Waddell Elementary School

As a mid-tier elementary campus in Columbus, Georgia, Waddell Elementary School serves 520 students from grades pre-K through 5, run under Muscogee County.

Across the 54 schools in Muscogee County (30,091 students total), Waddell Elementary School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Waddell Elementary School records that 77% of the student body identifies as Black. Other groups include 8% White, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Muscogee County as a whole is about 47% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Waddell Elementary School logs 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 16.5:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.3:1 average. About 100% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Muscogee County's rate of about 86%.

After controlling for student poverty, Waddell Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 25.7%; this one delivers 20.9%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Muscogee County) records that median household income runs about $58,073, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. In all, Muscogee County runs 57 public schools (combined enrollment of about 30,110 students), of which Waddell Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center, roughly 1.9 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Waddell Elementary School comes 6th of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 28.9%.

Waddell Elementary School operates from an urban location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged up 13%: 462 students in 2018 compared to 520 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share ticked up from 72% to 77%.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.