Elgin Academy (Elgin, Illinois)
Elgin Academy, founded in 1839, is an independent, coed, college-preparatory day school with 425 students enrolled in preschool through twelfth grade during the 2004-05 school year. The school occupies a 15 acre (61,000 m²) campus 35 miles (55 km) northwest of Chicago in the Historic District of the city of Elgin, Illinois.
Elgin Academy offers a classical, academic, college-preparatory curriculum suitable for students seeking maximum challenge and maximum support. Small classes are key to facilitating instruction in which teachers are able to give close attention to each student's personal development. The Academy is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and is accredited by both the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; it is recognized by the Illinois Non-Public Schools Recognition Program.
The school is the oldest coeducational, non-sectarian such school west of the Allegheny Mountains.
It was established by charter of the Illinois State Congress in 1839 as a private school.
The Academy's original building, "Old Main", was constructed in 1856 by J. Quigley of Buffalo, New York in the Greek Revival style. It is now on the United States' National Register of Historic Places and museum of the Elgin Area Historical Society.
Its cirriculum began as a classical education.
Principal Nathaniel C. Sears expanded it from a local-area school to a boarding school with the construction of its Sears Hall. Edwards Hall was built in 1969.
The school's classrooms are now mainly housed in three buildings:
- Edwards Hall (high school)
- Sears Hall (middle school)
- North Hall (elementary school)
However, some classes are taught in the nearby Old Main.
Old Main
The original building that the school was housed in. When expansion of the school began EA attempted to give the building to Elgin for it's historical society. Due to some minute law, the building couldn't be given as a gift. Instead, the school sold it to the city for $1.
Today the building is primarily used as the museum for the Elgin Area Historical Society. However, there is one room set aside for use as a regular classroom by the school, commonly referred to as the "Museum Room" by students.
Lore
It is said that there is a tunnel that runs underneath the school. Old, sealed trapdoors on some of the sidewalks seem to attest to the validity of this legend. Some say the tunnels were used for the underground railroad, other that it was a fallout shelter during the Cold War. It is known that all entrances to the tunnels are seemingly sealed or destroyed, obviously they woudln't be a safe place for students to be roaming.
External links
- Elgin Academy, Official website