{{short description|School district in Macon County, Illinois}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox school district | name = Decatur Public Schools District 61 | motto = “Educating for Success” | address = 101 West Cerro Gordo Street | city = Decatur | state = Illinois | zipcode = 62523 | country = United States | type = Public | us_nces_district_id = {{NCES District ID|1711850|district_name=Decatur SD 61|access_date=2022-03-05}} | grades = PreK–12<ref name="nces_dist" /> | students = 8,518<ref name="nces_dist" /> | website = {{URL2|https://www.dps61.org}} }} '''Decatur Public Schools District 61''' is a public unit school district in Macon County, Illinois. {{As of|2018}} it was the 26th largest school district in Illinois, and had one pre-kindergarten/early learning center, four full K-8 schools, eleven elementary schools with kindergarten through sixth grade, two middle schools, two high schools, and two alternative education programs.<ref name="dps61-about">{{cite web | url = https://www.dps61.org/domain/3 | title = About Our District | publisher = Decatur Public Schools | location = Decatur, Illinois | accessdate = 2019-05-14 }}</ref>

The district<!--Census code UNI 11850--> includes the majority of Decatur.<ref>{{cite map|author=Geography Division|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st17_il/schooldistrict_maps/c17115_macon/DC20SD_C17115.pdf|title=2020 Census - School District Reference Map - Macon County, IL|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|place=Suitland, Maryland|date=December 22, 2020|access-date=2026-03-01}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st17_il/schooldistrict_maps/c17115_macon/DC20SD_C17115_SD2MS.txt Text list]</ref>

One of the grade schools is a Montessori school.<ref name="dps61-about"/> High schools include Eisenhower High School and MacArthur High School. An older high school, Stephen Decatur High School, closed in 2000.

As of 2022 the District has 5 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 2 high schools, and 7 specialty schools.

==History== The earliest record of schooling in Decatur, Illinois, is of school being held in a room on South Main Street in 1830; afterwards it was held in the log courthouse in 1831 and 1832. Decatur's first purpose-built schoolhouse was a two-story building at Water and North Park streets, built in the 1840s by the Freemasons, with a classroom on the first floor and the Mason lodge room on the second floor.<ref name="centennial">{{cite book | url = http://www.usgenealogyexpress.com/~il/macon/macon_centennial_1829_1929/maconcentennial_p170.htm | title = Centennial History of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois | pages = 170–176 | chapter = XXXII: Decatur Schools | year = 1930 | publisher = The Decatur Review and The Decatur and Macon County Centennial Association | location = Decatur, Illinois }}</ref>

Schools were private at the time, but a state law in 1849 allowed, by public vote, a real estate tax to support schools; Decatur citizens passed the tax in 1851 to repair the "brick school house", presumably the one built by the Masons.<ref name="centennial"/>

In Illinois, the general school law on February 15, 1855, provided for taxes across the state to educate all children in the state, and required that each district maintain school for at least 6 months each year. Under the new law that year, the first school district in Decatur was formed, and the first building exclusively for school purposes, the "Big Brick", was built at the northwest corner of Church and North streets, and opened in 1857.<ref name="centennial"/> However, the general school law was believed to be unsuitable for a city school system, and the modern Decatur school district was established by a special charter of the Illinois General Assembly approved on February 16, 1865.<ref name="centennial"/>

High school was first held on September 22, 1862, in the east room of the Big Brick, and later in the basement of the Baptist church.<ref name="centennial"/> The first high school commencement was on June 20, 1867, at Powers Hall, with four girls graduating.<ref name="centennial"/> The first purpose-built high school building was opened in September 1869 at North and Broadway streets.<ref name="centennial"/>

==Schools== === High schools === * DPS Alternative Education *Eisenhower High School *MacArthur High School

=== Primary schools === * American Dreamer STEM Academy<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/dreamer American Dreamer STEM Academy]</ref> * Baum Elementary School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/baum Baum Elementary School]</ref> * Dennis Lab School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/dennis Dennis Lab School]</ref> * DPS Alternative Education<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/alted DPS Alternative Education]</ref> * Franklin Grove Elementary School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/franklingrove Franklin Grove Elementary School]</ref> * Hope Academy<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/hope Hope Academy]</ref> * Johns Hill Magnet School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/johnshill Johns Hill Magnet School]</ref> * Montessori Academy for Peace<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/montessori Montessori Academy for Peace]</ref> * Muffley Elementary School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/muffley Muffley Elementary School]</ref> * Parsons Elementary School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/parsons Parsons Elementary School]</ref> * Pershing Early Learning Program<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/pershing Pershing Early Learning Program]</ref> * South Shores Elementary School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/southshores South Shores Elementary School]</ref> * Stephen Decatur Middle School<ref>[https://www.dps61.org/sdms Stephen Decatur Middle School]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website|https://www.dps61.org}}

Category:School districts established in 1865 Category:1865 establishments in Illinois Category:Decatur, Illinois Category:Education in Macon County, Illinois Category:School districts in Illinois