Waynesboro City Public Schools

Waynesboro City Public Schools is a small Virginia district of 6 schools serving about 2,859 students in grades PK-12, with one high school, one middle school, and four elementary schools, all serving predominantly low-income families. The district ranks 110th out of 131 Virginia districts (16th percentile, 1 star), and every school has free/reduced lunch rates between 93.5% and 94.9%. Enrollment ranges from 926 students at Waynesboro High to 246 at Wenonah Elementary, and per-pupil spending varies from $9,452 to $15,558.

The top-performing schools are Wenonah Elementary and Westwood Hills Elementary, both ranked in the 35th percentile with 2 stars — the best in the district. Wenonah has improved steadily for three years and posts the district's highest 5th grade math (83.3%) and science (76.2%) scores, while Westwood Hills has the lowest chronic absenteeism (9.4%) and strongest 4th grade reading (78.6%). Waynesboro High is the most improved school overall, climbing from the 8th percentile in 2023-24 to the 34th percentile in 2025-26, with outstanding 10th grade reading (95%) and geometry (94.6%) scores. At the other end, William Perry Elementary is the area of greatest concern, ranking 1002nd out of 1,111 elementary schools with just 41.8% proficiency in 5th grade math and 30.9% in 5th grade science.

Several patterns stand out across the district. Chronic absenteeism is far higher at the secondary level — 31.1% at Waynesboro High and 25.1% at Kate Collins Middle — compared with 9.4% to 16.3% at the elementary schools. Kate Collins also shows a stark contrast between advanced and on-grade math, with 98% proficiency in Algebra I but on-grade-level math proficiency ranging from just 30.4% to 44.3%. Waynesboro High similarly excels at 10th grade reading (95%) but lags badly in 11th grade writing (39.3%). Notably, higher spending does not guarantee better outcomes: Westwood Hills performs as well as Wenonah while spending about $4,300 less per student, and Berkeley Glenn Elementary spends $13,381 per student yet ranks only in the 22nd percentile. The biggest opportunities for improvement are early literacy, middle school math, high school writing, and secondary attendance.