Summary:
Zip code 31545, encompassing Jesup, Georgia, is served by a single public high school, Wayne County High School, which educates students in grades 9 through 12 within the Wayne County school district.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Wayne County High School is a school that excels at keeping students on track to graduate, even while facing significant academic hurdles. The school’s graduation rate of 89.6% is above the state average of 87.2%, and its dropout rate of just 0.8% is remarkably low—only one-third of the statewide rate of 2.4%. This is especially notable given that over 82% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high-poverty student body. However, the school’s overall state ranking has slipped from the 75th percentile to the 58th percentile over the past three years, suggesting that academic proficiency is not keeping pace with other Georgia schools. The most pressing concern is Algebra I, where proficiency fell from 29.5% to 22.1% in one year, leaving the school 26 points below the state average. Chronic absenteeism is also a red flag at 26.3%, nearly 50% higher than the state’s 17.7%, which may be contributing to the academic decline.
On a more positive note, the school shows clear strengths in other subjects. In Biology, proficiency was 47.8% in the most recent year, matching the state average, while U.S. History proficiency was 46.7%, outpacing the state by over 8 points. These results show that students can achieve at or above state levels in certain areas. With a student-teacher ratio of 16.3:1 and per-student spending of $11,588, the school’s resources are moderate, but the combination of high poverty and rising absenteeism suggests that targeted interventions—especially in math—will be essential to reverse the downward trend in rankings and ensure that the school’s strong persistence rates translate into stronger academic outcomes.
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