South Carolina Virtual Charter School, West Columbia SC

Original Research by School Decision on South Carolina Virtual Charter School

South Carolina Virtual Charter School is a statewide online public charter school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade. It operates under the Charter Institute at Erskine, an independent charter district that authorizes schools across South Carolina. The school’s administrative address is in West Columbia, but because it is an online program, students attend from home environments throughout the state rather than commuting to a central campus. This is a fully remote learning model, and a parent should understand that the day-to-day experience differs fundamentally from a brick-and-mortar school. There is no school building to which a student reports each day.

The student body is large for a single school, spanning every grade. The demographic composition is predominantly white, with a substantial Black population and a smaller Hispanic share. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a data point that indicates a higher proportion of families with lower household incomes. The school serves a population that has chosen a virtual model, and families considering it often have reasons such as flexibility, a need for an alternative to a traditional classroom, or a student who learns better in a home setting. The school is not a magnet, and no Title I status was available in the data.

Academically, the picture is mixed. In English language arts, the school’s performance is a relative strength. Across the tested elementary and middle school grades, a majority of students scored at or above the proficient level on the state’s SC Ready assessment. This is a notable positive, particularly given the challenges of delivering reading and writing instruction remotely. In math, the results are significantly weaker. Proficiency rates in math are much lower across all tested grades, with the highest rate still well below half, and the rates decline as students reach the later middle school years. Science results for the grades tested hover around one-third proficient. Social studies data is only available from the 2018-2019 school year, so no current picture exists for that subject. The school’s overall proficiency, when all subjects and grades are averaged together, sits above the midpoint of the districts in Lexington County. However, the math deficiency is large and sustained, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about its math curriculum, intervention strategies, and how it supports students who fall behind in a virtual format.

The comparison to other districts in Lexington County is limited because this is a single statewide school housed administratively in the county, not a traditional district serving a local attendance zone. The four-year graduation rate was not present in the data, so that metric cannot be assessed. Chronic absenteeism data was also missing.

West Columbia, where the school’s office is located, is a growing suburb across the Congaree River from downtown Columbia. It has a walkable riverfront area, a historic downtown district, and major employment anchors including a large hospital and a regional trucking company. Housing values in the area are below the state and national medians, and a recent trend of growth and infrastructure investment is evident. However, the connection between the physical town and this virtual school is administrative only; a family living anywhere in South Carolina can enroll.

The Charter Institute at Erskine has been reviewed by the state Legislative Audit Council, and the district has grown to oversee over two dozen charter schools across South Carolina. These developments may shape the authorizer’s approach to oversight in the coming years. For a family considering this school, the central calculation is whether a statewide virtual program with a solid reading record but persistent math struggles fits the student’s learning style and support needs.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

71.0%Cohort of 552 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

241 schools plotted. 4 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 41% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 30% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 30% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 25% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 57% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 56% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 60% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 61% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 60% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 40% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 47% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 53% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolCharter Institute at Erskine, 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-income66%Higher-income72%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income71%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income61%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income72%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income61%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income57%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income25%Higher-income47%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income35%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income35%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income46%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income32%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income10%4 pp gap