Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 29525

Zip code 29525 is home to a single elementary school, Clio Elementary, which serves grades PK through 5th and is part of the Marlboro 01 school district, a district ranked in the bottom 7% of all districts in South Carolina.

For parents considering Clio Elementary, the most important takeaway is that the school faces significant challenges, but also shows some promising bright spots. The most pressing concern is a chronic absenteeism rate of 34.5%, which is far above the state average of 22.3% and likely a major factor in lower academic performance. On the positive side, the school invests heavily in its students, spending $17,383 per pupil and maintaining an excellent student-teacher ratio of 9.8:1, which allows for small class sizes and individualized attention. Academically, the school's overall ranking has improved from the 11th percentile to the 23rd percentile in the most recent year, and there is a notable "4th grade anomaly" where students significantly outperform their peers in other grades. In 4th grade, 60.7% of students were proficient in ELA and 46.4% in math, both well above the district averages of 46.3% and 26.1%, respectively.

However, this success is not consistent across all grades. While 4th-grade scores saw dramatic year-over-year improvements, 3rd-grade proficiency in both ELA and math declined, and all other grade-level scores remain below state averages. The school's high spending and low student-teacher ratio do not appear to be translating into uniformly strong results, suggesting that external factors like absenteeism and broader community challenges are at play. It is also important to note that while Clio Elementary's scores are low, they are often at or above the Marlboro 01 district average, indicating that these struggles are systemic to the area rather than isolated to this one school. For parents, this means the school offers strong resources and a potential pocket of excellence in 4th grade, but overall academic consistency and attendance remain significant hurdles.