Highland Elementary School

Located at 75 Tick Ridge Rd, in Waynesburg, Kentucky, Highland Elementary School is a close-knit elementary school that educates 186 students (grades pre-K through 5), run under Lincoln County. That puts it 56% smaller than the typical public school in Kentucky, which averages around 421 students.

Lincoln County comprises 8 schools with combined enrollment of 3,255 students; Highland Elementary School is among them.

Looking at the student body, Highland Elementary School shows that the student body is overwhelmingly White (87%); the rest looks like 8% Hispanic, 4% multiracial.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.3:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 15.4:1 average. About 77% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Highland Elementary School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 36.3%, the actual is 45.6%, a residual of +9.3 points.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Lincoln County) shows that median household income runs about $52,440, 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Lincoln County runs 8 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,240 students), of which Highland Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is Lincoln County High School, roughly 5.8 miles away. 5 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, Highland Elementary School comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 41.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Highland Elementary School has edged down 27%, going from 256 students in 2018 to 186 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share decreased from 95% to 87%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 15.5:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 today.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.