Enrollment
409
Elementary
DISTRICT 545 · STATE 526
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BEAUFORT 01·NCES 450111000392
Whale Branch Elementary
15 Stuart Point Road, Seabrook, SC 29940 · (843) 466-1000 · Beaufort County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL409 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 17% of South Carolina public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ·Beats expectations Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded South Carolina public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
8.7:1
47 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.1:1 · STATE 13.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
,
Title I proxy
STATE 77%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 48 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 64 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 67 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 46 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 64 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (60) is 6% smaller than its 5th grade class (64).
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · STATE 67% · 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
SC READY 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
43.0%
SC avg 59.7% . +13.4pp since 2023
Math
39.5%
SC avg 44.2% . +14.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the SC READY, South Carolina's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 40 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Carolina schools, those numbers are about 60 and 44. Reading and writing scores are up about 13 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 14 points.
SC READY results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 43.0% | 39.5% |
| 2023-24 | 29.6% | 25.1% |
% Meets or Exceeds Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SC READY. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
Where Whale Branch Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In South Carolina | In Beaufort County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 39.5% | #438 of 635 ▲ 116 | #15 of 19 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #540 of 635 ▲ 40 | #16 of 19 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 409 | #475 of 709 | #14 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 8.7:1 | #11 of 656 | #5 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.1% | #485 of 656 | #18 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.6% | #96 of 395 | #6 of 13 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
409
+33 (+9%) vs 2020
-24% since 2000-01, when it was 538
Student : Teacher
8.7:1
was 8.4:1
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 | 409 | 47 | 8.7:1 | N/A |
| 2023-24 | 400 | 50 | 8.0:1 | 100% (400) |
| 2022-23 | 371 | 40 | 9.3:1 | 100% (371) |
| 2020-21 | 376 | 45 | 8.4:1 | 100% (376) |
| 2017-18 | 522 | 43 | 12.1:1 | 100% (522) |
| 2015-16 | 586 | 42 | 13.9:1 | 100% (586) |
| 2010-11 | 307 | 31 | 9.9:1 | 82% (252) |
| 2000-01 | 538 | 35 | 15.4:1 | 77% (416) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Whale Branch Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (522 to 409); teachers up 9% (43 to 47).
About Whale Branch Elementary
Whale Branch Elementary is a small elementary school with an address in Seabrook, South Carolina. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 409 students. Statewide, elementary schools in South Carolina average about 526 students each.
Beaufort 01, which runs Whale Branch Elementary, has 32 schools and 21,050 students.
Black students make up a majority at Whale Branch Elementary, at 71%. The remaining shares are 18% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 4% White. Census estimates put the Black share of Beaufort County's population at about 16%. Whale Branch Elementary's diversity index is 46%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 8.7:1 comes from the school's 47 full-time-equivalent teachers. That is 4.6 students per teacher below the 13.3:1 average for elementary schools in South Carolina.
The allk12 Grade for Whale Branch Elementary is C-. Compared with South Carolina public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 17% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Within Beaufort County, the median household income is $86,573, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Beaufort County has 35 public schools and roughly 22,968 students.
Nearby, Whale Branch Middle is about 0.2 miles away. Within five miles of Whale Branch Elementary, there are 2 other public schools.
For locale, NCES codes Whale Branch Elementary as Rural: Fringe.
Enrollment is up 9% from 2020-21, when Whale Branch Elementary had 376 students, to 2024-25, when it had 409.
Threads on this page can be about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Beaufort County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
195,289
Census ACS
Median income
$86,573
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
35
22,968 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Beaufort 01
- May River HighHigh · 1,731 students
- Bluffton HighHigh · 1,375 students
- Hilton Head Island HighHigh · 1,265 students
- River Ridge AcademyElementary · 1,134 students
- Beaufort HighHigh · 1,104 students
- Bluffton MiddleMiddle · 921 students
Other schools in Seabrook
- Whale Branch Early College HighHigh · 390 students
- Whale Branch MiddleMiddle · 243 students
Nearby schools
- Whale Branch Middle0.2 mi · 243
- Whale Branch Early College High1.3 mi · 390
- Joseph S. Shanklin Elementary6.3 mi · 416
- Battery Creek High6.9 mi · 809
- Robert Smalls Leadership Academy7.4 mi · 785
- Beaufort Elementary7.7 mi · 375
Frequently asked questions
About Whale Branch ElementaryHow large is Whale Branch Elementary?
Whale Branch Elementary enrolls approximately 409 students in grades PK-05.
Is Whale Branch Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Whale Branch Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Whale Branch Elementary?
Approximately 8.7:1 students per teacher at Whale Branch Elementary.
How diverse is Whale Branch Elementary?
Whale Branch Elementary reports a student body of 4% White, 18% Hispanic, 71% Black, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Whale Branch Elementary?
Whale Branch Elementary is overseen by Beaufort 01 in Beaufort County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.