Whitney Elementary, Yakima WA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Whitney Elementary

Whitney Elementary is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Yakima, Washington. It is part of the Yakima School District, which was recognized as the Washington state Large District School Board of the Year in 2024 and has expanded dual-language programs into nearly every elementary school, a district-level direction that may be of interest to families looking for bilingual pathways, though the school’s own program offerings are not detailed in the available data.

The school sits in Yakima, the central city and county seat of Yakima County, a place whose economy is deeply tied to agriculture—apples, wine, and hops—alongside healthcare, retail, and transportation. Yakima has seen slight population growth in recent years. The city’s civic life revolves around downtown festivals, the Yakima Greenway system of parks and trails, and events like the Central Washington State Fair. The neighborhood around Whitney Elementary, located on West Nob Hill Boulevard, is part of a broader city with a mix of suburban development and older housing stock. Housing values in the area are moderate when compared to state benchmarks, and rents have risen in the past year.

Whitney is a modest-sized elementary school. Its student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller but notable share of white students and very small numbers of Asian, Black, multiracial, and other groups represented. A substantial majority of students come from low-income households, as measured by eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch. This level of economic need is significant and shapes the context in which the school operates, though the data does not include information about Title I status or specific support programs for English learners or students with disabilities.

On state assessments administered in the 2024–25 school year, Whitney Elementary’s students showed a range of results across subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, proficiency rates in third and fifth grade were around a third of students, while fourth grade reached closer to half. In math, fourth grade saw a similar share meeting standards, third grade was slightly below that, and fifth grade was notably lower. In fifth-grade science, about a third of students met the state bar. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint when compared among districts in Yakima County. This tells a parent that while the school is not among the highest-performing in the region, it is not at the bottom either, and there is variation within the building by grade and subject. The available data covers only a single year, so trends cannot be assessed.

There is no information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access for these grades. Because Whitney serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to consider. A parent looking for detailed insight into classroom climate or specialized programs may want to inquire directly with the school.

For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a neighborhood elementary in a mid-sized agricultural city, serving a population with high economic need, with academic results that are mixed but slightly above the county median overall. The district’s recent recognition and its expansion of dual-language programs suggest a system that is actively working on improvements, though how that translates to Whitney specifically is not spelled out in the available records. The school’s location in a stable, slowly growing city with a working-class and agricultural identity gives it a straightforward, grounded feel—this is not a fast-growing suburb or a high-cost urban market, but a place where housing is relatively affordable and the community’s anchor is the valley’s harvest economy.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 38% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 58% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 23% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 23% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 29% · ▲ 20 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 34% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 18 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 27% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 19 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolYakima School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income58%28 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income49%Higher-income50%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income57%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income58%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income44%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income57%39 pp gap