (+7.1 points), making literacy and content-area instruction clear strengths. However, math proficiency lags significantly, with 4th-grade math falling 11 points below the state average and 5th-grade math trailing by 7.7 points. The most recent 2025-2026 data reveals a dramatic 15.9-point drop in 3rd-grade ELA proficiency to 28.2%, well below the state's 38.2%, which warrants immediate attention. Despite these mixed results, the school's state ranking has improved from the 43rd to 52nd percentile over two years, and its chronic absenteeism rate of 19.1% is nearly 9 points better than the state average, indicating strong family engagement.
DPP School of Early Learning serves just 38 Pre-K and Kindergarten students as a specialized early childhood center. It has no standardized test data, as expected for this age group, but notable resource disparities exist between the two schools. DPP spends $8,302 per student compared to $13,469 at Clinton Elementary, and its student-teacher ratio of 28.3:1 is nearly double Clinton's 16.8:1. For an early learning center serving the district's youngest learners, this high ratio may limit individualized attention. The district overall earns a 4-star rating and ranks 144th out of 625 Michigan districts (77th percentile), suggesting solid performance with clear opportunities for targeted math intervention and increased early childhood resources.
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