Original Research by School Decision on Bloomington High School
Bloomington High School is a standard public high school for grades nine through twelve in central Illinois, serving roughly fourteen hundred students. It sits on a separate campus east of Bloomington's downtown, in a mid-sized city anchored by State Farm Insurance and a cluster of white-collar employers. The school draws from a diverse student body: roughly half the enrollment is white, with substantial shares of Black students and Hispanic students, and smaller numbers of Asian students and students identifying as multiracial. The data provided does not include state assessment results, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, or the free-and-reduced-price lunch rate, so a parent seeking those measures will need to check with the district directly.
Bloomington High School is part of District 87, a district in motion on multiple fronts. In April 2025, McLean County voters approved a school sales tax that took effect in July, dedicating revenue to facility improvements, school resource officers, and mental health professionals. This is a meaningful funding shift that affects the district's capacity to support students and offers some property-tax relief to families. The district also purchased a former State Farm building in 2024 to expand early-education capacity and house a new Bloomington Career Academy, which held its ribbon-cutting in October 2025. That career academy is available to high school students and represents a structural expansion of technical and career-pathway offerings. Additionally, the district adopted a new English-language-learner curriculum called English 3-D in January 2024, splitting newcomers from more advanced multilingual students, a change relevant to families whose children are learning English. Most recently, the school rolled out a classroom cell phone ban, addressing what the district identified as the leading source of disciplinary referrals at the high school.
The housing market around Bloomington High School reflects a broader regional tension. Home values are moderate relative to national benchmarks and stable within the state, with modest year-over-year appreciation. Rents are also moderate. However, the region is experiencing constrained growth: Rivian and Ferrero are investing heavily in nearby Normal, and regional economic development projections signal strong demand for housing, yet new construction is lagging far behind need. The city issued only a small number of residential permits in 2024 and 2025. With a waiting list at the district's pre-K program resolved only by the recent expansion, housing availability may shape your timeline if you are considering the area.
Bloomington itself has a downtown historic district and grid street layout, though most of the city is car-oriented. A bicycle master plan and streetscape initiative are underway to increase walkability, especially downtown, but that work is still emerging. Public transit is provided by Connect Transit with sixteen fixed routes. Miller Park, a large municipal park, offers recreational facilities including a zoo, and the Bloomington Public Library serves the community. The city's economic base remains heavily concentrated in the insurance sector, though diversification is beginning through the Rivian and Ferrero investments nearby.
The racial composition of Bloomington High School differs meaningfully from the school's surrounding city, and parents considering enrollment should ask the school directly about how it supports students across different backgrounds, how discipline is administered, and what academic and support services are available. State testing data and graduation outcomes would also help shape that conversation, and the school and district should have those on hand.
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