A strong tradition of growing minds

 The Jacksonville area offers a wide array of choices for students, starting with the local public school system, Jacksonville District 117.

The elementary school system in Jacksonville is based on neighborhood schools, with six K-6 schools spread throughout town and attracting students from the surrounding blocks. Most students can walk or ride a bicycle to school.

Jonathan Turner Junior High School, grades 7-8, and Jacksonville High School, grades 9-12, bring together all the students in town. That allows the two upper-level schools to offer equipment and courses that  smaller schools might not. JHS offers various academic tracks for students, depending on their long-range plans. 

Throughout the district, class sizes are relatively low. The graduation rate at Jacksonville High School is above the 90th percentile, which is more than 10 percent above the state average.

A new addition to the school district is the Eight Points Charter School, which will focus on educating students in grades 5-8 who have different learning styles.

The surrounding towns offer public school systems in small-school settings. Each district has its own character.
Parents and citizens of the towns alike tend to have strong ownership stakes in their schools. 

Jacksonville also offers a variety of church-affiliated schools. 

The largest is the 100-plus years-old Our Saviour Grade School and the associated Routt Catholic High School, which competes in sports with teams from the surrounding towns and has proven itself a force on the state level. 

Like Routt/Our Saviour, Salem Lutheran School and Westfair Christian Academy (Baptist) stress small classrooms and close-knit, faith-based communities, where parental involvement is high and where the instruction can be creative and focused.

Colleges and state schools

Jacksonville is home to three institutions of higher education: two private liberal arts colleges and a public
community college campus. They add culture, the arts, higher learning, educational opportunities and college-level sports to the community.

Illinois College, founded in 1829, is the oldest college in the state, with a proud heritage of educational excellence for nearly 200 years.

The college has recently built a spacious new dorm, a state-of-the-art science center and a stunning new fitness center, neatly integrating the modern architecture into its stately campus. The liberal arts college is distinguished as a Phi Beta Kappa institution.

The liberal arts college is distinguished as a Phi Beta Kappa institution and recently began offering its first master’s degree course in education. Graduate students are exposed to the most recent and significant theories, helping future teachers become more effective in their classrooms.

Across town, MacMurray College has offered a broad liberal arts education since its founding in 1846 as a Methodist women’s college. A co-educational institution for more than 50 years, MacMurray has recently added new buildings for  fine arts and music.

A traditional, residential, liberal arts college, MacMurray also adjusts to the changing needs of its students. In the spring 2009 semester, the college went to a four-day week to better accommodate the schedules of its diverse student body. 

Jacksonville’s Western Regional Center for Lincoln Land Community College offers classes on a nearly exhaustive range of topics. 

Students can achieve their associate’s degree in Jacksonville, and the center has a wide array of technical and
academic offerings for students seeking education in trades, professions and for transfer degrees.

The center’s relatively small classes and low cost attract students ages 16 to 85 who are just starting their college
careers or who want to improve their life-long skills and knowledge.

Jacksonville has been home to people with disabilities since the 1840s, with the Dorthea Dix-inspired state institution that is now called the Jacksonville Developmental Center and with other state residential care and educational facilities.

The town is home to the Illinois School for the Deaf and the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, both also dating from the 1840s. They offer a wide range of programs beginning at birth and residential schooling to the 12th grade. 

Students from all over the state come to the schools and facilities in Jacksonville, helping to give the town its unique, accepting and enlightened character, based on education and opportunity for all people.