Claymont Intermediate School

Claymont Intermediate School is a 341-student school serving grades 3–5 in Dennison, a rural community in Tuscarawas County, and it is one of three elementary buildings in the Claymont City district. Its state rank has slid over the past decade: it now sits at the 31st percentile with 2 stars, the lowest standing in its ten-year record and well below the 63rd percentile and 3 stars it reached in 2018–2019. The district itself ranks in the bottom third of Ohio districts, and because this building is the district's entire grade 3–5 program, the school and district profiles are effectively the same.

Test results are the clearest concern. In 2025–2026, the school scored below the state average in all seven tested subject-and-grade areas, with gaps to the state running from about 6 points in 5th-grade math to about 18 points in 3rd-grade reading. Reading in grades 3 and 4 is the deepest weakness, at 45.2% and 45.3% proficient. Nearby schools outperform it almost everywhere: Midvale Elementary School, about 4 miles away in the Indian Valley Local district, is ahead by 22–31 points in several subjects, and both Conotton Valley Elementary and Port Washington Elementary School post much higher results. Grade-5 science has now declined four years running, from 65% to 51%.

There are real bright spots. Chronic absenteeism has improved from 22.2% to 14.5% over four years — the best rate among Claymont's three buildings and below the district's 17.7% — and as recently as 2023–2024 the school beat the state in grade-5 math and science. Resources do not appear to be the constraint: its 17.4-to-1 student-teacher ratio is the smallest among comparable local schools, and its per-student spending is higher than several higher-performing neighbors. Subgroup results have slipped across special education and low-income students, and the 3rd-graders arriving each year are starting further behind. Better attendance has not yet translated into better achievement.