Elementary and Secondary Schools
The Peoria Public Schools District #150 is the fifth-largest public elementary and secondary school system in the state of Illinois. A seven-member, nonpartisan board of education appoints a superintendent by majority vote.
The following is a summary of data regarding the Peoria public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.
Total enrollment: 15,001
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 14
middle schools: 14
senior high schools: 5
Student/teacher ratio: elementary, 18.7:1; middle and secondary, 20.3:1
Teacher salaries
average: $52,741.00
Funding per pupil (2002-2003): $5,379.00
Offering private educations are the Peoria Catholic Diocese, Concordia Lutheran, the Hebrew Day School, Peoria Academy, and Peoria Christian.
Public Schools Information: Peoria Public Schools, 3202 N. Wisconsin Avenue, Peoria, IL 61603
Bradley University, founded in 1897, enrolls more than 6,000 undergraduates and offers 90 undergraduate and 32 graduate programs in such fields as business and accounting, all major engineering specialties, music, nursing, and teacher education. Eureka College, located in Eureka, is a four-year liberal arts college and is the alma mater of former President Ronald Reagan. The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, the Bradley University School of Nursing, and nursing schools at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and Methodist Medical Center grant degrees in medical sciences and provide continuing education for health care professionals throughout the Midwest.
Illinois Central College is a two-year institution that schedules courses for more than 12,000 students in university transfer curricula and vocational and continuing education programs. Degrees are offered in 105 fields of study; certificates are offered in more than 60 subjects. Among colleges and universities within commuting distance of Peoria are Illinois State University in Normal, Western Illinois University in Macomb, and Carl Sandburg College and Knox College in Galesburg.
The Peoria Public Library maintains a central facility with more than 800,000 volumes and more than 1,300 periodical titles as well as music recordings, videos, and DVDs; subject interests include business, census materials, early government documents, genealogy, and local history. The library's comprehensive Internet website allows patrons to access the card catalog and research databases. In addition to the main library facility, the library operates five branches. The city's other major library is the Cullom-Davis Library on the Bradley University campus. Holdings total more than 536,000 volumes, and special collections include federal and state documents as well as material pertaining to industrial arts history, Abraham Lincoln, and oral history; the library also houses the Harry L. Spooner Library of the Peoria Historical Society. Among the more than 60 libraries in Peoria are those associated with colleges, hospitals, churches, corporations, and government agencies.
Bradley University supports the Institute for Urban Affairs and Business Research plus research centers in computers and technology. Work done at Peoria's National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, one of four USDA Agricultural Research Service Labs made possible the mass production of penicillin and the early and economical production of dextran as a blood-volume expander.
Public Library Information: Peoria Public Library, 107 NE Monroe Street, Peoria, IL 61602-1070; (309)497-2000