Pecatonica Elementary School

Pecatonica is a community where education is important. It is a community that truly supports the arts, just attend an elementary music program and you will see half the town. They have a music curriculum in place and is active. The curriculum is allined with the Illinois State Standards. Last but not least, students love going to music!!!!
--Submitted by a parent

We really enjoyed the Pecatonica School District. This past year my children had two of the best teachers I have come across yet. They had parental involvement, excellent communication skills, truely cared about the students, and were fun and creative! Thanks Mrs. Wanke and Mrs. Thoren. I feel the principal has a lot to learn and the board made a HUGE mistake by letting Mrs. Thoren go. She went above and beyond the call of duty, reached out to all different learning types and always had fun activities for the children to do to help them understand the concepts. The lunch room monitoring is a little on the strict and rediculous side but over all we were pleased especially with those two teachers!!!!
--Submitted by a parent

Phonics and spelling are not emphasized at the lower grades. We moved from Winnebago when my son was in the first grade where he had already had over 180 spelling words by the end of the first semester (very simple words mind you). His new teacher (at Pec) hadn't even started any yet. This was very disapointing. Phonics rules are not taught or even emphasized from what I can tell. Most of the teachers seem to use the memorize/recognition method. This seems to be adequate but doesn't instill any building blocks necessary for future growth. We are not very happy with the Band program either. There doesn't seem to be much school enthusiasm for a marching band and very few students seem to be encouraged to reach for that 'excellence' in music, which leads them to greater things in life. The Grade school music teacher, however, is very good!! These are our only complaints. All in all, a very good school.
--Submitted by Chris Reeter, a parent