The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in Science. The lowest is 25% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Whittier School
Whittier School is an elementary school in West Valley City serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as part of Granite District. The school enrolls a student body that is roughly half white and approaching two-fifths Hispanic, with smaller shares of students who are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Asian, Black, and multiracial. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the economic diversity of the surrounding neighborhood.
On state assessments, Whittier's proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science fall below the midpoint among elementary schools in Salt Lake County. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, places it in the lower half of the county's elementary schools. In math, about three in ten students scored proficient or above. In English language arts, roughly one in four students met that bar. Science results were somewhat higher, with about one in three students reaching proficiency. These are the most recent available results from Utah's RISE assessments. A parent considering Whittier will want to understand how the school supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks and what academic interventions are in place.
The school serves a population where a majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is higher than the district average. The student body is diverse, with a substantial Hispanic presence and a range of other backgrounds represented. The school does not report the share of students with disabilities or English learners in the available data, so a parent with a child in either of those groups should ask the school directly about its special education and language support programs.
Whittier is part of Granite District, a large district that covers much of the Salt Lake Valley. The district has been active in recent years with facility and program investments, though specific bond or referendum details were not available in the data provided. The school itself is a neighborhood elementary school in a suburban part of West Valley City, a city that has grown rapidly since the 1970s and is now Utah's second-largest. The area around the school is a mix of residential subdivisions and commercial corridors, with wide arterial roads and an auto-oriented feel. The city has been working to build a downtown core around Fairbourne Station, which includes a civic center, light rail access, and a public plaza, but that district is several miles from the school's location near 6000 West and 3500 South.
Housing in the zip code that serves Whittier is valued near the middle of the Salt Lake County market, with home prices that have risen modestly over the past year. Rents have edged down slightly. The area is more affordable than the county average, though the cost of buying a home still requires a substantial household income. The neighborhood is suburban, with wide roads and strip commercial development, and the school itself sits in a residential area.
Whittier is a neighborhood school that serves its attendance zone through sixth grade. It does not offer high school programs, so there is no graduation rate to report. The school's academic results are below the county median, and the share of students qualifying for economic support is above the district average. For a family weighing this school, the central question is how the school's academic support systems match their child's needs. The school's diversity and its location in a growing, economically varied part of the Salt Lake Valley are straightforward characteristics of the setting.
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