Wednesday, August 13th marked the start of the 2025-2026 school year for our Dragons! Everyone came back to a team ready to kick off a new year and a building with some wonderful upgrades and freshly waxed hallways waiting for the thousands of footsteps that will be logged on them throughout the year. Like every school, we relish the chance to kick off a new school year with a fresh start for all, complete with the hope and excitement that the newness brings.

We always kick off the year with a Teacher’s Institute Day, where we spend some time with staff outlining the goals for the year, as well as updates needed in order to start the year aligned. “The Dragon Way” has been our running theme throughout the past few years as we believe that all our educators and PCHS students represent Pekin Community High School as “dedicated team players who are talented, caring, positive and inspiring.” This is the undercurrent that runs alongside the work that we do, the decisions that we make, and the goals we set each year.

Our newest Dragons, the freshmen, started school one day ahead of everyone else to give them a chance to walk their schedule and spend some time with our student (Dragon Day) leaders learning the ropes prior to everyone else coming back. And, Student Council also kicks off the 2nd day of school by hosting a luncheon for our staff and introducing their leadership team while outlining the upcoming StuCo events for the fall, the first of which is our annual Blackout Football Game for Easterseals. Stay tuned on our social media for more information regarding this event on September 5th.

As we focus on the word “inspiring” specifically, we continue to look toward sharpening our best practices, strong curriculum, and aligned grading practices to provide the strongest academic opportunities for our students. This year marks the second full year of our adoption of Skills-Based Grading, where students are graded based on their skill proficiency on a 0-4 scale versus a traditional 0-100% scale. This allows our staff to provide strong, relevant feedback to students and their parents while focusing on the essential skills students need to know and be able to do in each course they are enrolled in.

We continue to stress the importance of “showing up” as strong student attendance is a key component of success. Schools across the country continue to struggle with higher-than-normal truancy and chronic absenteeism rates, especially since COVID. PCHS has an attendance committee made up of various staff members who work hard campaigning and incentivizing daily student attendance. We stress the importance of showing up and being present each and every day; it’s the best way to be able to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them!

In addition to being present, we want students to also be ENGAGED. As a generation of students born as digital natives, they are used to having screens in their hands and in front of them, with constant over-stimulation from both. Teachers are in direct competition with this and work very hard to keep students engaged in the curriculum, which can be a fight. This year, PCHS is taking a strong stance on cell phones and other devices that students have. No device, outside of their school-issued Chromebook, will be allowed in the classrooms! We aim to cut down on the distractions, the bullying, and the constant digital-barrage of information during the course of our school day. 

Students have returned to a campus with renovated science rooms, new digital scoreboards, upgraded lighting, and one powered by solar energy! Our facilities continue to be renovated and upgraded to ensure that our building can stand the test of time. Pekin Community High School is solid both in its structure and in what you will see/find inside each classroom. We have strong staff and administrators dedicated to helping students find their path and achieve success during their tenure at PCHS. Here’s to another great year!