Other / mixed grade configuration · Clearwater, SC

Clearwater Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Clearwater Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 49/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 450072000020
0/100100/10049/100
👥 S:T ratio
53
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
32
📋 Attendance
42
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Clearwater Elementary earns 49/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 81% of South Carolina schools.

49
Resource Index · Higher
11.7:1
small classes for South Carolina
100.0%
free-lunch eligible
338
students enrolled

Clearwater Elementary has class sizes smaller than 81% of South Carolina schools. Computed live against every South Carolina school reporting to NCES.

School address

Enrollment

338

South Carolina · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

29.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

11.7:1

vs 14.3:1 South Carolina avg

-18% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

100.0%

vs 74.0% South Carolina avg

+35% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Clearwater Elementary compares with South Carolina and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Clearwater Elementary

Clearwater Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Clearwater, South Carolina, enrolling 338 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.7:1 puts it in the smaller third of South Carolina schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 100.0% lands close to the South Carolina typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

Enrollment of 338 puts it in the smaller third of South Carolina schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,214 scored South Carolina schools.

Against 278 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #73.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (39%) and African American (25%) (diversity index 71/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 338 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 23.1% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

The surrounding Aiken 01 spends $11,604 per pupil, 20% below the South Carolina average, a leaner-resourced district than most.

Its district draws 15.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Aiken 01 also operates North Augusta High (1,645 students) and Midland Valley High (1,558 students) alongside Clearwater Elementary.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Clearwater Elementary compares

Clearwater Elementary on the metrics families compare, against South Carolina and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs South Carolina South Carolina avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 11.7:1 ▼ 18% 14.3:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 100.0% ▲ 35% 74.0% 51.7%
Enrollment 338 top 79% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

11.7:1
Leaner classes than 78% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
338
Bigger than 38% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
100.0%
free-lunch eligible - 35% above the South Carolina average of 74.0%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
11.7:1
students per teacher - 18% below state mean
Top 19% in South Carolina - lower ratio than 81% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
23.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$11,604
per pupil, district-wide - below South Carolina avg of $14,558
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 338 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 31 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.1 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 11.2 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 39.1%
African American 25.4%
White 23.4%
Two or More 11.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 39.1% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 71.4/100

Simpson diversity index - at 71.4, Clearwater Elementary is more mixed than the South Carolina school average of 52.7.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Aiken 01, which includes Clearwater Elementary.

$11,604
Per student
-20%
vs South Carolina
Avg $14,558
-30%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 39.3%
State 45.4%
Federal 15.3%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Clearwater Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
North Augusta High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Midland Valley High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
South Aiken High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Aiken High Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Silver Bluff High Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Clearwater Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Aiken 01 · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of South Carolina, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Clearwater Elementary's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Clearwater Elementary

How many students attend Clearwater Elementary?

Clearwater Elementary has 338 students enrolled. It is a public school in Clearwater, SC.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Clearwater Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Clearwater Elementary is 11.7:1, which is 18% lower than the South Carolina average of 14.3:1 and 25% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Clearwater Elementary?

100.0% of students at Clearwater Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the South Carolina average of 74.0%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Clearwater Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Clearwater Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 39.1% of enrollment, in Clearwater, SC. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 71.4/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Clearwater Elementary?

Clearwater Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 49/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

Is Clearwater Elementary a good school?

Clearwater Elementary earns 49/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 81% of South Carolina schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Aiken 01?

Besides Clearwater Elementary, Aiken 01 also operates North Augusta High (1,645 students), Midland Valley High (1,558 students), and South Aiken High (1,349 students). See the Aiken 01 district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.