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Whittaker Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-5

523^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 640 South Carolina Elementary Schools

Better than 18% of South Carolina elementary schools

Summary

Whittaker Elementary is a public elementary school located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, serving grades PK-5 with a total enrollment of 369 students. The school is part of the Orangeburg School District, which is ranked 66 out of 75 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Whittaker Elementary consistently ranks in the bottom half of South Carolina elementary schools, with its performance on state assessments (SC READY) significantly below the Orangeburg district and state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 2024-2025, only 21.8% of 3rd graders at Whittaker were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 39.8% in Orangeburg and 61.8% statewide. The school's performance for specific student subgroups, such as female, male, African American, and low socioeconomic status students, is also consistently in the bottom half of the state rankings.

Whittaker Elementary has experienced high rates of chronic absenteeism, ranging from 22.5% to 42.8% over the past 4 years, which is significantly higher than the state average. Additionally, 100% of the school's students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty student population. While the nearby schools in the Orangeburg district, such as Elloree Elementary, Bethune-Bowman Elementary, Edisto Elementary, and Sheridan Elementary, also perform poorly on state assessments and have high rates of chronic absenteeism, Brookdale Elementary, located just 1.15 miles from Whittaker, has a higher school ranking and better academic performance, suggesting that location within the same district may not be the sole factor influencing school performance.

325

Students ?

15.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

$14,485

Per pupil spending ?

100%

Free/discounted lunch ?

790 Whittaker Parkway
Orangeburg, SC 29115

(803) 534-6559

District: Orangeburg

Students who attend Whittaker Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Robert E. Howard Middle
High:	Orangeburg Wilkinson High

Racial breakdown:

African American:

88.9%

Hispanic:

6.8%

White:

2.2%

See top rated South Carolina elementary schools

Compare Whittaker Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 20th percentile in 2022 → 18th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the South Carolina average (36% vs 56% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (18th percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (38% vs 22% South Carolina)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school36%

District avg37%

South Carolina avg56%

523^rd of 640

South Carolina public elementary schools ?

Bottom 18%▼ down 2 pts since 2022

See the entire ranking list of South Carolina Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

6^th of 14Elementary Schools in the Orangeburg

66^th of 75Orangeburg among South Carolina districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	21.1	523 of 640	18.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	25.7	478 of 638	25.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	24.7	492 of 644	23.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	20.0	501 of 625	19.8%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	42.9	224 of 381	41.2%	★★☆☆☆
2024	54.0	154 of 369	58.3%	★★★☆☆
2023	48.9	190 of 394	51.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	48.5	191 of 393	51.4%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2024	25.2	432 of 565	23.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	23.5	456 of 580	21.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	22.2	445 of 573	22.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	27.6	468 of 613	23.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	34.8	408 of 599	31.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	25.6	484 of 608	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	24.5	472 of 600	21.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	South Carolina percentile	Rating
2025	23.3	460 of 586	21.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	27.0	419 of 568	26.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	25.4	446 of 582	23.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	17.3	485 of 579	16.2%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

African American (2025)41st percentile+23 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)24th percentile+5 vs school

Female (2024)24th percentile~ school

Male (2025)22nd percentile+3 vs school

By subject vs South Carolina (2024-2025) ?

Mathematics39%-14 vs state

English Language Arts35%-28 vs state

Science33%-16 vs state

★

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Schools Near Whittaker Elementary

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SC READY English Language Arts (2025)						SC READY Mathematics (2025)						SC READY Science (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SC READY English Language Arts 3rd Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 4th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 5th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 6th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 7th Grade	SC READY English Language Arts 8th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 3rd Grade	SC READY Mathematics 4th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 5th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 6th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 7th Grade	SC READY Mathematics 8th Grade	SC READY Science 4th Grade	SC READY Science 6th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel Spending from Federal Funds	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Personnel Spending from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Sub-total Spending from State and Local Funds
Whittaker Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	790 Whittaker Parkway	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-6559	325	21	15.4		7 (2.2%)	289 (88.9%)	22 (6.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.8%)	21.1	523^rd of 640 public elementary schools	18.3%		25.7	478^th of 638 public elementary schools	25.1%	45	21.8	37.0	45.8				47.8	19.6	48.0				32.6		$14,485	$1,758	$1,059	$2,816	$9,720	$1,948	$11,668
Felton Laboratory Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	115 Lance Street	Orangeburg	29117	Orangeburg County	School Public Charter School District	Yes	No	No	Yes	(803) 536-7034	279	13	20.8		2 (0.7%)	238 (85.3%)	9 (3.2%)	15 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.4%)	31.3	439^th of 640 public elementary schools	31.4%		33.2	427^th of 638 public elementary schools	33.1%	12	76.2	41.7	69.6	50.0	73.3	53.6	28.5	19.5	39.1	20.6	16.7	31.8	33.3	41.2	$14,208	$1,309	$1,231	$2,540	$8,179	$3,489	$11,668
Brookdale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	394 Brookdale Drive	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-5982	215	16	13.2		6 (2.8%)	185 (86.0%)	18 (8.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.9%)	21.6	518^th of 640 public elementary schools	19.1%		34.3	418^th of 638 public elementary schools	34.5%	100	37.5	44.2	42.4				50.0	26.5	45.5				26.4		$17,461	$1,557	$1,271	$2,827	$12,681	$1,953	$14,634
Mellichamp Elementary	Public	3-5	350 Murray Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-8044	144	14	10.0		9 (6.3%)	123 (85.4%)	9 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	5.1	632^nd of 640 public elementary schools	1.3%		5.4	630^th of 638 public elementary schools	1.3%	2	29.2	20.0	33.9				29.3	16.0	23.7				10.0		$25,614	$4,008	$1,991	$5,999	$16,849	$2,766	$19,615
Marshall Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1441 Marshall Street	Orangeburg	29118	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-7865	625	39	16.1		13 (2.1%)	557 (89.1%)	21 (3.4%)	15 (2.4%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.4%)	15.2	564^th of 640 public elementary schools	11.9%		9.8	605^th of 638 public elementary schools	5.2%	41	46.0	40.4	44.0				41.8	24.5	24.2				26.6		$13,038	$1,084	$1,111	$2,195	$9,302	$1,541	$10,843
Sheridan Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1139 Hillsboro Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 534-7504	450	32	13.8		11 (2.4%)	380 (84.4%)	35 (7.8%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	16 (3.6%)	11.2	592^nd of 640 public elementary schools	7.5%		10	600^th of 638 public elementary schools	6.0%	8	33.9	27.6	31.9				33.9	44.9	20.3				22.4		$14,393	$1,569	$1,337	$2,906	$9,878	$1,609	$11,487
Willie Jeffries School of Excellence	Public, Charter	K-6	3000 Five Chop Road	Orangeburg	29115	Orangeburg County	Charter Institute at Erskine	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(803) 250-5717	274	25	11.1		15 (5.5%)	243 (88.7%)	4 (1.5%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	9 (3.3%)								(n/a)
Edisto Primary	Public	PK, KG-2	3239 Cordova Road	Cordova	29039	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 536-4782	635	42	15.0		214 (33.7%)	328 (51.7%)	52 (8.2%)	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (5.2%)								(n/a)															$14,114	$1,221	$1,184	$2,405	$10,004	$1,705	$11,709
Edisto Elementary	Public	3-5	136 Woodolive Lane	Orangeburg	29515	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	No	(803) 531-7646	419	27	15.2		162 (38.7%)	196 (46.8%)	24 (5.7%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.4%)	17.8	542^nd of 640 public elementary schools	15.3%		20.5	517^th of 638 public elementary schools	19.0%	25	38.2	39.5	50.4				30.4	29.0	44.8				27.6		$14,392	$1,769	$1,435	$3,204	$9,579	$1,610	$11,189
Bethune-Bowman Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4857 Charleston Highway	Rowesville	29133	Orangeburg County	Orangeburg	No	No	No	Yes	(803) 533-6371	259	19	14.0		2 (0.8%)	220 (84.9%)	31 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.3%)	9.8	602^nd of 640 public elementary schools	5.9%		11.2	585^th of 638 public elementary schools	8.3%	17	35.1	36.1	36.4				35.1	30.6	20.5				25.0		$15,024	$1,262	$1,102	$2,363	$10,874	$1,787	$12,661

Frequently Asked Questions about Whittaker Elementary

Is Whittaker Elementary a good school?

Whittaker Elementary ranks in the bottom 18.3% of South Carolina elementary schools.

What district is Whittaker Elementary in?

Orangeburg

What is the racial makeup of Whittaker Elementary?

Students at Whittaker Elementary are 89% African American, 7% Hispanic, 2% White, 2% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Whittaker Elementary attend?

Students who attend Whittaker Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Robert E. Howard Middle
High : Orangeburg Wilkinson High

How many students attend Whittaker Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 325 students attended Whittaker Elementary.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the South Carolina Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.