Whale Pass School

Set in Whale Pass, Alaska, Whale Pass School is a minimally staffed combined-grade school, one of the schools within Southeast Island School District. It serves 9 students across grades pre-K through 12. By comparison, Alaska's public schools average about 192 students each, so Whale Pass School sits 95% leaner than that benchmark.

Southeast Island School District comprises 8 schools with combined enrollment of 164 students; Whale Pass School is among them.

Demographically, Whale Pass School lists that White students make up the majority at 56%; the rest is composed of 44% Hispanic. By comparison, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area as a whole is about 44% White, so the school skews meaningfully more White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 1 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 6.0:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 27.0:1 average. Around 100% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Whale Pass School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 18.7%; this one delivers 47.2%, a residual of +28.5 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area indicate median household income runs about $61,156, 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area's 20 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,441 students), Whale Pass School is one campus in the mix.

Howard Valentine Coffman Cove School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 13.3 miles from this campus.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Whale Pass School has shrank 50%, going from 18 students in 2018 to 9 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 6% to 44%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 9.5:1 in 2018 to 6.0:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.