Summary:
Waddy has one listed school, Heritage Elementary, which serves grades K–5, enrolls 387 students, and is part of Shelby County. The most important finding is that Heritage’s results dropped substantially: across 10 matched grade-and-subject results, its average fell from 61% in 2024–2025 to 48% in 2025–2026, while the state average stayed near 44%, narrowing the school’s lead from 18 percentage points to 4.
Heritage Elementary had its clearest strength in fourth-grade math, where 57% were proficient compared with 43% statewide, a 14-point advantage. It also exceeded the state in 5 of its other 9 results, including fifth-grade editing and mechanics by 7 points, social studies by 6, and writing by 5; overall, it was above the state in 7 of 10 results and above the district in 9 of 10. Its weakest relative results were fourth-grade science, at 35% versus 40% statewide, and third-grade reading, at 45% versus 49%. Since Waddy has only one listed school, there is no local school-to-school ranking; these comparisons are with district and state results.
Results fell in every subject average, but fourth-grade math was an exception to the broader decline, rising 7 points from 50% to 57% while the state result slipped 1 point. The largest subject-average drops were in social studies, down 23 points, and math, down 18; fifth-grade math fell 33 points. SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking moved from 111 of 685 schools (84th percentile, 4 stars) in 2024–2025 to 270 of 684 (61st percentile, 3 stars) in 2025–2026. As context, the student–teacher ratio was 16 students per teacher and 42% were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025; chronic absenteeism was 11%, below the district’s 17% and the state’s 24% in 2025–2026.
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