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Irmo Middle

Public, Magnet Grades 6-8
150th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 341 South Carolina Middle Schools
Better than 56% of South Carolina middle schools
Summary

Irmo Middle in Columbia, SC, is a large public school serving 992 students in grades 6-8 as part of the highly-ranked Lexington 05 school district, which ranks in the top 20% of districts statewide.

The most striking thing about Irmo Middle is that it feels like two different schools under one roof. Your child's experience could vary dramatically depending on their grade level. In 6th grade, students significantly outperform both district and state averages in reading, math, and science—with 82.6% proficiency in ELA compared to the district's 60.7%. However, this advantage completely disappears by 7th grade, where proficiency rates plummet to 50.9% in ELA and just 34% in math, both well below district averages. This pattern has persisted for three consecutive years, suggesting a systemic issue with the transition into upper grades rather than a one-time problem. If you have an incoming 6th grader, you might want to ask the school about how they support students moving into 7th grade.

Another concern is chronic absenteeism. At 24.3%, Irmo's rate is significantly higher than the district average of 15.0% and more than double that of high-performing neighbors like Chapin Middle (11.4%) and Meadow Glen Middle (11.0%). Within its own district, Irmo is the lowest-performing of the three main middle schools—Chapin ranks in the 90th percentile with 5-star ratings, while Irmo sits at the 56th percentile. The school also struggles with its economically disadvantaged students, ranking in the 36th percentile for that group, despite spending more per student ($14,658) than its higher-performing district peers. For parents, this means asking pointed questions about 7th and 8th grade instruction, attendance support, and how the school plans to close these gaps would be wise before enrolling.

992
Students ?
11.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
$16,420
Per pupil spending ?
60.4%
Directly certified for free meals (2023-24) ?
All students receive free meals (Community Eligibility, 2023-24)
86%
Students (all grades) with required immunizations (2025-26)
 6051 Wescott Road
       Columbia, SC  29212

(803) 476-3600

District: Lexington 05


Students who attend Irmo Middle usually attend:

High:    Irmo High

Feeder schools for Irmo Middle:

Elementary:    Harbison West Elementary
    Irmo Elementary
    Leaphart Elementary
    Nursery Road Elementary
    More...
Racial breakdown:

African American:
44.3%
White:
33.8%
Two or more races:
9.4%
more
 See top rated South Carolina middle schools

 Compare Irmo Middle to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 79th percentile in 2016 → 56th in 2026
Strengths
✓Above the South Carolina median (56th percentile)
✓Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Ranking has slipped — down 23 percentile points since 2016
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school52%
District avg57%
South Carolina avg51%
150th of 341
South Carolina public middle schools ?
Top 44%▼ down 23 pts since 2016
From top 21% (2016) to top 44% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of South Carolina Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
3rd of 3Middle Schools in the Lexington 05
13th of 75Lexington 05 among South Carolina districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202652.1150 of 34156.0%★★★☆☆
202551.2138 of 32157.0%★★★☆☆
202442.7177 of 32245.0%★★☆☆☆
202349.0156 of 32552.0%★★★☆☆
202249.2146 of 31052.9%★★★☆☆
202150.9140 of 31155.0%★★★☆☆
201950.5141 of 31555.2%★★★☆☆
201865.091 of 30370.0%★★★★☆
201773.069 of 31778.2%★★★★☆
201673.863 of 30379.2%★★★★☆
201563.485 of 30171.8%★★★★☆
201464.699 of 29166.0%★★★☆☆
201368.871 of 27674.3%★★★★☆
201272.073 of 27173.1%★★★★☆
201171.674 of 26972.5%★★★★☆
201078.046 of 26182.4%★★★★☆
200973.660 of 24975.9%★★★★☆
200873.661 of 24475.0%★★★★☆
200780.333 of 23686.0%★★★★☆
200680.141 of 23182.3%★★★★☆
200580.439 of 23083.0%★★★★☆
200481.036 of 23084.3%★★★★☆
200385.922 of 22590.2%★★★★★

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202642.5149 of 25842.2%★★☆☆☆
202537.9169 of 25132.7%★★☆☆☆
202438.8151 of 24638.6%★★☆☆☆
202341.2145 of 25342.7%★★☆☆☆
202240.1137 of 24945.0%★★☆☆☆
202148.8108 of 23554.0%★★★☆☆
201954.396 of 25261.9%★★★☆☆
201875.528 of 23788.2%★★★★☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202656.966 of 19265.6%★★★☆☆
202554.168 of 18463.0%★★★☆☆
202442.189 of 17749.7%★★★☆☆
202342.1102 of 18745.5%★★☆☆☆
202261.551 of 18372.1%★★★★☆
202137.194 of 16442.7%★★☆☆☆
201931.7145 of 19525.6%★☆☆☆☆
201850.786 of 19455.7%★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202639.264 of 11343.4%★★☆☆☆
202546.749 of 11055.5%★★★☆☆
202450.440 of 10461.5%★★★☆☆
202241.052 of 9746.4%★★☆☆☆
202133.460 of 8731.0%★★☆☆☆
201957.942 of 11764.1%★★★☆☆
201877.118 of 9380.6%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202652.5138 of 31055.5%★★★☆☆
202554.2119 of 29559.7%★★★☆☆
202446.4147 of 29349.8%★★★☆☆
202358.2109 of 29963.5%★★★☆☆
202249.0138 of 29052.4%★★★☆☆
202146.7145 of 27948.0%★★☆☆☆
201951.1140 of 29652.7%★★★☆☆
201862.194 of 28166.5%★★★☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202643.7146 of 19725.9%★☆☆☆☆
202566.069 of 17360.1%★★★☆☆
202418.8166 of 1849.8%★☆☆☆☆
202335.3145 of 18521.6%★☆☆☆☆
202263.272 of 18260.4%★★★☆☆
202162.376 of 17957.5%★★★☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202652.872 of 15954.7%★★★☆☆
202559.157 of 15663.5%★★★☆☆
202443.680 of 14444.4%★★☆☆☆
202343.481 of 14142.6%★★☆☆☆
202225.0105 of 12918.6%★☆☆☆☆
202137.472 of 11135.1%★★☆☆☆
201944.582 of 13941.0%★★☆☆☆
201877.524 of 12380.5%★★★★☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202637.1205 of 32536.9%★★☆☆☆
202536.9196 of 30836.4%★★☆☆☆
202434.0202 of 30433.6%★★☆☆☆
202338.8193 of 31338.3%★★☆☆☆
202235.0184 of 30038.7%★★☆☆☆
202135.5182 of 28836.8%★★☆☆☆
201946.0151 of 28947.8%★★☆☆☆
201861.083 of 28070.4%★★★★☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202650.1145 of 31053.2%★★★☆☆
202548.0144 of 29851.7%★★★☆☆
202438.9170 of 29241.8%★★☆☆☆
202340.5168 of 30344.6%★★☆☆☆
202248.4136 of 29253.4%★★★☆☆
202154.3119 of 27957.3%★★★☆☆
201949.7133 of 29655.1%★★★☆☆
201866.286 of 28469.7%★★★★☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202654.928 of 6556.9%★★★☆☆
202540.436 of 6342.9%★★☆☆☆
202446.527 of 5248.1%★★★☆☆
202347.834 of 5841.4%★★☆☆☆
202251.617 of 4461.4%★★★☆☆
201931.032 of 3917.9%★☆☆☆☆
201829.325 of 3119.4%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankSouth Carolina percentileRating
202668.280 of 27170.5%★★★★☆
202570.468 of 25973.7%★★★★☆
202457.1100 of 25660.9%★★★☆☆
202365.985 of 26067.3%★★★☆☆
202269.869 of 24972.3%★★★★☆
202174.954 of 24477.9%★★★★☆
201970.673 of 25871.7%★★★★☆
201878.942 of 25083.2%★★★★☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
White (2026)70th percentile+14 vs school
Disabled (2026)66th percentile+10 vs school
Multi-racial (2026)57th percentile~ school
Female (2026)55th percentile~ school
Hispanic (2026)55th percentile~ school
Male (2026)53rd percentile-3 vs school
English Language Learner (2026)43rd percentile-13 vs school
African American (2026)42nd percentile-14 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)37th percentile-19 vs school
Gifted and Talented (2026)26th percentile-30 vs school
By subject vs South Carolina (2025-2026) ?
Science79%+27 vs state
English Language Arts57%~ state avg
Mathematics42%~ state avg

1.0
1 rating · 1 written review
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What people are saying
by a student
Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Open Quote This school has received many positive reviews on different websites. However, those are reviews made by students who gain unfair advantages to the school or by parents who have not experienced this school. This place is horrible. Everything about it is horrible. The teachers here discriminate students based on their appearance, impression, sex, and race. The students who gain this undeserved advantage get better grades, rewards etc. The students the teachers don't like get the exact opposite. Teachers will "accidentally" take points off of the students papers. My class once had to retake a test. Since I was absent on that day, the teacher had to give it to me during makeup. I kept reminding the person but she/he never did it. That was my final grade on the test!!! The teachers are horrible, incurious, undetermined, and unthoughtful.
This school also has a terrible environment. The grounds of this school are filled with cockroaches. One of my experiences in this school was a piece was a substance on top of my locker that looked like a piece of poop. I reported this but nobody cleaned it up. I found it in the beginning of the year and it is still there!!! The food is also terrible. the food is grouped in two categories; processed and spoiled. most of the pizzas are reheated over and over again. It turns into this fine goopy substance. We are not allowed to pick a different pizza after we already have gotten one. The rule is reasonable unless we have to look for a SAFE PIZZA! The other food is not even healthy! Its not the first time I have found a hair in my food. We are also provided little protection from the rain. We are forced to walk outside to get to our classes, even during the rain and there is no cover above us. When it's not raining teacher go outside to monitor the students during period switching. They don't do it in the rain. Safety is also out of the question. Students have brought in all sorts of weapons and fights happen so frequently, its not a big deal to witness one. There has also been a metal ball falling from the gym ceiling RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Please keep in mind that this school does not have a high attendance rate because it is good. It's actually because of it's availability.
You or your child is probably coming to this school for "the magnet program". Please understand that it is a rip off. It is just a way to connect learning to the outside world. However, half of our education is wasted researching unnecessary stuff that is not supposed to be in our education FOR A GRADE. It may not play an important role in the failure of our education but it is also weak. Projects we do from the magnet program never get finished.
One of the worst things about this school is social conflict, bullying, harassment, racism, and poor management. Everyday you can get bullied by people. Students older than you will also bully you. They won't pick on someone their on size like in elementary school. They will hurt you physically and emotionally. They will call you names, make racist jokes, hit you, make fun of your clothing. They don't care what you think. It doesn't matter if you did anything to them. Their heartless and inconsiderate. It is not like the staff cares. Students use profanity everywhere even next to adults. They don't care. I always try to report the people who bully me to the staff members. The people who's job is to literally prevent this don't do anything about it. They lie to me. Last year I went here, I wore a rolling book bag. This year, I'm wearing a regular book bag due to the criticism of all the bullies. I had to wear a regular one to avoid getting bullied. my rolling one was broken because they kept damaging it. For their own sake. I am also not aloud to wear flip flops. Because of them. I feel that this school has developed a hierarchy. I was at the bottom. Just because of my race.
Because I just turned this review into a voluntary essay, please understand how this school has treated me.
If you or your child is going to this school, please reconsider. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Irmo Middle

In the 2024-25 school year, 992 students attended Irmo Middle.

Students at Irmo Middle are 44% African American, 34% White, 9% Two or more races, 9% Hispanic, 4% Asian.

Irmo Middle ranks 150th of 341 South Carolina middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Students who attend Irmo Middle usually go on to attend Irmo High

Rate Irmo Middle!



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Latest South Carolina data All new data »
2025–26 graduation rates (updated)NewNov 2, 2026
2024–25 through 2025–26 immunization ratesOct 20, 2026
2025–26 school spending dataOct 12, 2026
2025–26 attendance data & dropout ratesOct 12, 2026


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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