Summary:
ZIP code 61523 has four schools serving prekindergarten through grade 12: South Elementary School (PK–3), Chillicothe Elementary Center (grades 4–5), Chillicothe Junior High (grades 6–8), and Il Valley Central High School (grades 9–12). Across the three schools reporting IAR results, the 2025–2026 All Grades average was 65% in ELA, compared with 56% statewide, and 50% in math, compared with 40% statewide. The clearest area-wide takeaway is that the schools’ strengths differ: the junior high leads in ELA, while the Elementary Center leads in math.
Chillicothe Junior High had the top All Grades IAR ELA result at 74%, 10 points above the Elementary Center’s 64%; South Elementary School was lowest at 58%. In math, Chillicothe Elementary Center led at 58%, while the junior high was lowest at 39%, a local spread of 18 points. The high school’s 11th-grade ACT results were below state results in every reported subject: by 3 points in ELA, 2 in math, and 4 in science. Its graduation rate, however, was 94%, compared with 90% statewide. All Grades comparisons are descriptive because these schools serve different grade spans.
Recent IAR changes were mixed: the Elementary Center gained 6 points in ELA and 17 in math from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, while South fell 7 points in ELA and 12 in math; the junior high gained 1 point in ELA and 2 in math. SchoolDigger placed the junior high and Elementary Center at the 66th percentile in 2025–2026, and the high school at the 60th. All four schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–2025: 44% at the high school, 53% at South, 52% at the junior high, and 55% at the Elementary Center. Student–teacher ratios ranged from 10.5 at the Center to 16.4 at South; these figures describe school context, not what accounts for test results.
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