School Contact
Celeste Olivera
Student Support Coordinator at Whittier Elementary
About Whittier Elementary
Whittier Elementary School was named after American poet and anti-slavery advocate John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892). The building which currently sits at 616 N. Wehe opened its doors in the fall of 1998. However, the first Whittier School dates back to 1911, when it was originally called Eastside School. That building served students until it was closed in 1965. It burned and was later torn down. Closure of the school made Pasco the first district in the area to end de facto segregation in schools. In 1968, Pasco School District adopted a desegregation policy outlining the desire to provide the best education to all children.
The new Whittier was built in a time of resurgence for east Pasco. As Superintendent Murdock said at the dedication, “We are not just dedicating a new building, we are signaling a whole new future for the Eastside.” The new Whittier was the first school to serve the students of east Pasco in over three decades, but as Murdock said, “Whittier is not just another school, it is a gift to the children of this neighborhood and an investment in their future.”