The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Clearbrook-gonvick Elementary
Clearbrook-Gonvick Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the Clearbrook-Gonvick School District, a regular public school in the small, rural town of Clearbrook in northern Minnesota’s Clearwater County. The town itself is very small, with a traditional grid layout centered on Main Street, where local businesses and civic buildings like City Hall sit within a compact footprint. Car dependency is high here, and the local economy draws on transportation, health care, construction, and historical ties to agriculture and oil pipeline operations. The school sits within this tight-knit community, and its elementary-only grade band means it feeds into the district’s secondary school elsewhere.
Academically, Clearbrook-Gonvick Elementary’s state testing results from the most recent school year provide a mixed but revealing picture. In reading and language arts, the share of students meeting state standards ranged from just under half of third graders to just over two-thirds of fifth graders, with most tested grades landing around the middle. Math results were more uneven: third and fourth graders posted proficiency rates above the midpoint, but fifth and sixth graders saw notably lower levels, with sixth graders below a quarter proficient. Science results for the one tested grade, fifth, were low. While the school has only a single year of assessment data reported in this form, making trend analysis impossible, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint relative to the other district in Clearwater County. A parent may want to ask the school about the resources and interventions available for students in the upper elementary grades, particularly in math and science, where the numbers raise questions.
The student body is relatively small. Racially and ethnically, the school is predominantly white, with a notable presence of American Indian or Alaska Native students and a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community with moderate economic need. Data on special education services and English learner status were not available in the profile. The school’s directory confirms it as a regular, non-charter public school, and no information on magnet status, Title I status, or disciplinary data was provided.
For families considering the area, the housing market in Clearbrook shows signs of rapid appreciation. While home values are well below both state and national medians, they have climbed considerably in the past year, a trend that will matter to prospective buyers. The town is experiencing a minor decline in employment, though property values are rising. Rental cost data for the immediate area was not available, but statewide rental costs have been increasing. The broader economic context shows mortgage rates in the mid-six percent range at the time of reporting and national unemployment low.
The district itself did not have any publicly reported recent changes or strategic initiatives that surfaced in the web research, so that dimension is absent from this account. What is clear is that Clearbrook-Gonvick Elementary is a small, rural school with a community feel and a student body that reflects the area’s demographics. Its academic results are strongest in early elementary reading and math, but performance in upper elementary math and science warrants a closer look from families deciding whether the school’s offerings align with their child’s needs. With limited program data available and no graduation rate because the school does not serve high school grades, the full picture of the district’s secondary outcomes remains separate from this elementary profile.
See more original research from School Decision →