Columbia and Lake Murray, SC, School District Guide
Midlands School District Guide
The main public school districts serving the Columbia and Lake Murray area, who they serve, and how to find your exact attendance zone.
The Public School Districts of the Midlands
The Columbia and Lake Murray area is served by several public school districts, each covering different towns and neighborhoods. This guide lays out who each district serves and its high schools, factually and without ranking them, so you can get oriented. Because school assignment is set by address and zones change, always confirm a specific home's current assignment with the district's own zone locator. The biggest current example is Lexington-Richland Five, which is rezoning for the 2026-27 school year.
The Districts at a Glance
- ✓Lexington-Richland Five (LR5): serves Chapin, Irmo, Ballentine, the Dutch Fork area, and parts of northwest Columbia along the Lake Murray corridor, across Lexington and Richland counties. High schools include Chapin, Dutch Fork, Irmo, and Spring Hill (a districtwide magnet). LR5 is rezoning and restructuring for 2026-27, with changes effective July 1, 2026, so verify current assignment.
- ✓Lexington One: serves the Lexington, Gilbert, and Pelion areas plus the White Knoll and River Bluff communities. High schools include Lexington, River Bluff, White Knoll, Pelion, and Gilbert.
- ✓Lexington Two: serves Cayce, West Columbia, Springdale, South Congaree, Pine Ridge, and parts of Gaston. High schools include Brookland-Cayce and Airport.
- ✓Lexington Three: serves the Batesburg-Leesville area of western Lexington County, with Batesburg-Leesville High as its high school.
- ✓Lexington Four: serves the Swansea area of southern Lexington County, with Swansea High as its high school.
- ✓Richland One: serves the City of Columbia and surrounding central Richland County. High schools include A.C. Flora, Dreher, Columbia, Eau Claire, Lower Richland, W.J. Keenan, and C.A. Johnson.
- ✓Richland Two: serves northeast Columbia and the Blythewood area. High schools include Ridge View, Spring Valley, Blythewood, Westwood, and Richland Northeast.
- ✓Newberry County Schools: serves Newberry, Prosperity, Little Mountain, and the western Lake Murray side, with high schools including Newberry High and Mid-Carolina High in Prosperity.
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Midlands School Districts, Frequently Asked Questions
Which school district is Chapin in?
Chapin is part of Lexington-Richland School District Five, which also serves Irmo, Ballentine, and the Dutch Fork area. District Five is rezoning and restructuring for the 2026-27 school year, with changes effective July 1, 2026, so confirm a specific address's current assignment with the district's zone locator.
How do I find out which schools a home is zoned for?
Each district publishes an online school zone locator where you enter a street address and it returns the assigned elementary, middle, and high school. The district's own current-year locator is the authoritative source, because two homes a few blocks apart can fall in different zones, and zones change over time.
What is changing with Lexington-Richland Five for 2026-27?
District Five is carrying out a districtwide rezoning and restructuring tied to a voter-approved bond, with changes including grade reconfigurations and some school renamings, effective July 1, 2026. Because attendance zones are actively changing, families should verify current assignment using the district's official zone locator rather than relying on prior-year zoning.
Does school zone affect home value?
School assignment is set by address, and buyers with school-age children often prioritize specific zones, so the zone a home falls in can be a factor in buyer demand. Research has documented measurable price differences along school-assignment boundaries, though the size of the effect varies and is smaller than simple comparisons suggest. We price each home to its specific zone and market rather than to broad averages.
Are these districts ranked?
This guide does not rank the districts. Each serves its community, and the right fit depends on the specific home, the assigned schools, and your family's priorities. We can talk through the schools tied to any home you are considering and point you to the district's own information.
Midlands Coverage Areas
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