Memorial Drive Elementary School

As a low-enrollment elementary-level community in Waycross, Georgia, Memorial Drive Elementary School hosts 346 students from grades K through 5, overseen by Ware County. By comparison, Georgia's public schools average about 605 students each, so Memorial Drive Elementary School sits 43% smaller than that benchmark.

Within Ware County, which oversees 9 schools and 5,920 students, Memorial Drive Elementary School is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Memorial Drive Elementary School logs that the most-represented group is White (48%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 36% Black, 8% multiracial, 5% Hispanic, 3% Asian. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 62%.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Memorial Drive Elementary School has 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 10.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.3:1, putting Memorial Drive Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Ware County's rate of about 87%.

With demographic context factored in, Memorial Drive Elementary School sits in the top 10% of Georgia schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 25.7%; actual is 41.7%, +16.0 points clear of the demographic baseline.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Ware County indicate median household income runs about $47,448, roughly 14% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 17%. In all, Ware County runs 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,927 students), of which Memorial Drive Elementary School is one.

Waycross Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 2.0 miles from this campus. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Memorial Drive Elementary School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 45.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 3%: 335 students in 2018 compared to 346 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.0:1 in 2018 to 10.8:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.