Summary:
ZIP code 38485, located in the rural town of Waynesboro, Tennessee, is home to just one elementary school: Waynesboro Elementary School, which serves 407 students in grades PK–4 within the Wayne County Schools district. As the only elementary school in this area, Waynesboro Elementary serves as the sole educational option for local families, and its data reveals a school with both notable strengths and significant challenges.
The school has consistently ranked in the bottom fifth of Tennessee elementary schools over the past three years, holding a 1-star rating with a percentile ranking between 17 and 21. In the most recent testing year, math proficiency stood at 22.5%, well below the state average of 43.0%, while ELA proficiency reached 32.4%, slightly exceeding the district's 29.9% but still trailing the state's 40.6%. Science proficiency was 33.1% versus 46.9% statewide. On a positive note, chronic absenteeism at the school is 13.7%, notably better than the state average of 18.3% and nearly identical to the district rate of 13.4%.
One of the most striking patterns is the grade-level performance gap in math: only 12.7% of 3rd graders scored proficient, compared with 32.4% of 4th graders—a dramatic 19.7-point jump that suggests the school may be effectively intervening between these grades. Fourth graders also outperformed 3rd graders in ELA (33.8% vs. 31.0%) and science (36.6% vs. 29.6%). Year over year, math improved by 4.0 points and ELA by 1.3 points, while science declined slightly. With per-pupil spending of $14,382, the school invests substantial resources but has not yet translated that funding into top-tier results. The greatest opportunity for improvement lies in early elementary math instruction.
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