Clear Creek Elementary, Grass Valley CA

Original Research by School Decision on Clear Creek Elementary

Clear Creek Elementary is a small K-8 school in the Sierra Nevada foothills community of Grass Valley, serving about that many students across nine grades. The school sits on McCourtney Road, a regional highway route on the edge of town, in a district that serves only this one school.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share from multiracial households; Hispanic and other racial groups represent smaller shares. About four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate economic need within the catchment.

Academic performance shows a mixed picture. In English language arts across grades three through eight, proficiency hovers around the low-to-mid range overall, though it dips lower in fourth grade and rises above the midpoint in fifth and seventh grades. Mathematics proficiency tracks similarly, ranging from below half in third, fourth, and sixth grades to near or above two-thirds in fifth grade. Science results, available for grades five and eight, show proficiency in the mid-range. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Nevada County's districts, meaning Clear Creek is performing better than most of its county peers in terms of tested achievement, even though raw proficiency levels are not high by state standards.

The school itself is small and spans a wide range. Early grades (kindergarten through second) are not assessed, so no standardized testing data exists for them. The middle grades (six through eight) show some variation in engagement and achievement, with seventh graders notably stronger in reading than their peers in other grades. The student body experiences no reported major recent change in curriculum, policy, or funding that would signal a turning point. State testing data was available for only the current school year, so trend information is not available.

Housing in the Grass Valley zip code is moderately priced compared to California statewide, and the area is experiencing its largest residential development in decades through Loma Rica Ranch, a major multi-phase subdivision project now under construction nearby. This growth may affect school enrollment and community character over the coming years. Grass Valley itself is a historic Gold Rush town with a walkable downtown core and a local economy anchored by healthcare, retail, technology, and tourism, giving the place a small-town feel with year-round visitor activity.

A parent considering Clear Creek should factor in its rural location on a regional highway outside the compact downtown, its small size, and the mixed state of academic proficiency alongside its above-county-average peer performance. The school's strength relative to its county neighbors is a notable advantage; the gap between that ranking and lower raw proficiency numbers suggests the region faces similar learning challenges overall.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 773%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 22 pts above state median

This schoolClear Creek Elementary, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.