Is Walt Whitman Elementary School a good school?

Walt Whitman Elementary School ranks in the bottom 9.4% of Illinois elementary schools.

How many students attend Walt Whitman Elementary School?

In the 2023-24 school year, 409 students attended Walt Whitman Elementary School.

What is the racial makeup of Walt Whitman Elementary School?

Students at Walt Whitman Elementary School are 76% Hispanic, 12% White, 5% Asian, 4% African American, 2% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Walt Whitman Elementary School attend?

Students who attend Walt Whitman Elementary School usually go on to attend: Middle : Oliver W Holmes Middle School High : Wheeling High School

Walt Whitman Elementary School

Summary:

Walt Whitman Elementary School is a public elementary school serving 401 students in grades PK-5 in Wheeling, Illinois, which is part of the Wheeling CCSD 21 district.

Walt Whitman Elementary School consistently underperforms compared to the district and state averages on standardized tests, with only 10.1% of students proficient or better in ELA and 5.6% in Math, compared to 28.7% and 24.6% for the district, and 41.2% and 28.4% for the state. The school also struggles with high rates of chronic absenteeism, reaching 31.7% in the 2022-2023 school year, significantly higher than the district and state averages. Additionally, Walt Whitman has a high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with 66.83% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

When compared to nearby schools within the same district, such as Robert Frost Elementary, Joyce Kilmer Elementary, and Eugene Field Elementary, Walt Whitman Elementary is the lowest-performing school. Looking outside the district, schools like Anne Sullivan Elementary and South Park Elementary consistently outperform Walt Whitman on academic measures and have lower rates of chronic absenteeism, suggesting that Walt Whitman faces significant challenges in providing a high-quality education to its students.

Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

133 Wille Ave
Wheeling, IL 60090-3127

(847) 520-2795

District: Wheeling CCSD 21

SchoolDigger Rank:
1873^rd of 2,067 Illinois Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $22,119

Students who attend Walt Whitman Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:	Oliver W Holmes Middle School
High:	Wheeling High School

Student/teacher ratio: 12.7

Number of students: 409

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

76.3%

White:

12.5%

Asian:

5.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 78.5%

See top rated Illinois elementary schools

Compare Walt Whitman Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Walt Whitman Elementary School ranks worse than 90.6% of elementary schools in Illinois. It also ranks last among 9 ranked elementary schools in the Wheeling CCSD 21 School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 14.35. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (76.3%), White (12.5%), Asian (5.4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 78.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Wheeling CCSD 21 School District. (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Walt Whitman Elementary School is 12.7, which is the 5^th best among 9 elementary schools in the Wheeling CCSD 21 School District. (See more...)

Compare Walt Whitman Elementary School employs 32 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Walt Whitman Elementary School is $22,119, which is the highest among 10 elementary schools in the Wheeling CCSD 21 School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Walt Whitman Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Walt Whitman Elementary School 1873^rd of 2067 Illinois public elementary schools. (See Walt Whitman Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

Wheeling CCSD 21:

SchoolDigger ranks Wheeling CCSD 21 588^th of 813 Illinois school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Walt Whitman Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2003	24.98	1612^th	2020	20.2%
2004	46.84	1266^th	2030	37.6%
2005	44.83	1335^th	2022	34.0%
2006	46.91	1364^th	2086	34.6%
2007	35.81	1582^nd	2095	24.5%
2008	7.29	1968^th	2092	5.9%
2009	5.58	2027^th	2120	4.4%
2010	11.92	1947^th	2139	9.0%
2011	6.25	2064^th	2147	3.9%
2012	4.09	2115^th	2166	2.4%
2013	13.47	1951^st	2167	10.0%
2014	18.26	1791^st	2093	14.4%
2015	15.69	1821^st	2052	11.3%
2016	16.05	1808^th	2046	11.6%
2017	16.12	1790^th	2044	12.4%
2018	19.46	1670^th	2037	18.0%
2019	15.96	1853^rd	2086	11.2%
2021	22.82	1475^th	1948	24.3%
2022	18.33	1728^th	2082	17.0%
2023	14.17	1902^nd	2077	8.4%
2024	14.35	1873^rd	2067	9.4%

See the entire list of Illinois Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	31.26	557^th	718	22.4%
2019	27.85	652^nd	743	12.2%
2021	47.72	192^nd	537	64.2%
2022	28.12	657^th	768	14.5%
2023	26.26	702^nd	788	10.9%
2024	28.38	675^th	826	18.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2019	18.09	1168^th	1194	2.2%
2023	21.48	1024^th	1156	11.4%
2024	33.05	773^rd	1195	35.3%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	25.56	1429^th	1765	19.0%
2019	22.81	1574^th	1816	13.3%
2021	35.23	991^st	1514	34.5%
2022	23.39	1468^th	1763	16.7%
2023	18.54	1670^th	1808	7.6%
2024	19.59	1606^th	1793	10.4%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	16.53	1717^th	1964	12.6%
2019	20.78	1671^st	2019	17.2%
2021	26.40	1210^th	1680	28.0%
2022	22.19	1530^th	1970	22.3%
2023	12.95	1838^th	1957	6.1%
2024	13.67	1808^th	1942	6.9%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	25.97	719^th	907	20.7%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	24.36	1515^th	1972	23.2%
2019	14.01	1862^nd	2019	7.8%
2021	19.79	1403^rd	1707	17.8%
2022	16.37	1749^th	1977	11.5%
2023	16.96	1714^th	1984	13.6%
2024	15.97	1723^rd	1959	12.0%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile
2018	21.02	841^st	938	10.3%
2019	14.24	933^rd	955	2.3%
2021	19.32	714^th	742	3.8%
2022	15.47	933^rd	954	2.2%
2023	13.41	957^th	970	1.3%
2024	14.80	934^th	959	2.6%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Walt Whitman Elementary School

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	IL State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	82.94	165^th	1462	88.7%
2023	22.47	1167^th	1419	17.8%

See the entire list of Best Illinois Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Illinois State Board of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Illinois State Board of Education

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Enrollment information for Walt Whitman Elementary School

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	352	15	8	118	8	n/a	n/a	0	501
1989	346	23	26	120	n/a	n/a	n/a	0	515
1990	343	19	18	149	3	n/a	n/a	0	532
1991	324	23	41	128	0	n/a	n/a	0	516
1992	317	31	25	94	0	n/a	n/a	0	467
1993	336	36	25	213	1	n/a	n/a	0	611
1994	323	28	35	225	1	n/a	n/a	0	612
1995	295	36	23	246	1	n/a	n/a	0	601
1996	295	36	23	246	1	n/a	n/a	0	601
1997	302	35	25	259	1	n/a	n/a	0	622
1998	285	46	34	250	1	n/a	n/a	0	616
1999	296	45	41	270	0	n/a	n/a	0	652
2000	238	42	42	231	0	n/a	n/a	0	553
2001	226	36	39	267	2	n/a	n/a	0	570
2002	185	27	42	579	0	n/a	n/a	0	833
2003	185	27	42	579	0	n/a	n/a	0	833
2004	181	32	34	619	0	n/a	n/a	0	866
2005	172	16	42	569	0	n/a	n/a	0	799
2006	151	16	43	487	0	n/a	n/a	5	702
2007	137	19	55	532	0	n/a	n/a	15	758
2008	133	11	44	549	0	n/a	n/a	16	753
2009	81	7	19	513	0	n/a	n/a	11	631
2010	70	6	18	456	0	n/a	n/a	14	564
2011	67	5	26	446	5	0	6	0	555
2012	59	7	24	469	8	0	6	0	573
2013	62	7	25	483	9	0	5	0	591
2014	64	6	18	450	10	0	9	0	557
2015	59	3	12	469	10	1	8	0	562
2016	56	5	9	473	7	0	8	0	558
2017	49	5	10	452	8	0	5	0	529
2018	49	7	5	423	11	0	5	0	500
2019	47	8	6	401	9	0	10	0	481
2020	46	11	13	379	6	0	7	0	462
2021	59	12	13	348	5	0	9	0	446
2022	51	11	15	321	4	0	7	0	409
2023	52	20	13	308	3	0	5	0	401
2024	51	15	22	312	1	0	8	0	409

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Walt Whitman Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	501	28.5	17.5	n/a
1989	515	27.5	18.7	n/a
1990	532	28.5	18.6	n/a
1991	516	29.5	17.4	n/a
1992	467	29.5	15.8	n/a
1993	611	29.5	20.7	n/a
1994	612	31.0	19.7	n/a
1995	601	33.5	17.9	n/a
1996	601	33.5	17.9	n/a
1997	622	34.5	18.0	n/a
1998	616	34.4	17.9	n/a
1999	652	36.5	17.9	n/a
2000	553	37.0	14.9	n/a
2001	570	35.0	16.3	n/a
2002	833	40.0	20.8	52.8
2003	833	40.0	20.8	52.8
2004	866	42.0	20.6	54.8
2005	799	36.5	21.9	48.1
2006	702	35.5	19.8	47.3
2007	758	38.0	19.9	45
2008	753	40.0	18.8	51.6
2009	631	42.9	14.7	62.6
2010	564	37.4	15.0	69.6
2011	555	34.8	15.9	74.2
2012	573	35.0	16.3	79.9
2013	591	66.0	8.9	86.3
2014	557	36.0	15.4	85.8
2015	562	36.0	15.6	87
2016	558	37.0	15.0	82.8
2017	529	34.9	15.1	84.3
2018	500	31.1	16.0	72.4
2019	481	30.3	15.8	72.3
2020	462	29.5	15.6	70.8
2021	446	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	409	32.0	12.7	70.2
2023	401	31.0	12.9	66.8
2024	409	32.0	12.7	78.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Walt Whitman Elementary School

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	501	28.5	17.5	n/a
1989	515	27.5	18.7	n/a
1990	532	28.5	18.6	n/a
1991	516	29.5	17.4	n/a
1992	467	29.5	15.8	n/a
1993	611	29.5	20.7	n/a
1994	612	31.0	19.7	n/a
1995	601	33.5	17.9	n/a
1996	601	33.5	17.9	n/a
1997	622	34.5	18.0	n/a
1998	616	34.4	17.9	n/a
1999	652	36.5	17.9	n/a
2000	553	37.0	14.9	n/a
2001	570	35.0	16.3	n/a
2002	833	40.0	20.8	52.8
2003	833	40.0	20.8	52.8
2004	866	42.0	20.6	54.8
2005	799	36.5	21.9	48.1
2006	702	35.5	19.8	47.3
2007	758	38.0	19.9	45
2008	753	40.0	18.8	51.6
2009	631	42.9	14.7	62.6
2010	564	37.4	15.0	69.6
2011	555	34.8	15.9	74.2
2012	573	35.0	16.3	79.9
2013	591	66.0	8.9	86.3
2014	557	36.0	15.4	85.8
2015	562	36.0	15.6	87
2016	558	37.0	15.0	82.8
2017	529	34.9	15.1	84.3
2018	500	31.1	16.0	72.4
2019	481	30.3	15.8	72.3
2020	462	29.5	15.6	70.8
2021	446	n/a	n/a	n/a
2022	409	32.0	12.7	70.2
2023	401	31.0	12.9	66.8
2024	409	32.0	12.7	78.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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