Enrollment
298
Combined
DISTRICT 602 · STATE 192
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 020018000121
Whaley School
2220 Nichols St, Anchorage, AK 99508 · (907) 742-2350 · Anchorage Municipality
GRADES PK–12COMBINED11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL298 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
6.4:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 49.0:1 · STATE 27.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
53 students
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other combined schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 2 | 3 | 1% |
| Grade 3 | 1 | 0% |
| Grade 4 | 3 | 1% |
| Grade 5 | 2 | 1% |
| Grade 6 | 7 | 2% |
| Grade 7 | 11 | 4% |
| Grade 8 | 16 | 5% |
| Grade 9 | 18 | 6% |
| Grade 10 | 32 | 11% |
| Grade 11 | 39 | 13% |
| Grade 12 | 164 | 55% |
Student demographics
78%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
AK STAR + Alaska Science 2024-25 . % Advanced + ProficientEnglish Language Arts
18.9%
AK avg 36.1% . +8.9pp since 2023
Math
9.4%
AK avg 34.6%
What this means: On the AK STAR + Alaska Science, Alaska's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 9 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alaska schools, those numbers are about 36 and 35. Reading and writing scores are up about 9 points since 2023.
AK STAR + Alaska Science results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.9% | 9.4% |
| 2023-24 | 10.0% | N/A |
% Advanced + Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: AK STAR + Alaska Science. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of AK schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
16.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.3%
based on AK schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-31.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 16% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 47% typical for Alaska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Whaley School
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whaley School this school | 298 | 17.8% | 16.1% |
| Ninilchik School Ninilchik | 107 | 56.1% | 31.9% |
| Mat-Su Day School Wasilla | 70 | 38.6% | N/A |
| Unalakleet School Unalakleet | 173 | 63.0% | 18.7% |
| Alak School Wainwright | 138 | 34.1% | N/A |
| Nunamiut School Anaktuvuk Pass | 112 | 35.7% | N/A |
Matched among Alaska K-12 schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Whaley School ranks
Among K-12 schools| Measure | This school | In Alaska |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.1% | #10 of 16 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 9.4% | #13 of 30 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.9% | #13 of 23 ▲ 2 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 298 | #5 of 174 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 6.4:1 | #1 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 77.6% | #2 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 17.8% | #54 of 54 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -31.2% | #1 of 11 |
Ranked against other public K-12 schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
298
-88 (-23%) vs 2020
+473% since 1990-91, when it was 52
Student : Teacher
6.4:1
was 7.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 298 | 46.9 | 6.4:1 | 18% (53) |
| 2023-24 | 316 | 45.5 | 6.9:1 | 16% (50) |
| 2022-23 | 340 | 50.6 | 6.7:1 | 78% (266) |
| 2020-21 | 386 | 52 | 7.4:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 433 | 47.1 | 9.2:1 | 23% (98) |
| 2015-16 | 455 | 52 | 8.8:1 | 30% (137) |
| 2010-11 | 485 | 54 | 9.0:1 | 28% (134) |
| 2000-01 | 197 | 33 | 6.0:1 | 13% (25) |
| 1990-91 | 52 | 41 | 1.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Whaley School.
Since 2017-18: students down 31% (433 to 298); teachers unchanged (47.1 to 46.9).
About Whaley School
Whaley School is a public large school serving multiple grade levels in Anchorage, Alaska. Total enrollment is 298 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 12. By comparison, combined schools in Alaska enroll about 192 students on average.
Anchorage School District enrolls 40,587 students, and its 92 schools include Whaley School.
Of every 100 students at Whaley School, about 34 are White, the largest group. The remaining students are 26% Native American, 17% multiracial, 8% Asian, and 7% Hispanic. Census figures show Anchorage Municipality is about 57% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 78, compared with 70 nationally.
There are about 6.4 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Whaley School, which has 46.9. The school's 6.4:1 compares with an average of 27.0:1 for combined schools in Alaska. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 18%. The rate at public schools in Anchorage Municipality averages 49%, higher than here.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Whaley School is in the bottom 10% of Alaska schools: 16.1% actual against 47.3% predicted.
Census data for Anchorage Municipality show the median household earns about $103,284 a year, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Public schools in Anchorage Municipality number 99, with about 41,241 students.
Whaley School's closest public school neighbor is Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School, about 0.3 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Local comparison: Whaley School ranks 4th of 6 nearby schools, at 16.1% versus a 16.5% average.
NCES describes the area around Whaley School as City: Large, meaning inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 23% decrease, from 386 to 298. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 7.4:1 to 6.4:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Whaley School. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Anchorage Municipality at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
288,976
Census ACS
Median income
$103,284
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
99
41,241 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Anchorage School District
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,636 students
- Service High SchoolHigh · 1,518 students
- Bartlett High SchoolCombined · 1,431 students
- Dimond High SchoolHigh · 1,373 students
- South Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,239 students
Other schools in Anchorage
- West High SchoolHigh · 1,702 students
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,636 students
- Service High SchoolHigh · 1,518 students
- Bartlett High SchoolCombined · 1,431 students
- Dimond High SchoolHigh · 1,373 students
- South Anchorage High SchoolHigh · 1,239 students
Nearby schools
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School0.3 mi · 1,636
- Russian Jack Elementary0.5 mi · 254
- Airport Heights Elementary0.7 mi · 240
- Alaska Middle College School0.8 mi · 272
- Martin Luther King Jr. Technical High School0.8 mi · 124
- Winterberry School0.9 mi · 264
Frequently asked questions
About Whaley SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Whaley School?
Whaley School enrolls approximately 298 students in grades PK-12.
What age range does Whaley School serve?
Whaley School serves students from grade PK through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Whaley School?
Approximately 6.4:1 students per teacher at Whaley School.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Whaley School?
At Whaley School, the student body is approximately 34% White, 7% Hispanic, 5% Black, 8% Asian, 17% Two or more.
Is Whaley School public or private?
Whaley School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Anchorage School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.