Waverly Central High School

Waverly · TN · Humphreys County · Public


97% 4-yr grad rate

At a glance

Programs & features
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: Bottom 37% of US high schools
  • SAT/ACT participation: 83rd percentile by test-taker volume
  • 4-yr grad rate: 97% in 2019 (90th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Waverly Central High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • ▸ LocallyTN sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Camden Central High School, Mc Ewen High School, Houston Co High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

83rd percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
286
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
65.1
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
97%
Range: 95–100%
4-year cohort size
134
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

‍ Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
0%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
100.0%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Your state's public flagship

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville

46%
admit rate
$13,812
in-state tuition/yr · $33,256 out-of-state
1190–1340
SAT 25–75 · ACT 25–31

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $18,976/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full The University of Tennessee-Knoxville profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Pay for college in Tennessee

Tennessee's public scholarships

Tennessee pairs a lottery-funded merit award (HOPE) with the well-known TN Promise, which makes community and technical college essentially free for any graduate.

Merit Tennessee HOPE Scholarship (TELS)
$4,500–$5,700/yr (4-yr) · $3,200/yr (2-yr)
GPA: 3.0 weighted GPA Test: OR SAT 1060 / ACT 21 Income: No income limit

Lottery-funded merit award — qualify with EITHER a 3.0 weighted GPA OR ACT 21 / SAT 1060. No income limit. (Qualify by either path; enroll within 16 months of graduating.)

Official program details ↗
Promise Tennessee Promise
Free community / technical college (last-dollar)
Income: No income limit

Tuition-free community or technical college for any TN grad — no GPA, test, or income requirement. (Apply senior year; FAFSA, mentor meeting, 8 hrs community service/term.)

Official program details ↗

Eligibility rules change yearly — confirm with the official program before relying on it. Amounts are recent published figures; awards cover tuition/fees, not housing or books unless noted. Verified 2026-10-21.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
23.5%
Elevated above the national average (~16%). Worth understanding — chronic absence compounds into dropout risk, transfer-out risk, and revenue loss.
Students absent 15+ days
130
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
439:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
42
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 135 in 2021 to 89 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-34.1%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -7.6%/year, projecting from 2024's 439 students:

2025
406
2027
346
2029
296

≈ 143 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $10,601 per student in district revenue, the 143 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $1,515,943/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Camden Central High School
Camden
Public 14.2 563 +12.2%
Mc Ewen High School
McEwen
Public 12.7 295 +2.1%
Houston Co High School
Erin
Public 21.7 366 +0.5%
Hickman Co Sr High School
Centerville
Public 30.2 410 -11.1%
Huntingdon High School
Huntingdon
Public 30.0 403 +0.5%
Senator Frank P. Lashlee Career and Technical Center
Camden
Public 14.3 — —
Benton County Academy
Camden
Public 14.4 — —
East Hickman High School
Lyles
Public 33.4 412 -21.4%

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Waverly Central High School is a public high school in Waverly, TN, enrolling 439 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Enrollment is down 34% from 2021 to 2024.

286 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 83% of U.S. high schools.

Its federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.

It has about 439 students per school counselor.

24% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.

Questions families ask

What is Waverly Central High School's graduation rate? Waverly Central High School's federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.

How many students attend Waverly Central High School? Waverly Central High School is a public high school in Waverly, TN, enrolling 439 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

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