Whittier Elementary

Located at 400 West Whittier Ave., in Hemet, California, Whittier Elementary is a substantial elementary school that serves 816 students (grades K through 5), run under Hemet Unified. Enrollment runs roughly 75% bigger than the state mean of about 465.

Within Hemet Unified, which oversees 27 schools and 22,778 students, Whittier Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Whittier Elementary reports that 71% of the student body identifies as Hispanic; the rest consists of 12% Black, 10% White, 5% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 51% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Whittier Elementary reports 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 24.7:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. An estimated 93% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Riverside County (around 74%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Whittier Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 24.4%, the actual is 16.8%, a residual of -7.6 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Riverside County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $93,074 per year, about 26% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Whittier Elementary is one of 543 public schools in Riverside County (combined enrollment of about 424,872 students).

Nearest neighbor: Jacob Wiens Elementary, around 0.8 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Whittier Elementary comes 3rd of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 18.0%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Whittier Elementary has changed only slightly, going from 813 students in 2018 to 816 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 65% to 71% across the same window.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.