Richwoods High School

Richwoods has changed in the past few years with the closing of Woodruff High School. Student safety issues and rapid turnover in the administration has crippled teachers' ability to teach. My daughter graduated from the IB program last year and was lucky enough to land in an Ivy League college, but she was a hard driven student motivated to pursue educational excellence with or without a great school. If you have a good kid with an average amount of motivation, the discipline issues may prove very distracting. I would highly recommend looking outside of district 150 for a better school.
--Submitted by a parent

I graduated from Richwoods High School and it was the best 4 years of my life! This school has great teachers, excellent academic programs(I was in the IB program), and awesome athletic teams and coaches! Everyone is very friendly and it is a great environment for your child to be in.
--Submitted by a student

As a Richwoods student, I've found the school to offer something for everyone. Like your suburban prep school, it has a legion of highly-motivated students in a wealth of AP and IB classes. In fact, last year we had two students accepted into Stanford, one at Harvard, one at Yale, and one at MIT. Like your inner city school, it has a legion of students failing Applied Chemistry. With the influx of new students due to No Child Left Behind, the school did not meet state standards on the PSAE for the first time. The school operates on many different levels--it's how you navigate it that determines how you'll end up.
--Submitted by a student

The Richwoods student population is very diverse. There are all the different cliques (i.e. preps, jocks, geeks, goth, ghetto, etc.)--but what's unique is that people aren't constricted by those groups. One plus about RHS is that everyone seems to get along really well--there is great school pride and unity. The education is not only challenging enough for those looking to go to Ivy League schools (with its combo of AP and IB classes), but it also has a great special ed department as well. RHS also has amazing athletic and music programs. One of the highlights of this past year was the Girls' Basketball Team's 38-0 finish in the IHSA State Tournament, establishing a new state record for most consecutive wins. This is definitely the place to send your kids if you want them to have a well-rounded education.
--Submitted by a parent

As an alumna and parent of three Richwoods students, I can say that my children have benefitted from the excellent college prep program, as well as the superior fine arts activities, athletics, and other extracurricular activities. In addition to college prep, which includes several Advanced Placement courses, there is also a Health Careers Academy and in International Bacalaureate program at Richwoods, thus enabling students to choose a program that best serves their needs. This is the best school in the Peoria, Illinois, area!
--Submitted by a parent

This is a great school. I would recommend any parent to send their child there.