The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Science. The lowest is 45% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Fairview El Sch
Fairview Elementary sits in Waynesboro, a small Franklin County borough on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border that has transformed from an industrial machine-shop town into a bedroom community for warehouse and logistics work along the I-81 corridor. The school itself serves grades kindergarten through fifth at an enrollment of roughly six hundred students.
The student body reflects the borough and surrounding districts: a substantial majority are white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating economic need across the school's catchment. Data on students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available in the district's public reporting, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the scale and nature of those programs.
On recent state assessments, Fairview's performance sits in the top quartile among Franklin County districts when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects. Math and English language arts proficiency for grades three through five both landed in the middle range—roughly half of tested students met proficiency benchmarks in each subject in 2024-25. Science proficiency was notably stronger, with students achieving well above that midpoint when assessed in 2022-23. The science result suggests the school has particular strength in that area, though a parent may want to ask how recent the science data is and whether the school has built on that foundation since.
Waynesboro Area School District recently made two changes worth noting. The district eliminated its occupation tax effective July 2022, removing a flat tax on employed residents that had varied by job classification—a real reduction in the tax burden for families in the district. Additionally, the district secured new state adequacy funding in 2024-25 as part of Pennsylvania's fair-funding settlement, with that money rolled into ongoing foundation support for 2025-26. The district has also deployed a one-to-one Chromebook program across all grades, paired with full-day kindergarten and virtual instructional options.
In Waynesboro itself, the town has a walkable downtown anchored on Main Street, which hosts community events, farmers markets, and galleries, though residents outside the core rely on cars. New residential development is active around the borough, with several subdivision projects by national and regional builders adding housing stock. The region is experiencing steady growth but maintains rural character beyond the downtown core. School facilities are dispersed across separate campuses rather than clustered downtown, reflecting the district's service area across the borough and surrounding townships.
Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to state and national benchmarks, and mortgage-to-income and rent-to-income ratios suggest affordability remains accessible for families in the middle range of local incomes. The area's largest employers include WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital, mineral processing, manufacturing, and trucking; many residents commute to larger employment centers in the region.
For families considering Fairview, the school offers a solid foundation with science as an area of demonstrated strength, full-day kindergarten as standard, and one-to-one device access to support learning. Math and reading proficiency is an area a parent may want to explore further with school staff when weighing fit.
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