paladius

" BigSoccer has just changed something in their posting software, and it wiped out your last message. I was going over it with my wife about the schools and such. Could you please re-send it? Thanks"

Yeah sure here's the message. I'll Just to give you a little geography lesson in order to help you understand where these districts are located (if you didn't already know this). The Columbia area is basically split into two Counties. Lexington and Richland. Lexington is West, Richland is East. That's all you really need to know.

Anyway, here's my original message.(I retooled a bit of it just to make it a bit more specific) I also send this message to you in PM form, too. Just to ensure you receive it.

Columbia really is a great city. I think you'll enjoy living here. The Lexington area is really beginning to boom and grow. Lexington used to be considered more of a rural area, but that's beginning to change. I live in the Irmo/Harbison area which is much closer to downtown. Lexington (as I'm sure you know) is a good bit farther from the city center.

I believe you said your oldest daughter was the one that went to USC, so if you're looking for good school districts. Lexington/Richland School District 5 (the one I was in which contained Irmo High and Dutch Fork High) or Lexington 1 (which is probably the one your kids will be in if you do indeed live in Lex. (the ones your kids would probably attend would be Lexington or White Knoll). You can't go wrong with these two school districts/areas.
To clarify, Lexington/Richland District 5 also contains Chapin High School (Chapin is farther Northwest of Irmo). BUT, Chapin is pretty far out and is kind of it's own place. It's never really been my cup of tea. It's also different from Lexington in that, even though Lexington is farther from downtown, it's still pretty developed. Chapin isn't. You may here a lot of things about moving out there because a lot of people are, but I just wouldn't suggest Chapin.

Just in case you're still looking, another good one is Richland District 2 which is on the Northeast side of town. They aren't quite as good a district as the aformentioned ones, but still quite nice. (The schools in Richland 2 that I would suggest are Spring Valley or Ridge View). I'd stray away from the Richland Northeast High area, personally. Richland Northeast has a lot more Ghetto influence)

If you're looking to get even farther out than lexington ('bout of 30-35 minute drive i'd say) there's also Blythewood in District 2 which is even farther northeast of the city center and is another area that is growing at an extreme rate. I don't go up to Blythewood very often at all, but I believe it's kind of an upper-class part of town. Lots of expensive houses, etc. (although they might be affordable for you. i don't know) I do think Blythewood is much more developed than Chapin, though.

Richland District 1 is composed almost completely of downtown area schools/ghetto schools. There are a couple of nice schools in Richland 1 like Dreher High School and A.C. Flora (both of which are pretty much downtown), but they still have kids being fed in from rundown neighborhoods.

There's also Lexington 2, which is considered to be in West-Columbia/Cayce. I don't really know all that much about this district. This area is close to the airport and is composed of Airport High and Brookland-Cayce High School (Brookland-Cayce is basically in downtown (just cross a bridge and it's a little further). I doubt you'd even look for houses there, truthfully.) Airport is basically just just what its name suggests, very near the airport. All in all, I guess this district is just mediocre, Airport High being the better of the two area. This info I just gave you on Lexington School District 2 probably can probably just be useless information that is stored in your brain because I seriously doubt you'd look to live in this district. It's pretty insignificant.

In synopsis, my top two suggestions in no particular order would be:
1) Lexington/Richland District 5, primarily Irmo High and Dutch Fork High area. Irmo is closer to the city of Columbia and actually has a Columbia address. This is where I went and I really enjoyed it. Dutch Fork is actually farther into Irmo and might have a smaller percentage of minorities. A few of the neighborhoods in the DF area might be a step up from Irmo's. But, both are very good schools. (as I mentioned Chapin is also in District 5, but the Chapin area just isn't very convenient)
I also must mention that even though I went to school in this District, there is absolutely no bias coming from me regarding this. District 5 consistently has best test scores in the State.

2) Lexington School District One, primarily Lexington High and White Knoll High. This is probably where your kids will go if you live in Lexington. I'm sure you'll have no problems if you send your kids there because both are GREAT schools. (White Knoll's only like 9 years old and is the farther out of the two)

A Close Third would be Richland School District 2 which is on the Northeast Side of Towning containing Spring Valley, Ridge View, Richland northeast, and Blythewood. I would recomend all except Richland Northeast.

Hope everything goes well with the move. I'm sure you've been here a good many times and I know your daughter now goes to school here. But, if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask. I've lived here since I was about 5, so I might could be of some service. (also, please excuse any typos)

That's pretty cool. Columbia really is a great city. I think you'll enjoy living here. The Lexington area is really beginning to boom and grow. Lexington used to be considered more of a rural area, but that's beginning to change. I live in the Irmo/Harbison area which is much closer to downtown. Lexington (as I'm sure you know) is a good bit farther from the city center.

I believe you said your oldest daughter was the one that went to USC, so if you're looking for good school districts. Lexington/Richland School District 5 (the one I was in which contained Irmo High and Dutch Fork High) or Lexington 1 (which is probably the one your kids will be in if you do indeed live in Lex. (the ones your kids would probably attend would be Lexington or White Knoll). You can't go wrong with these two school districts/areas.

Just in case your still looking, another good one is Richland District 2 which is on the Northeast side of town. They aren't quite as good a district as the aformentioned ones, but still quite nice. If your looking to get even farther out than lexington ('bout of 30-35 minute drive i'd say) there's also Blythewood which is even farther northeast of the city center and is another area that is growing at an extreme rate.

Hope everything goes well with the move. I'm sure you've been here a good many times and I know your daughter now goes to school here. But, if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask. I've lived here since I was about 5, so I might could be of some service.