Chillicothe Elementary Center

Chillicothe Elementary Center, a modestly sized elementary school in Chillicothe, Illinois, part of Il Valley Central USD 321, works with 156 students, covering grades 4 through 5. That puts it 59% leaner than the typical public school in Illinois, which averages around 381 students.

Within Il Valley Central USD 321, which oversees 6 schools and 2,071 students, Chillicothe Elementary Center is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Chillicothe Elementary Center records that 88% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Beyond that, the school reports 5% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. By comparison, Peoria County as a whole is about 67% White, so the school skews meaningfully more White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Chillicothe Elementary Center reports 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 10.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Chillicothe Elementary Center tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 54% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Chillicothe Elementary Center sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 40.0%; this one delivers 43.1%.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Peoria County indicate median household income runs about $65,108, 35% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. In all, Peoria County runs 81 public schools (combined enrollment of about 27,827 students), of which Chillicothe Elementary Center is one.

Chillicothe Jr High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 3 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Chillicothe Elementary Center comes 8th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 54.2%.

The school occupies a residential site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 15%: 184 students in 2018 compared to 156 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 10.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.