School and Community Description

Wayne Community Schools is located in Wayne, NE, and includes the counties of Wayne, Dixon, and Cedar. The district covers ninety-seven square miles and is supported by a strong business community and Wayne State College. As of 2022 Wayne’s population is 5,930 . The community is 93.43% Caucasian, 2.36% African American, and 7.9% Hispanic/Latino. Wayne is unique due to the fact that 48.1% of residents have a Bachelor’s Degree and 18.89% of residents live in poverty. The current PK-12th grade student population is 1,005 (2021-2022).

Crop farming and livestock production are the major facets of the agricultural economy. Within the past 10 years, agricultural land valuation has seen large increases. This increase has caused the district to lose the majority of its state aid leaving only net option enrollment funding as the only source of revenue received from the Nebraska Department of Education.

Wayne Community Schools has great support from local industry. This includes Providence Medical Center, Wayne State College, Great Dane, Grossenburg Implement, Heritage Industries, Williams Form, Sand Creek Post & Beam, and many other private businesses. The city of Wayne has a proactive area economic development office and the city of Wayne has an excellent partnership with the school district.

The city of Wayne also contains state funded agencies such as Tower School, North Star Services, Integrated Life Choices, Region IV, and Haven House. The city provides families with a Head Start program along with several other privately funded preschool programs.

Wayne Community Schools partners with several parent organizations. This list includes Wayne Community Schools Foundation, Wayne High School Music Boosters, Wayne High School Athletic Boosters, Wayne Elementary Boosters, and the Preschool Advisory Council.

Students in preschool attend the Wayne Community Schools Early Learning Center or another local preschool in the community. These preschool programs collaborate with each other to provide an excellent education for our three and four year old children. This group works diligently to make sure that all students in the community attend preschool. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade attend school in their own separate building while the seventh through twelfth students attend another facility. During the past year, the district has started discussions on how to handle the space issue with a quickly increasing enrollment.

The elementary building was built in 1919. In the year 2000 the elementary building was fully renovated and houses our K-6 program. The heating and ventilation systems were updated in 2019. The elementary site currently serves as the attendance center for kindergarten through sixth grade. Wayne has three or four teachers per grade level up through the sixth grade. Wayne offers full day, every day kindergarten.

The high school building was constructed in 1967. An addition of a junior high wing was completed in 2012. This renovation included classrooms, media center, remodel of the kitchen facility, and currently houses grades 7-12. Other improvements to the facility include heat and ventilation systems upgraded in 2014, and the career and technical education classrooms and locker room areas were renovated in 2018.

The Wayne Community School system is a Nebraska and North Central Accredited school (Cognia) staffed by a superintendent, three principals, fifty-nine teachers, two librarians, two guidance counselors, and thirty-seven non-certified staff. The student/teacher ratio is 15/1. One hundred percent of the teachers teach in their endorsed area.

Wayne Community Schools has identified three guiding principles in which continued improvement is necessary for the school to grow. These three areas are district resources, student and staff well-being, and expanded learning opportunities . These goals were developed through a strategic planning process that was led by NASB. The stakeholders included in this process represented patrons, staff members, administrators, and school board members.