Message from the Head of School
Welcome to Elgin Academy.
As you explore our website you will gain insight into the remarkable
community of learners and doers that is EA.
Please take the time to examine the many parts of our school that are
described in other sections of our site.
Elgin Academy has recently
completed a highly successful capital campaign, raising more than $5 million for
improvements to our programs and facilities—including the new Harold D.
Rider Family Media, Science, and Fine Arts Center.
We now have
an overall enrollment of approximately 450. Our students have been selected
through rigorous
admission tests and they accomplish work
that is significantly above their age-group peers. The hallmarks of the EA experience are:
- Small Class Sizes
- Academic Excellence
- Exceptional Teachers & Talented Students
- Outstanding Facilities
- History of Leadership
- True Spirit of Community
We
have much to be proud of. For example, a
few years ago some fascinating data was revealed in two articles in Chicago magazine. Elgin Academy, and
each of our ISACS “sister” schools in the Chicago-area, such as the Latin
School, North Shore Country Day
School, and Francis W. Parker School, were rated significantly higher than religious
schools, home schools, and public schools. (ISACS, for those who don’t know, is our
accrediting association, the Independent Schools Association of the Central
States).
Elgin
Academy has a solid presence among this very competitive set of private schools—and
EA consistently outperforms public schools. Some highlights:
- EA is the only Preschool–12th
Grade independent school in the Northwest and West Suburbs.
- EA’s tuition is the second lowest among
ISACS schools while offering ample financial aid.
- EA’s class size is third from the
smallest among all private schools.
- EA has the highest percentage of Upper
School teachers with Master’s degrees of all the 26 public and private high
schools in the Northwest and West Suburbs.
- EA has higher ACT and SAT scores than
all public schools, and all but one of the private schools, in the Northwest
and West Suburbs.
While
similar data concerning the Preschool–8th grade is more difficult
to obtain, there are many indications that EA’s strength is comparable. For example, our PS-8 grades also have one of
the highest rates of teachers with Master’s degrees; EA’s class sizes are among the lowest in the
region; and our standardized test scores are generally in the 90th-95th
percentile, compared to about the 70th percentile for the average
religious school and the 65th percentile for the typical suburban
public schools.
While
statistical data do not tell the whole story of the value of an EA education,
they do help to quantify what we know anecdotally--EA’s students and teachers
are doing an outstanding job!
This website will update you on a
wide array of exciting activities and achievements by our students, faculty,
parents, and alumni. The site is constantly changing. We hope you will
“bookmark” it and return regularly to get new information and stay in touch
with others and the school. Let us know how we can make this website even more
useful for you.
After reviewing this
information, please call us or visit campus so we can fill in the details and
answer your questions. I am confident you will find Elgin Academy to be a
school and a community that exceeds your family’s expectations.
Many thanks for
visiting our site. I do hope you’ll come for a campus visit soon.
Dr. John W. Cooper
Head of School
847.695.0300, ext. 220
E-mail: jcooper@elginacademy.org
