Schools in Columbia (Lexington, North: construction, school districts, to live in)

[mswmiz77]

Hello. I apologize if there is a thread somewhere on this, I did not come across it...

We may be relocating to Columbia area, and I am wondering what the public schools are like there? My children are still small, so elementary is most important to us, but older grades too I am interested in knowing about.

Also, are there any catholic schools or private christian schools in the area that are good?

AND, what areas are the nicest, we are looking for a family oriented place.

Thanks!!

[Captain Worley]

Avoid Richland 1 except for Dreher and its feeder schools. Lexington schools are pretty good. White Knoll has a great reputation.

Cardinal Newman is the Catholic school, and Hammand, Heathwood, and Ben Lippen are local private schools.

[Woodlands]

I would add St Peter's on Assembly and St. Joseph's on Devine to the list of Catholic Schools.. For District 1.. AC Flora and its feeders were promising at one time... may be worth a look. Dreher HS, AC Flora HS and their feeders are the most revered in Richland 1.

[waccamatt]

Yes, definitely add AC Flora and its feeder schools in Richland District one.

[Wildflower-222]

Re Catholic Schools: In the NE Columbia area, I have several friends who send their kids to St John Neumann. In the Shandon area of town the Catholic school is St Joseph. Both are very good schools and located in nice areas of town. The elementary schools feed on to Cardinall Newman HS. BTW, Cardinal Newman is planning on building a new campus near the Polo Rd/Alpine Rd exit, construction should be starting in a few years.

Heathwood Hall is a good Episcopal school. Hammond and Timmerman are good private schools which are not religously oriented.

Re public elementary schools: Richland 1: friends can recommend Satchel Ford and Brockman. Richland 2: friends can recommend Lake Carolina, Bookman Rd and Polo Rd.

[jlboney]

Richland 2 schools get a lot of good publicity.
And as others have mentioned, there are several private schools throughout the Columbia area. I have a few friends that send their children to Heathwood Hall and they love it.

[waccamatt]

St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church also used to have a school, but I'm not sure that they still do.

[gngmurphy]

We just moved to Lexington and are very happy with Lexington 1 schools. We have one elementary and one in Lexington High School. My kids have very different abilities and the schools are very good on both ends of the spectrum.

[gngmurphy]

I was told about a site called publicschoolreview.com that has alot of information. It actually covers private schools too. That might help you make a decision too. Good luck!

[mgreg1117]

I use greatschools.net whenever we move to find out about schools (my husband is military). Columbia has several different school districts. We live in the Richland 2 district and they attend Round Top Elementary. We stayed away from Richland 1 district. Lexington 5 has great schools as well. We wanted to live in Northeast Columbia since it was an easier commute for my husbands job. Otherwise Lexington 5 would be my first choice here.