About Elgin Academy
Long Live Academy!
For 185 years, The Academy has inspired students to become our creative, courageous, and compassionate future.
In November of 2023, the Board of Trustees announced:
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the current school year, our 185th, will be the final year of Elgin Academy. Despite the tremendous efforts of the Board, school leadership, and other dedicated community members to find a path forward, we have recently determined that our model of an independent Preschool through 12th grade school is no longer sustainable in Elgin. The Board of Trustees has voted that the school will close at the end of the 2023-2024 school year."
Something as significant as the history and legacy of this amazing place will never be forgotten. Although the school's doors closed in 2024, the spirit of Elgin Academy truly will live on in all of us. Long Live Academy!
The Founding of Elgin Academy
New Yorker, James Talcott Gifford, seeking a location for a new town, selected a site in Illinois in 1835. That site became the City of Elgin. The City’s first settlers needed a school, and thanks to the strenuous effort of Gifford and others, Elgin Academy was granted a charter by the Illinois General Assembly on February 22, 1839.
From the beginning, the Academy has been both non-denominational and coeducational, offering an educational program dedicated to academic excellence and high moral character.
Old Main
Old Main, Elgin Academy's original school building, which opened in 1856, is the home of the Elgin History Museum.
Through EA's partnership with the Elgin History Museum, the Elgin Academy, A Legacy of Excellence, exhibit opened in Old Main in 2024. The Exhibit will be permanently on display in Old Main and highlights the importance of Elgin Academy in the history of the City of Elgin.
the Elgin Academy, A Legacy of Excellence, exhibit is open to the public. Please visit the Elgin History Museum's website for details and hours of oporation.
Elgin Academy's Logos
