Original Research by School Decision on Richwoods High School
Richwoods High School is a mid-sized four-year high school in Peoria that serves grades 9 through 12. It sits in the city's core near the former Expo Gardens site, positioning it within walking distance of some of downtown's mixed-use development and the Warehouse District, though families would need to evaluate transportation given Peoria is car-oriented outside these specific neighborhoods.
The school's enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across grades, with the freshman class slightly larger than upper grades. The student body is racially diverse, with Black and white students each representing a substantial share, followed by meaningful populations of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. The data did not include the school's free-or-reduced-price-lunch rate, chronic absenteeism, or school-level state testing results, so a parent evaluating the school's academic performance and student support may want to contact the school directly or consult district-level data. Illinois state test results for the district are not available in the payload either.
The school's graduation rate and academic proficiency metrics were not provided, making it impossible to characterize how students perform on state assessments or how many complete their diplomas. Richwoods does not serve early elementary grades, so the recent curriculum shift to science-of-reading instruction that the Peoria School District approved in April 2026 does not directly touch this school's instruction, though it will eventually feed into the high school as younger cohorts advance. The district found that a substantial share of elementary and middle-grade readers were not meeting grade-level benchmarks, a context worth noting as these students move into high school.
State testing data, detailed graduation outcomes, staff counts, attendance patterns, and specific course offerings for Richwoods were not available in the materials reviewed. A family considering this school should request those details directly from the school's administration or the district office.
Peoria as a housing market shows modest affordability compared to national benchmarks. Home values in the broader area are moderate, and rental rates are reasonable, positioning the city's neighborhoods as accessible to middle-income families. The market has been slow-growth, with very limited new private home construction and development concentrated in adaptive reuse downtown and in mixed-income redevelopment projects. Richwoods' location near downtown puts families in or near neighborhoods with active mixed-use investment, though inventory remains historically constrained across the city.
Transit is available through CityLink, the regional transit system, which serves more than 75 schools in the area from 18 fixed routes. Peoria's civic anchors include the riverfront, Glen Oak Park, and the Peoria Public Library system, though daily life outside specific walkable districts is car-dependent. Healthcare and manufacturing are the city's economic backbone, anchored by OSF Healthcare and Caterpillar, with a diverse manufacturing sector and Bradley University nearby.
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