Walt Whitman Elem School

Walt Whitman Elem School, a reasonably sized elementary-level community in Wheeling, Illinois, one of the schools within Wheeling CCSD 21, enrolls 378 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Walt Whitman Elem School is one of 12 schools operated by Wheeling CCSD 21, a district that works with 6,298 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Walt Whitman Elem School logs that Hispanic students make up the majority at 76%. The remainder looks like 13% White, 4% Black, 4% Asian, 3% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 27% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, The school employs 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Walt Whitman Elem School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 80% of students at Walt Whitman Elem School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Cook County (around 66%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Walt Whitman Elem School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 25.2%, the actual is 20.1%, a residual of -5.2 points.

In the broader community, Cook County reports that median household earnings sit near $83,498, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. In all, Cook County runs 1406 public schools (combined enrollment of about 697,934 students), of which Walt Whitman Elem School is one.

The closest other public school is Oliver W Holmes Middle School, roughly 0.3 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Walt Whitman Elem School at 6th of 6; the average score across the group is 30.7%.

Walt Whitman Elem School operates from an outer-ring location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Walt Whitman Elem School's enrollment has contracted 24% since 2018, when it stood at 500 (now 378). Hispanic enrollment moved from 85% to 76% across the same window. Class-load math has tightened: from 16.1:1 in 2018 to 11.4:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Walt Whitman Elem School typically covers pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.