Summary:
The city of Peoria Heights, Illinois is home to two schools: Peoria Heights Grade School serving grades PK-8 and Peoria Heights High School serving grades 9-12. Both schools are part of the Peoria Heights CUSD 325 district and face significant academic challenges, ranking in the bottom third of their respective school types statewide.
Peoria Heights Grade School has 524 students and a low statewide ranking, placing between 1362-1550 out of around 2,000 Illinois elementary schools. The school is rated 1-2 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger and has high chronic absenteeism rates around 25%. Student test scores are significantly below state averages, with only 38.1% proficient or better in ELA and 15.4% in Math. Peoria Heights High School has 203 students and also has a low statewide ranking, placing between 488-588 out of around 700 Illinois high schools. The high school is rated 1-2 stars and has a 4-year graduation rate of 89.0% but a dropout rate of 2.4%. Student test scores are well below state averages, with only 28.6% proficient or better in ACT English, 11.9% in ACT Math, and 16.7% in ACT Science.
Both schools face significant socioeconomic challenges, with free/reduced lunch rates over 65%. While the grade school spends more per student ($17,559) compared to the high school ($13,833), the overall low performance across both schools suggests the resources are not being effectively utilized. The relatively small student-teacher ratios, 14.3 at the grade school and 10.3 at the high school, could present an opportunity to provide more individualized attention and support for students if leveraged effectively.
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