H. E. Corley Elementary, Irmo SC

Original Research by School Decision on H. E. Corley Elementary

H. E. Corley Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Irmo, a suburban community northwest of Columbia that straddles Lexington and Richland counties. The town grew steadily from a small farming and railroad stop into a residential suburb, a process that began with subdivisions in the 1960s and continued through the decades that followed. Irmo bills itself as the Gateway to Lake Murray, and its annual Okra Strut festival draws residents together for a parade and street dance. The school sits within Lexington School District 5.

Corley Elementary enrolls a student body that is diverse across several dimensions. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is made up of several racial and ethnic groups, with no single group forming a majority. The school is a regular public school and does not operate as a charter or magnet.

On state assessments, the school shows a clear pattern of stronger performance in English language arts than in math. In third, fourth, and fifth grades, more than two-thirds of students scored at the proficient level or above in ELA, a notably solid result. Math proficiency rates were lower across those same grades, with a noticeable dip in fourth grade, and the picture for science was similar to the math pattern for that grade. Social studies results were available from an older assessment cycle and are not comparable to current measures. The available data covers one school year, so there is not yet a multi-year trend to indicate whether these performance levels are improving or declining. South Carolina made changes to proficiency cut scores for ELA and science in this period, which means a direct comparison to earlier years is not straightforward. A parent may want to ask the school how the cut score changes affect the reported results and what internal benchmarks they use to track growth.

The school does not serve high school grades, so it has no graduation rate to report. The available academic context is limited to the current year, and absent enrollment by subgroup for special education and English learner populations, a deeper picture of how the school serves its full range of students is incomplete. Those categories were not reported in the data we received. A family with a child who may need additional support would be wise to ask the school directly about its learning supports, intervention programs, and staffing ratios.

In the broader county context, Corley Elementary places well. Among districts in Richland County, the school ranks in the top quartile on an overall proficiency index that averages results across tested subjects and grades. That positioning is a strength. A parent reading the data gets the signal that this is a school where the typical student is meeting state standards in reading at a level that stands out in the county, while the math and science results are less consistent and may merit a closer look at the curriculum and supports in those areas.

The housing context around the school reflects a suburban market. Home values and rents in the area are moderate relative to national benchmarks. The area skews toward homeownership, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment is above the typical rent, a gap that is common in many suburban markets. This is not a place where housing is dramatically out of reach for families, but it is not exceptionally affordable either. Given the school's economic diversity, with a substantial share of families receiving meal assistance, the community around Corley encompasses a range of income levels.

The district brief from the web search did not turn up specific recent information on Lexington 5's financial or policy changes. We looked for updates on property tax millage and district priorities but found little, so we left that out rather than guess. The school itself, based on what is available, presents as a solid elementary school with a specific academic profile: reading results that are a genuine strength, math and science results that are weaker and would benefit from a family's direct inquiry, and a diverse student body in a growing suburban town that has a distinct community identity separate from the city of Columbia.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 61% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 60% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 55% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 68% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 71% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 70% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 53% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 79% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolLexington 05, 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-income61%Higher-income87%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income71%Higher-income77%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income60%Higher-income82%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income61%Higher-income57%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income73%40 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income74%35 pp gap