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Best Elementary Schools in Waycross, GA

Test scores delayed: 2026 rankings for Georgia do not yet include English Language Arts scores, which will not be released by the Georgia Department of Education until winter 2026.

At a glance

Schools

2,929

Students

Top rankedRuskin Elementary School295^th of 1,222 Georgia elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Williams Heights Elementary School up 156 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Memorial Drive Elementary School 10.8 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

Compare Georgia cities →See the top-ranked Georgia schools →

Summary:

Waycross, Georgia is home to six elementary schools serving grades K-5 (with one also serving Pre-K) under the Ware County school district, which holds a 3-star rating and ranks 67th out of 201 Georgia districts. These schools enroll a combined total of approximately 2,929 students, with individual enrollments ranging from 346 to 885 students, and the area is characterized by high poverty levels, as 90.7% of students citywide qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Ruskin Elementary School stands out as the clear academic leader, ranking 295th in the state (76th percentile, 4 stars) and showing remarkable improvement from 500th place the prior year. Despite serving a population where 100% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, Ruskin leads the city in 5th-grade Math (57.6%) and Science (62.1%) proficiency, both well above state averages, while also maintaining the second-lowest student-teacher ratio (11.8) and the highest per-student spending ($17,519). Waresboro Elementary School is the other 4-star school, ranking 334th (73rd percentile), with the strongest 3rd-grade Math scores in the city (49.4%), though it struggles with the highest chronic absenteeism rate (23.2%). At the other end, Wacona Elementary School, the largest school with 885 students, has seen its ranking decline from the 60th to 44th percentile over two years, posting the lowest 3rd-grade Math proficiency (24%) and a dramatically higher student-teacher ratio (18.8) compared to the city average of 13.4.

Several notable patterns emerge across the city. The 4th-grade Mathematics scores are a clear strength, with the city average of 55.4% well above the state average of 50.1%, and four of six schools exceeding state performance. Science is also a district-wide strength, with the city average of 49.8% surpassing the state's 44.2%. However, chronic absenteeism does not correlate with academic performance—Waresboro has the highest absenteeism yet ranks second academically, while Wacona has the lowest absenteeism (13.2%) but the lowest ranking. Resource allocation appears targeted to need, with the two 100% free/reduced lunch schools (Ruskin and Memorial Drive Elementary School) receiving the highest per-student funding. Overall, three of six schools improved their rankings this year, suggesting a positive trajectory for the district despite individual challenges.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				Milestones Assessment Mathematics (2026)			Milestones Assessment Science (2026)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Milestones Assessment Mathematics 3rd Grade	Milestones Assessment Mathematics 4th Grade	Milestones Assessment Mathematics 5th Grade	Milestones Assessment Science 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Williams Heights Elementary School	Public	K-5	705 Dewey St	Waycross	31501	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2399	436	33	13.3	80.3%	139 (31.9%)	226 (51.8%)	25 (5.7%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	40 (9.2%)	57.9	456^th of 1222 public elementary schools	62.7%		46.1	612^th of 1238 public elementary schools	50.6%	156	33.4	60.5	45.6	55.9	$15,748	$1,149	$14,599
Center Elementary School	Public	K-5	2114 Dorothy St	Waycross	31501	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2366	470	35	13.4	95.7%	109 (23.2%)	269 (57.2%)	49 (10.4%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.3%)	47.5	584^th of 1222 public elementary schools	52.2%		46.7	609^th of 1238 public elementary schools	50.8%	25	44.0	61.6	30.3	36.8	$14,702	$1,429	$13,274
Ruskin Elementary School	Public	K-5	3550 Valdosta Hwy	Waycross	31503	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2325	363	31	11.8	100.0%	157 (43.3%)	119 (32.8%)	62 (17.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (6.3%)	72.7	295^th of 1222 public elementary schools	75.9%		59.7	437^th of 1238 public elementary schools	64.7%	142	50.0	54.4	57.6	62.1	$17,519	$2,696	$14,823
Wacona Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3101 State St	Waycross	31503	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2362	885	47	18.8	86.4%	510 (57.6%)	240 (27.1%)	78 (8.8%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	51 (5.8%)	39	688^th of 1222 public elementary schools	43.7%		41.6	664^th of 1238 public elementary schools	46.4%	24	24.0	52.1	36.5	38.5	$15,307	$1,411	$13,896
Waresboro Elementary School	Public	K-5	3379 W Church St	Waycross	31503	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2393	429	35	12.4	81.8%	242 (56.4%)	104 (24.2%)	48 (11.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (7.5%)	69	335^th of 1222 public elementary schools	72.6%		58.3	459^th of 1238 public elementary schools	62.9%	124	49.4	57.5	54.8	56.4	$14,764	$1,297	$13,467
Memorial Drive Elementary School	Public	K-5	2580 Ambrose St	Waycross	31503	Ware County	Ware County	No	No	No	Yes	(912) 287-2327	346	32	10.8	100.0%	166 (48.0%)	125 (36.1%)	16 (4.6%)	10 (2.9%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (7.5%)	55.8	485^th of 1222 public elementary schools	60.3%		51.6	545^th of 1238 public elementary schools	56.0%	60	43.4	46.0	49.2	49.2	$16,914	$2,249	$14,666

Cities Near Waycross

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Blackshear	5.72 mi	4	18^th
Hoboken	13.57 mi	1	62^nd
Patterson	16.57 mi	1	37^th
Nahunta	19.39 mi	4	118^th
Alma	21.53 mi	4	69^th

See the top GA Georgia cities

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