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Clear Dot Charter School

Q: Is Clear Dot Charter School a good school?

Clear Dot Charter School ranks in the bottom 1.5% of South Carolina alternative schools.

Q: How many students attend Clear Dot Charter School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 474 students attended Clear Dot Charter School.

Q: What is the racial makeup of Clear Dot Charter School?

Students at Clear Dot Charter School are 81% African American, 12% White, 4% Two or more races, 3% Hispanic.

Public, Charter, Alternative Grades K-12

639^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 649 South Carolina Alternative Schools

Better than 2% of South Carolina alternative schools

Summary

Clear Dot Charter School is a small alternative charter school in Columbia, SC, serving 474 students in grades PK through 11 under the Charter Institute at Erskine. Nearly all students (99%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, and the school offers a favorable 11.2:1 student-teacher ratio, meaning smaller class sizes and more individual attention than many nearby schools.

The most striking finding is the huge gap between reading and math scores. In the most recent testing year, reading proficiency averaged about 34% across grades 3-8, while math proficiency averaged just under 9%. For example, only 2.7% of 3rd graders were proficient in math, compared to 53.4% at American Leadership Academy South Carolina-Lexington Campu. Even 8th grade math (11.8%) trails far behind that same school (37.3%). Reading scores, while still below state averages, are much stronger by comparison, and the school's English 2 end-of-course exam scores (around 57-60% proficiency) are surprisingly close to state averages, suggesting reading instruction improves in upper grades.

Attendance is another concern. Chronic absenteeism has swung wildly—from 10.6% to 29% to 7.8% and back up to 22.6% over the past few years—nearly double the district average. The school also spends more per student ($12,810) than comparable charters like School Connections Academy ($8,987) yet achieves lower test scores. On the positive side, the dropout rate (2.5%) is close to the state average and far better than similar alternative schools like Carolus Online Academy (12.2%). Overall, Clear Dot offers strong student support and retention, but families should be aware of significant math challenges and inconsistent attendance patterns that may affect learning.

474

Students ?

11.2

Student/teacher ratio ?

$12,810

Per pupil spending ?

99.3%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2015 Marion Street
Columbia, SC 29201

(803) 567-3075

District: Charter Institute at Erskine

Racial breakdown:

African American:

80.8%

White:

11.6%

Two or more races:

4.2%

See top rated South Carolina elementary schools

Compare Clear Dot Charter School to nearby alternative schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 14th percentile in 2022 → 2nd in 2026

Strengths

✓Small classes — about 11 students per teacher

Worth a look

!Test scores below the South Carolina average (22% vs 57% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (2nd percentile)

!Ranking has slipped — down 12 percentile points since 2022

Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?

This school22%

District avg49%

South Carolina avg57%

Elementary school

639^th of 649

South Carolina public elementary schools ?

Bottom 2%▼ down 11 pts since 2021

From bottom 13% (2021) to bottom 2% (2026)

See the entire ranking list of South Carolina Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

Middle school

329^th of 335

South Carolina public middle schools ?

Bottom 2%▬ steady since 2021

See the entire ranking list of South Carolina Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

12^th of 12Alternative Schools in the Charter Institute at Erskine

40^th of 75Charter Institute at Erskine among South Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Elementary school ranking

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	5.2	639 of 649	1.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	8.7	612 of 640	4.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	13.5	565 of 638	11.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	20.9	525 of 644	18.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	15.1	535 of 625	14.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	13.6	542 of 622	12.9%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	10.4	370 of 379	2.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	17.3	355 of 381	6.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	26.2	300 of 369	18.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	33.6	268 of 393	31.8%	★★☆☆☆
2021	22.9	304 of 350	13.1%	★☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	3.9	579 of 581	0.3%	☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	6.4	616 of 624	1.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	10.4	592 of 613	3.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	14.9	545 of 599	9.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	27.6	471 of 608	22.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	21.3	493 of 600	17.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	16.6	503 of 580	13.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	2.5	581 of 583	0.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	6.1	571 of 586	2.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	9.1	535 of 568	5.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

Middle school ranking

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	5.5	329 of 335	1.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	9.4	306 of 320	4.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	10.9	304 of 325	6.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	11.1	305 of 325	6.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	13.7	279 of 310	10.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	7.6	304 of 311	2.3%	☆☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	10.3	254 of 257	1.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	21.5	220 of 252	12.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	19.8	220 of 248	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	30.2	188 of 249	24.5%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	8.5	311 of 320	2.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2025	13.2	288 of 307	6.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	16.4	274 of 307	10.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	13.1	295 of 313	5.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	18.2	265 of 300	11.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	5.4	288 of 288	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2026	11.4	284 of 306	7.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Elementary school

African American (2026)2nd percentile~ school

Low Socio Economic Status (2026)1st percentile~ school

Female (2025)<1st percentile-4 vs school

Male (2026)<1st percentile~ school

Middle school

Male (2026)7th percentile+5 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2026)3rd percentile~ school

African American (2026)1st percentile~ school

By subject vs South Carolina (2025-2026) ?

English 257%-27 vs state

English Language Arts34%-27 vs state

Science19%-32 vs state

English 112%-49 vs state

Mathematics9%-39 vs state

U.S. History and the Constitution8%-55 vs state

1.0

2 ratings · 2 written reviews

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What people are saying

by a parent
Monday, May 22, 2023

the school is not parent friendly! You hardly here from teachers unless you contact them. Only current parents are allowed in the school! Most of the employees are family in someway or another. The school is and high school is very unorganized or supervised ! They seem to care more about sports then the other students that don’t play sports. You would think being a smaller school they could watch the kids better but the kids seem to take this school to play with! The parents at this school also let there kids get away with everything, phones, talking back, and cursing and running in and out of classes. And when the coaches attempt to discipline they have been jumped on physically by parents! I wouldn’t recommend this school, it has a good idea but not the people running it, more about money the kids ! Close Quote

by a parent
Friday, May 19, 2023

This is a very unprofessional school, most of the employees are family in someway or another. Only certain parents are allowed to go in the school, middle school and high school students are allowed to have there phones during school. Students are poorly supervised.. Reports by students of students engaging in unsupervised activities in class! Extra school funds are put on to sports . This is more for show and hen caring about the students! This school starts our promising a lot then at the end nothing!!! Close Quote

Schools Near Clear Dot Charter School

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking ()				Ranking ()				SC READY English Language Arts (2026)						SC READY Mathematics (2026)						SC READY Science (2026)		EOCEP Algebra 1/Mathematics for the Technologies 2 (2026)	EOCEP English 1 (2026)	EOCEP U.S. History and the Constitution (2026)	EOCEP English 2 (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2024)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score ()	Statewide Rank ()	State Percentile ()	SchoolDigger Rating ()	Average Standard Score ()	Statewide Rank ()	State Percentile ()	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 6th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 7th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 8th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 6th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 7th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 8th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	SC READY Science 6th Grade	EOCEP Algebra 1/Mathematics for the Technologies 2 End of Course	EOCEP English 1 End of Course	EOCEP U.S. History and the Constitution End of Course	EOCEP English 2 End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Clear Dot Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2015 Marion Street	Columbia	29201	Richland County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	No	No	Yes	(803) 567-3075	474	42	11.2	99.3%	55 (11.6%)	383 (80.8%)	15 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.2%)								(n/a)	40.5	38.3	33.3	33.3	27.0	32.4	2.7	8.8	12.8	12.1	5.4	11.8	20.5	18.2		12.0	8.0	57.2	$12,810	$2,409	$1,018	$3,427	$6,273	$3,110	$9,383
Pendergrass Fairwold School	Public, Alternative	K-12	5935 Token Street	Columbia	29203	Richland County	Richland 01	No	No	No	No	(803) 735-3435	46	14	3.2	94.6%	4 (8.7%)	37 (80.4%)	3 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (4.3%)								(n/a)																			$68,847	$4,265	$1,123	$5,389	$58,171	$5,288	$63,459
South Carolina Virtual Charter School	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2023 Platt Springs Road	West Columbia	29169	Lexington County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	No	Yes	No	(803) 253-6222	2,180	126	17.2	53.9%	1,210 (55.5%)	585 (26.8%)	177 (8.1%)	14 (0.6%)	5 (0.2%)	4 (0.2%)	185 (8.5%)								(n/a)	59.4	70.6	49.6	48.7	60.3	66.1	27.1	30.1	25.5	23.5	20.8	25.4	41.2	32.5		48.9	59.8	88.0	$9,690	$540	$48	$588	$7,296	$1,806	$9,102
School Connections Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	201 Executive Center Drive Sui	Columbia	29210	Richland County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	No	Yes	No	(803) 212-4712	6,152	268	22.9	47.9%	3,858 (62.7%)	1,255 (20.4%)	526 (8.6%)	33 (0.5%)	26 (0.4%)	8 (0.1%)	446 (7.2%)								(n/a)	53.6	52.7	53.1	56.4	60.4	62.0	36.8	22.8	23.2	17.4	25.3	28.9	38.5	42.1	28.4	44.5	41.8	85.1	$8,987	$494	$01	$494	$3,154	$5,338	$8,492
Carolus Online Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	101 Westpark Boulevard Suite C	Columbia	29210	Richland County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(803) 205-4005	1,786	64	27.9	48.8%	846 (47.4%)	633 (35.4%)	155 (8.7%)	4 (0.2%)	19 (1.1%)	7 (0.4%)	122 (6.8%)								(n/a)	16.9	25.8	30.6	27.2	36.7	32.5	9.1	8.2	9.5	3.8	7.8	9.8	12.3	11.5	20.0	15.0	25.0	55.0	$9,912	$67	$173	$240	$2,607	$7,064	$9,671
American Leadership Academy South Carolina-Lexington Campu	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	109 Innovation Drive	Lexington	29072	Lexington County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 756-2724	1,979	157	12.6	3.5%	1,305 (65.9%)	271 (13.7%)	189 (9.6%)	88 (4.4%)	7 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	118 (6.0%)								(n/a)	65.1	73.6	69.4	59.3	65.2	67.3	53.4	55.4	57.0	30.2	56.0	37.3	59.4	46.0		52.2	55.1	84.8	$11,553		$157	$157	$5,086	$6,310	$11,396

Frequently Asked Questions about Clear Dot Charter School

How many students attend Clear Dot Charter School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 474 students attended Clear Dot Charter School.

Is Clear Dot Charter School a good school?

Clear Dot Charter School ranks in the bottom 1.5% of South Carolina alternative schools.

What is the racial makeup of Clear Dot Charter School?

Students at Clear Dot Charter School are 81% African American, 12% White, 4% Two or more races, 3% Hispanic.

What district is Clear Dot Charter School in?

Charter Institute at Erskine

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Latest South Carolina data All new data »

2025–26 EOCEP & SC READY test scoresAug 10, 2026

2024–25 school spending dataNov 3, 2025

2024–25 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesNov 3, 2025

2024–25 EOCEP & SC READY test scoresSep 2, 2025

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.