Peotone School Board Meeting | November 17, 2025

Article Summary:
All four main schools in Peotone School District 207-U have received a “Commendable” rating on the 2025 Illinois School Report Card, Assistant Superintendent Carole Zurales announced at the November 17 board meeting.

State Report Card Key Points:

• Peotone Elementary, Intermediate, Junior High, and High School all earned the state’s “Commendable” designation.

• The rating indicates that the schools have no underperforming student subgroups and that the high school’s graduation rate is above 67%.

• The district’s high school graduation rate was 88%.

• Following the results, the district set new long-term proficiency goals: 70% in English Language Arts and 50% in Math by Spring 2028.

PEOTONE, IL — Every school in Peotone School District 207-U earned a “Commendable” designation on the 2025 Illinois School Report Card, district officials announced on Monday, November 17, 2025.

Assistant Superintendent Carole Zurales presented the summative designations to the Board of Education, reporting that Peotone Elementary School, Peotone Intermediate Center, Peotone Junior High School, and Peotone High School all received the second-highest rating from the state.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, a “Commendable” rating signifies that a school has no underperforming student subgroups, a graduation rate higher than 67%, and its performance is not in the top 10% of schools statewide. Zurales noted that Peotone High School’s graduation rate was 88%.

Zurales also presented the district’s overall performance on state assessments, which now use a new four-level proficiency system. In English Language Arts (ELA), 63.4% of Peotone students met proficiency, outperforming the state average. In math, 41.6% of students were proficient, slightly above the state average.

With the new assessment benchmarks established, the district has set updated long-term academic goals. By spring 2028, the district aims for at least 70% of students in grades 3-11 to be proficient in ELA and at least 50% to be proficient in Math, as measured by the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and ACT College Readiness Benchmarks.

The board later voted unanimously to approve the district’s formal School Improvement Plans, which incorporate strategies to meet these new goals.