High school (grades 9-12) · Fort Wayne, IN

Wayne High School

Federal NCES profile for Wayne High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 41/100.

2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 180363000568
0/100100/10041/100
👥 S:T ratio
30
📚 AP courses
45
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
53
📋 Attendance
8
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Wayne High School earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 75% of Indiana schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Indiana.

#5 of 8
high schools in Fort Wayne · Resource Index
41
Resource Index · Typical
17.5:1
large classes for Indiana
66.0%
free-lunch eligible

Wayne High School has class sizes larger than 75% of Indiana schools. Computed live against every Indiana school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Wayne High School ranks #5 of 8 high schools in Fort Wayne, IN.

Enrollment

1,398

Indiana · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

80.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

17.5:1

vs 15.9:1 Indiana avg

+10% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

66.0%

vs 49.5% Indiana avg

+33% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Wayne High School compares with Indiana and U.S. medians

Slightly above state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Wayne High School

Wayne High School is a higher-need, large high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, enrolling 1,398 students.

Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 17.5:1 puts it in the larger third of Indiana schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 66.0% of students eligible for free meals.

By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Indiana, bigger than 96% of state schools at 1,398 students.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 1,862 scored Indiana schools.

Against 57 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #24.

Its student body is led by African American (32%) and White (26%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 77/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 9 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor coverage is strong, about 233 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 37.0% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 21.1% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Among Fort Wayne's high schools, it stands alongside Carroll High School (2,623 students): Wayne High School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (17.5:1 vs 20:1).

Fort Wayne Community Schools also operates Northrop High School (2,145 students) and R Nelson Snider High School (1,927 students) alongside Wayne High School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Wayne High School compares

Wayne High School on the metrics families compare, against Indiana and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Indiana Indiana avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 17.5:1 ▲ 10% 15.9:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 66.0% ▲ 33% 49.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 1,398 top 4% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

17.5:1
Leaner classes than 27% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
1,398
Bigger than 96% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
66.0%
free-lunch eligible - 33% above the Indiana average of 49.5%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
17.5:1
students per teacher - 10% above state mean
Top 75% in Indiana - lower ratio than 25% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
37.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$13,247
per pupil, district-wide - above Indiana avg of $12,079
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors6.0 FTE
Per 233 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
40
in-school suspensions + 45 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 2.9 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 6.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

African American 31.9%
White 25.5%
Hispanic or Latino 20.8%
Asian 12.2%
Two or More 9.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%

Largest group: African American at 31.9% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 76.6/100

Simpson diversity index - at 76.6, Wayne High School is more mixed than the Indiana school average of 39.0.

Programs

AP courses offered 9
Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fort Wayne Community Schools, which includes Wayne High School.

$13,247
Per student
+10%
vs Indiana
Avg $12,079
-20%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 22.4%
State 56.6%
Federal 21.1%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Wayne High School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Northrop High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
R Nelson Snider High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
South Side High School Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
North Side High School Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Blackhawk Middle School Smaller Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Wayne High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Fort Wayne Community Schools · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools in Fort Wayne

6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.

Similar high schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Indiana, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Wayne High School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Wayne High School

How many students attend Wayne High School?

Wayne High School has 1,398 students enrolled. It is a high school in Fort Wayne, IN.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Wayne High School?

The student-teacher ratio at Wayne High School is 17.5:1, which is 10% higher than the Indiana average of 15.9:1 and 11% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Wayne High School?

66.0% of students at Wayne High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Indiana average of 49.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Wayne High School?

The largest demographic group at Wayne High School is African American at 31.9% of enrollment, in Fort Wayne, IN. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 76.6/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Wayne High School?

Wayne High School has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Wayne High School rank among high schools in Fort Wayne?

By Resource Investment Index, Wayne High School ranks #5 of 8 high schools in Fort Wayne, IN. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all high schools in Fort Wayne on the city page.

Is Wayne High School a good school?

Wayne High School earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 75% of Indiana schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Indiana. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Fort Wayne Community Schools?

Besides Wayne High School, Fort Wayne Community Schools also operates Northrop High School (2,145 students), R Nelson Snider High School (1,927 students), and South Side High School (1,405 students). See the Fort Wayne Community Schools district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.