Cayce Elementary, Cayce SC - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Cayce Elementary

Cayce Elementary is a regular public school in Lexington School District Two, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits in the small city of Cayce, along the Congaree River and within the Columbia metropolitan area. The school is one of several elementary options in a district that also includes creative arts, middle, and high schools spread across the city.

The student body is large for an elementary school and notably diverse. A majority of students are Black, with substantial Hispanic and white populations and smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, and Native American students. Every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which makes this a high-poverty school by that measure. The school does not report data on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs.

On state assessments, Cayce Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Lexington County. That is a soft spot worth attention. In math, proficiency is notably low, and the fifth-grade math results are particularly weak. English language arts proficiency is higher, though still below the county median, with third grade showing the strongest results. Science proficiency for fourth graders is also low. Readers should know that South Carolina changed the cut scores for ELA and science assessments in the 2024-25 school year, and assessment names have shifted for science and social studies, so direct year-over-year comparisons are not reliable. The social studies data available is from 2018-19 and used a different assessment, making it outdated.

Because Cayce Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school environment data—discipline, attendance, staffing, course access—was not available in the materials reviewed. A family looking for a full picture of school climate would need to seek that information from the school or district.

Cayce itself blends residential neighborhoods with major employers like Dominion Energy South Carolina, which is headquartered here, and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport just west of the city limits. The area has seen modest population growth over recent decades. Housing values and rents in the school’s ZIP code are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks, making this a relatively affordable part of the Columbia metro. The city offers a 12-mile Riverwalk trail along the Congaree, other hiking and biking trails, and a public library branch that serves Cayce and West Columbia. Public transit is available through the COMET bus system. The district brief turned up no recent major changes to report from Lexington Two.

For a parent weighing Cayce Elementary, the combination of universal free meals and a diverse, high-poverty student body suggests the school likely receives significant federal Title I funding, though that status was not confirmed in the data. The low overall proficiency, especially in math, is a concern, and the lack of trend data makes it hard to know whether the school is improving. Families who prioritize a strong academic record may want to investigate what interventions and supports are in place. Those who value a diverse, urban-adjacent setting with reasonable housing costs and outdoor recreational access may find this a workable fit if they are comfortable with the school’s academic profile and plan to be actively involved.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 43% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 39% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 27% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 48% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 51% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 50% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Science

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 37% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 64% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below 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 4Lower-income40%Higher-income40%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income45%15 pp gap