Summary:
Zip code 29822 is home to a single school, Clearwater Elementary, a small rural school serving grades PK through 5 with 338 students in the Aiken 01 district.
For parents considering this area, Clearwater Elementary offers a notably low student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1 and above-average per-student spending of $14,515, suggesting a resource-rich environment that could support individualized attention. However, academic performance tells a more complex story. The school's state ranking has declined sharply over two years, falling from the 36th percentile (2 stars) in 2023-2024 to the 22nd percentile (1 star) in 2025-2026. The most striking pattern is a "3rd-grade bump" followed by a "5th-grade cliff" in mathematics: in 2024-2025, 3rd graders actually beat the state average in math (57.1% vs. 56.3%), but the same cohort's 5th-grade math proficiency plummeted to just 14.7%—a staggering 42-point drop. The 2025-2026 scores show some recovery in 5th grade math (28.9%), but this remains far below the state average of 49.1%. English Language Arts is a consistent, moderate concern, with proficiency in all grades trailing district and state averages by roughly 5-15 percentage points. Science proficiency in 4th grade is also low at 30.0% compared to the state's 51.6%.
Chronic absenteeism at Clearwater Elementary is 22.0%, which matches the state average but is notably better than the district's 25.1%—a relative strength. The disconnect between high spending and declining outcomes is a critical takeaway: financial resources alone are not translating into improved test scores. Parents should be aware that while early elementary math shows promise, the upper grades face significant challenges, particularly in math and science. The school's small class sizes provide an opportunity for intervention, but the downward ranking trend suggests systemic issues that may require targeted curriculum and instructional changes in grades 4 and 5.
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