The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Whittier Elementary
Whittier Elementary sits in the city of Frederick, a crossroads and county seat in Frederick County known for the clustered spires of its historic downtown churches. The city is experiencing significant population growth, and its built environment features a historic core traversed by Carroll Creek. Fort Detrick, a U.S. Army bioscience and communications research installation, is Frederick County’s largest employer, and the National Cancer Institute and National Laboratory for Cancer Research are also located there. Civic life is centered downtown, where City Hall operates, and anchors include the city-operated Clustered Spires Golf Course, Culler Lake, and a municipal airport for general aviation.
Whittier is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of Frederick County Public Schools. The school’s enrollment is substantial for an elementary building serving this grade band. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: the largest group identifies as white, with Black and Hispanic students each making up a notable share of the population, and smaller proportions of Asian students and students of two or more races. A modest share of students at the school qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
State testing results for the most recent year show an academic profile that varies by subject. In English language arts, the share of students scoring at the proficient level or above is near to slightly above the midpoint compared to performance bands for elementary schools in the state, depending on the grade. Third graders, fourth graders, and fifth graders each post similar proficiency levels in this subject, with the fourth-grade cohort at the higher end of the range. In mathematics, the results are softer. The share of students at the proficient or above level is lower across grades three through five, with the highest rate in grade three and a gradual downward trend through grade five. Fifth graders also take the state science assessment, and the proficiency rate there is lower than either of the other subjects. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly around math and science instruction. Because this is the first year of available data for this school, no trend information is available to show whether these results represent a change from prior performance.
This school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. There are no discipline data, course access information, staffing details, or chronic absenteeism figures in the available records. The school is not a charter school, and its magnet and Title I status were not provided. Because the comparison set used for this entity’s neighbors contained only one district, no comparative positioning against other school systems in Frederick County was possible.
Housing in the area is not inexpensive. Home values in the zip code are higher than the national benchmark but slightly below the state benchmark, and rents have been rising. For context, a typical home in the area requires a mortgage payment that exceeds the cost of renting, and the local rent-to-income ratio suggests that housing costs take up a meaningful share of a typical household’s budget.
For a family considering Whittier, this is a large, diverse elementary school in a growing city anchored by bioscience and research employment. English language arts results are a relative strength, while math and science performance is softer. The school serves a broad demographic mix with a moderate share of students from lower-income households. With no trend data yet available, it is difficult to know whether the current test results reflect a stable pattern or a recent shift.
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