The top reported proficiency rate is 22% in Math. The lowest is 21% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Walt Whitman Elem School
Walt Whitman Elementary is a small public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Wheeling, a mixed-use Chicago suburb with a strong manufacturing base and a well-known restaurant and dining scene. The school's location on Wille Avenue places it within a village that is actively reshaping itself through transit-oriented development and civic investment, though students themselves attend school campuses that sit apart from the village's newer downtown node at Wheeling Town Center.
The school enrolls a student body that is substantially Hispanic, with a smaller but meaningful Asian American presence and more modest representation from white, Black, and other groups. A clear majority of the enrollment comes from Spanish-speaking households. The total enrollment is small for an elementary school serving a full grade band from pre-K through fifth, distributed fairly evenly across grades, with just a single sixth grader. Free-or-reduced-price lunch status was not available in the data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the economic profile of the community it serves.
On Illinois state assessments (the IAR in English language arts and math, and the ISA in science), Walt Whitman's proficiency rates are substantially below the statewide middle. In third-grade math and English language arts, testing results show proficiency in the low-to-mid range. By fourth and fifth grade, both math and English language arts proficiency rates remain low, with English language arts in fourth grade showing particularly soft results. Fifth-grade science results track similarly. Against the comparison set of districts in Cook County, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. These numbers suggest that many students are not yet meeting grade-level standards, and a parent considering this school would want to understand what interventions or support structures the school has in place and what the trajectory looks like over time. State testing data for grades six through eight is not available because the school serves only through fifth grade.
The school's location in Wheeling places families within a community with modest home values relative to national benchmarks, though rental costs consume a meaningful share of household income. The village itself is experiencing rapid residential growth and transit-oriented development, which may affect housing availability and neighborhood character over the coming years. Notably, the district that serves Walt Whitman (Wheeling CCSD 21) is undertaking a major boundary-redistricting process for the first time in roughly two decades, with changes potentially effective in the 2027-28 school year. Certain schools on the east side are over capacity while west-side schools have available seats, so families should be aware that attendance boundaries could shift. Additionally, the district completed a substantial bond-funded infrastructure program that brought air conditioning and security upgrades to all schools, with a major new round of summer construction projects underway.
Detailed information on the school's specific programs, staffing, special education or English learner services, discipline practices, or attendance patterns was not available in the data provided, so a parent would benefit from reaching out directly to the school to understand those dimensions and to ask about how the school is working to close proficiency gaps.
See more original research from School Decision →