Peotone High School or PHS, is a four-year high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located approximately 1 mile east of Interstate 57

Interstate 57

Interstate 57 is an Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central rail line for much of its route. It goes from Miner, Missouri, at Interstate 55 to Chicago, Illinois, at Interstate 94. I-57 essentially serves as a shortcut route for travelers headed between...

 near the intersection of Corning Ave and Rathje Rd in Peotone, Illinois

Peotone, Illinois

Peotone is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,385 at the 2000 census. The city is about south of Chicago...

, a village located 43 miles (69 km) south of Chicago, Illinois and 16 miles (25 km) north of Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee, Illinois

Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County...

, in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is one of six schools in the Peotone Community Unit School District 207-U, one of the geographically largest school districts in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Peotone High School serves students from the south, central and eastern region of Will County

Will County, Illinois

As of the census of 2000, there were 502,266 people, 167,542 households, and 131,017 families residing in the county. The population density was 600 people per square mile . There were 175,524 housing units at an average density of 210 per square mile...

, and a small portion of northwestern Kankakee County

Kankakee County, Illinois

Kankakee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 113,449, which is an increase of 9.3% from 103,833 in 2000. Its county seat is Kankakee....

. This includes Green Garden

Green Garden Township, Will County, Illinois

Green Garden Township is located between the villages of Manhattan and Monee and straight south of Frankfort. The center of the township is the intersection of Manhattan-Monee and Center roads. From the center, the township extends three miles in each direction; north, west, south, and east, for a...

, Manhattan

Manhattan Township, Will County, Illinois

Manhattan Township is located in Will County, Illinois. The population was 5,615 at the 2000 census. Manhattan Township was formed from the western half of Trenton Township at an unknown date.- External links :****...

, Peotone

Peotone Township, Will County, Illinois

Peotone Township is located in Will County, Illinois. The population was 3,938 at the 2000 census. Peotone was formed from the eastern half of Wilton Township at an unknown date.It has towns of Andres and Peotone. Interstate 57, Route 50, Route 45, and Route 52 are major routes.-Geography:Peotone...

, Rockville

Rockville Township, Kankakee County, Illinois

Rockville Township is one of seventeen townships in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 786. It was formerly a township of Will County until Kankakee County was created...

, Will

Will Township, Will County, Illinois

Will Township is located in Will County, Illinois. The population was 1,568 at the 2000 census. Will Township was formed from the former township of Carey, which included modern day Monee Township and Will Township, in January 1859.-Township Headquarters:...

 and Wilton

Wilton Township, Will County, Illinois

Wilton Township is located in Will County, Illinois. The population was 819 at the 2000 census.- Geography:There are small towns of Wilton Center, Wilton, and Wallingford. There used to be a small town of Pierce. Major roads are Wilmington-Peotone Rd., Route 52., Elevator Rd., Tulley Rd., and Cedar...

 townships. Two unincorperated elementary schools, Wilton Center and Green Garden, as well as Peotone Elementary are all assembled to in-town middle schools after fourth grade, where they continue their education in town all the way through high school.

History

Peotone Community Unit School District 207-U is one of the longest surviving school districts in Will County. The high school's location has changed twice since 1954, due to overpopulation in the growing community. Construction began on the current Peotone High School in 2000, barely being completed at the start of the school year on September 4, 2001.

Student Demographics and Characteristics

The current enrollment at Peotone High School is 679. Ethnicity is 89.6% White, 7% Hispanic/Latino and 3.4% all others. 13.8% of students lie within the low income bracket. The attendance rate is 94%, and the graduation rate is 93.2%.

Academics

PHS offers a wide variety of curriculum for its students to choose from. Departments include Agriculture, Business, Family and Consumer Sciences, Industrial Technology, Media and Technology, English, Foreign Language (Spanish is the only Foreign Language offered after the Class of 2009), Fine Arts, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, Science, and Social Studies. Peotone offers AP courses in US History, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Chemistry and Calculus AB. Peotone also has a Special Education program.

Peotone operates under a standard, seven period scheduling system. Classes run from 8:25 AM to 3:10 PM. From 2008 to 2010, a Zero Hour was offered, but this option was revoked due to budget cuts.

In 2010, 60% of Juniors met or exceeded on the PSAE

Prairie State Achievement Examination

The Prairie State Achievement Examination is a two-day standardized test taken by all High School Juniors in the U.S. state of Illinois. On the first day, students take the ACT, and on the second day, a WorkKeys examination and Illinois State Board of Education-developed science examination....

, 7% higher than the statewide average.

Juniors and Seniors also have the opportunity to attend Kankakee Area Career Center located in Bourbonnais, Illinois

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Bourbonnais is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,256 at the 2000 census, but it was estimated to have grown to 19,119 in 2009...

. Classes take place for half the school day, and is worth 1.5 credits per semester. Departments include Automotive Technology, Business Technology, Child Development, Collision Repair, Computer Technology, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Drafting/CAD, Fire/Rescue, Health Occupations, Law Enforcement, Precision Metals and Welding Technology.

2010 Food Fight

On November 17, a large food fight

Food fight

A food fight is a form of chaotic collective behavior, in which food is thrown at others in the manner of projectiles. These projectiles are not made to harm or damage others, but to simply ignite a fight filled with spontaneous food throwing. Food fights may be impromptu examples of rebellion or...

 broke out during the "A Lunch" period. Disciplinary actions were taken towards the group of seniors who allegedly started the food fight, and strict precautions were taken to prevent such actions to happen again, such as reduction of food portions.

Cyber Bullying

PHS made national news in April 2010 when an incident involving hate speech escalated between a Peotone student on the baseball team and a Crete-Monee High School team member. According to The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...

,

"A racist and threatening Facebook exchange between high school baseball players has some wondering why a threat to lynch another person is not being taken more seriously by two Illinois schools. Crete-Monee High School honor student and pitcher Jihad Yousef was stunned the day after playing a double header against Peotone, when he checked his Facebook page and found a disturbing message from a Peotone player, according to Phil Arvia of the Southtown Star. NBC Chicago released the reported Facebook message:

"hey jihad or whatever ur muslim [censored] name is, come to peotone and be ready to be noosed in the trees....here in peotone we dont [------] around when it comes to [------] ...just be ready to become our slaves just like the way it should be since [------] dont provide to the country,...were hosting a ku kulx klan [sic] rally this week if u wanna come and be our victims."

'I was, like, confused," Yousef said. "I had to refresh the page. The feeling, I couldn't even say I was mad. Shocked, maybe.'

After trying to ignore the message, he ultimately decided to show some friends and his parents--who contacted administrators at Crete-Monee and Peotone high schools and the Peotone police. The offending student has been given a five-to 10-day school suspension and two-game baseball suspension. The Southtown Star reports:

'Yep, apparently the kid will be playing baseball again this season. What would the administration's response have been if someone showed them a Facebook picture of this young man drinking beer? This is a threatened lynching.'

'I don't care about his 10 days," Paula Yousef, Jihad's mother, told Arvia. "I want to know what's going on in his head. ... There's so much hatred in those words.'

'This doesn't fall into the hate crime category,' Peotone Police Chief Bill Mort told the Southtown Star. 'In very preliminary review by the state's attorney, we may be looking at a misdemeanor, perhaps a felony, under some fairly new statutes regarding threatening texts.'

Arvia writes that both schools are pleased with how the situation was handled, but points out that the case was not taken nearly as seriously as it should have been. 'Their kids are not racist,' Crete-Monee Principal Brian Riegler told Arvia. 'This issue is not representative of their school or their community. This is an anomaly.' Arvia disagrees: 'Someone here needs to be ashamed for these actions and show it.'"

Despite what many news articles and school administration had told the public, most of what was reported was sugarcoated. The incident shocked many other students, and appalled the entire community as a whole. Others, however, shrugged the situation off as just "kids being kids."