Wheaton Academy

Wheaton Academy started just like Wheaton College as the Illinois Institute in 1853. When officially renamed as Wheaton College in 1860 the preparatory school was kept as a distinct but separate part of Wheaton College as the Academy. Until 1914, the academy shared faculty with the college. At the opening of the second semester in 1913-14, the faculties of Wheaton College and Wheaton Academy were separated so that the two schools, though using the same buildings and having their social, religious, and athletic associations in common, became  distinct institutions in their educational organization (Wheaton Academy Register, 1914-1915, p. 3). The Academy offered high school level education and college preparatory classes, with around 80% of its graduates attending college.

At first it shared the Main Building (now Blanchard Hall) with the rest of Wheaton College, but eventually took up residence in the Industrial Building, which has been known by many names since, but is now known as Schell Hall. In 1945 Wheaton College purchased an old convalescent children’s home 6 miles west of Wheaton’s campus from the University of Chicago, and moved the Academy’s operations there. In 1947 it became known as the Wheaton College Academy.