Springdale Elementary, West Columbia SC

Original Research by School Decision on Springdale Elementary

Springdale Elementary is a regular public school in West Columbia serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, part of Lexington School District Two. The school sits in a community that blends historic residential neighborhoods with ongoing commercial development along the Sunset Boulevard corridor, just across the Congaree River from downtown Columbia. The area is part of one of the fastest growing counties in South Carolina, with major employers including Lexington Medical Center and Southeastern Freight Lines, and a recently completed sewer expansion designed to unlock further development. The district itself did not have any recent parent-relevant changes identified in publicly available sources.

Springdale Elementary enrolls a student body that is majority white, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and a smaller but meaningful Black student population, as well as a modest group of multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a school that serves a significant number of families with lower household incomes. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education and language support services. The school does not have a charter or magnet designation, and its Title I status was not listed in the available information.

State testing results from the SC Ready assessment give a mixed but largely solid picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates across the third, fourth, and fifth grades are consistently strong, with fifth grade showing the highest performance. Math tells a more varied story: third graders post a comfortable proficiency rate, but the rate declines in fourth grade and drops further in fifth grade, where less than half of students score at proficient levels. This pattern suggests that math achievement becomes a challenge as students approach the end of elementary school, and a parent may want to ask the school what supports are in place to address this trajectory. Science, tested only in fourth grade, shows a moderate proficiency rate. Social studies data is from the 2018-19 school year and used a different assessment, so it is not directly comparable to current results. Because South Carolina changed cut scores for ELA and science in recent years, direct year-over-year trend comparisons are not possible with the current data.

When placed against other elementary schools within Lexington County, Springdale Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades ranks in the top quartile. This top-tier position is a clear strength and suggests that for a family looking at elementary options within the county, Springdale is performing above the typical level of its peers. That said, the within-grade variation, particularly the math decline in the upper elementary grades, means a parent should examine whether the school’s academic programming in late elementary aligns with their child’s needs.

The school offers no listed program data, such as gifted and talented offerings, arts, or afterschool enrichment, so families will need to look to the district or school website for information on anything beyond the core academic program. Housing in the area is priced somewhat below the state and national medians, and rents are moderate relative to income, which may make this part of Lexington County accessible for a range of households. West Columbia’s Riverwalk and trail system, proximity to Columbia, and ongoing infrastructure investments give the community a suburban feel with urban access.

Springdale Elementary’s academic profile is one of a school that performs well overall, particularly in reading, but where math proficiency slips as students get older. The school serves a diverse and predominantly low-income student population, and its relatively strong results in that context are worth noting. A parent considering this school should weigh the strong early literacy scores and the top-quartile county ranking against the math trend and the lack of publicly detailed enrichment or support programs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 43% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 39% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 27% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 48% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 51% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 50% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 37% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 64% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolLexington 02, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income83%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income84%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income61%Higher-income92%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income61%Higher-income83%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income84%46 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income68%31 pp gap