Summary:
Irmo, South Carolina is home to 7 elementary schools serving grades PK-5 (with one exception), all part of the Lexington 05 district except for GREEN Charter School Midlands, which belongs to the School Public Charter School District.
There is a clear divide between two tiers of schools in Irmo. Ballentine Elementary is the standout performer, ranking 76th in the state (88th percentile) with exceptional test scores—87.5% proficiency in 3rd grade ELA and 82.6% in math—and low chronic absenteeism at 10.5%. River Springs Elementary is the most improved, with the best attendance record in the district (6.8% chronic absenteeism) and strong ELA scores around 80%. Oak Pointe Elementary and H.E. Corley Elementary also perform well, ranking in the 71st-76th percentile. On the other end, Dutch Fork Elementary ranks 458th (29th percentile) with test scores 15-25 points below district averages, while GREEN Charter School Midlands ranks 454th with the highest chronic absenteeism (22.1%) and lowest per-student spending ($11,689). Irmo Elementary sits in the middle at 228th (65th percentile).
Key takeaways for parents: spending does not correlate with performance—Dutch Fork Elementary spends the second-most per student ($18,586) yet has the lowest scores, while top-performing Ballentine Elementary spends less ($16,078). Attendance strongly tracks achievement, with the three highest-performing schools all having absenteeism below 11%. Math proficiency declines sharply from 3rd to 5th grade across nearly all schools—a 21-30 point drop—suggesting a systemic curriculum challenge. Science proficiency is also a relative weakness, with only Ballentine and Oak Pointe exceeding 60%. Overall, the Lexington 05 district ranks 13th of 75 in South Carolina, but school choice within Irmo matters significantly, with test score differences of 30+ percentage points between the highest and lowest performing schools.
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