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We are moving this summer to the area. I have elementary school and middle school age children. We orginally thought Irmo would be best area for us, however I'm not thrilled with what I see about the schools for the neighborhoods we like best. We used to live in Richmond City then moved the burbs when kids were babies. I am looking for something in between. Homes w/ character but great schools. Does this even exist?? Another wrench in the plan is that we will have to rent for at least a year once we get there. Any suggestions or insight will be helpful. Thanks.
Lexington or Northeast Columbia should both present options to you that will fit your needs. As for as finding a place to rent, I would suggest that you contact some property management companies to see what they have available for rent.
I'd recommend the Dreher High School feeder schools in Columbia. The neighborhoods in that area have great older homes and the neighborhoods are well kept, have sidewalks and parks and are close to shopping. Shandon would be a good area to start.
The Richland/Lexington 5 schools are good. They have been blue ribbon in the past. Comparable districts are Richland 2 and Lexington 1. Then you also have Gilbert HS and Dreher HS that are good. We could probably help you more if you'd tell us what you don't like about the schools and neighborhoods?
I am not exactly sure why Irmo has a separate school for just 6th grade which is the grade my oldest is entering. Due to a new school built here, that means if we choose Irmo she will have gone to 5 different schools between 4th and 9th grades. She doesn't seem to think it's a big deal, but she hasn't moved since she was 2. Yet Irmo is more in line with what we want to spend for the size house we are interested in. Also, I like that Richland 2 offers golf and swimming at the HS level, Irmo does not from what I saw. The most difficult part for us is that we are leaving a beautiful home and neighborhood, and one of the top school districts in VA and we are having to downgrade home expectations. I just don't want to settle on schools.
I don't think that you should have to settle, but you obviously want to do your research on all the school districts to see where you want your children to attend. You can find good schools in Columbia and in Lexington, such as the Irmo area, but you should certainly look around at all the areas of Columbia to decide where you want to live.
I have been very happy with the Lex one school district. There are many elementary schools and most of them are newer. Pleasant Hill Elementary and Pleasant Hill Middle School are located on the same property and are very good schools. Lexington is a pleasant, clean, safe area for families. There is plenty to do with the kids. Plenty of shopping in Lexington and the mall at Harbison is very nice.
The reasoning for Crossroads (the separate school for 6th graders) is so that students will have a better transition between elementary school and middle school. All of the parents that I know whose children have gone through Crossroads have absolutely raved about it. Overall though, in my opinion Richland/Lexington 5 is somewhat going downhill compared to what it used to be when I was in high school five or six year ago. I would highly reccomend living in Lexington and sending your kids to school there. What neighborhoods have you been looking in?
After driving around this past weekend our focus has shifted a bit. We used to live in an older, city home in Richmond VA, then built new for the home we have now. We definitely want to go back to older homes, probably no younger than early 70's. So while exploring we fell in love with Forest Acres and Heathwood area. Out of our price range for most of what they have but schools looked comparable to Irmo (with Richland 1 really impressing me most). We are willing to take a smaller house if it has the right feel, schools and safety are our #1 priority. You could never get schools like what serves Melrose Heights in Richmond city, most go to private school. But we've been in the 'burbs so we like that our kids play outside and go to school with the same kids every day.
That is the only area in Richland One where the schools are very good. Probably Brendan Elementary, Hand Middle, and Dreher High. The rest of the district is mostly below dismal, seriously.
As an alternative, the Rosewood Area, substituting Rosewood Elementary (very good) and the others the same.
Best of luck.
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