Elgin Academy

For 180 years Elgin Academy has transformed the lives of its students. Throughout the years, the young men and women of the Academy have benefited from countless opportunities to hone their creativity, demonstrate courage, and exercise their compassion. Along with these opportunities is individualized attention that allows each student to take risks, experience success, and blossom into individuals ready to take on the world.

Join us in honoring EA’s 180th birthday by making a gift to the place we all hold so dear. Your donation celebrates the rich history of Elgin Academy and the life-long impact the school has made on our alumni. Give today

In honor of our founding, EA students are giving back to the community today.

Lower School students are making fleece blankets for pets at the Anderson Animal Shelter, creating Superhero kits for Central DuPage Hospital, assembling Kool-Aid kits for use at PADS of Elgin, and creating cards for Phil's Friends to pass along to cancer patients. Additionally, third and fourth graders will go to a local senior center to sing to the residents.

Middle School students are working on service projects to benefit the Salvation Army, Ronald McDonald Houses, Operation Gratitude, and Color A Smile. Our Upper School students and faculty are at Feed My Starving Children where they are assembling food packets to be sent to children worldwide.

We encourage our extended community, alumni, past parents, and friends to serve in your community in honor of Elgin Academy’s 180 years of transforming the lives of students!

The Elgin Academy faculty, staff and students gathered to commemorate 180 years at an all school assembly this morning.  The birthday celebration included signing of the school hymn, trivia, a few words from Head of School, Seth Hanford, confetti, balloons, and of course, cake!

New Yorker, James Talcott Gifford, seeking a location for a new town, selects a site in Illinois in 1835. That site would become the City of Elgin. Elgin Academy was granted a charter by the Illinois General Assembly on February 22, 1839. In a radical departure for the time, the seven-member Board agreed that Elgin Academy would be non-sectarian and coeducational. The original school motto was: "Not How Much, But How Well."

Elgin Academy is incredibly proud of its rich history and of our important role in educating thousands of students from around the globe. The country and world have changed in countless ways since the charter of this school in 1839, and yet the premises upon which an Elgin Academy education are built remain beautifully unchanged.

Throughout the years, the young men and women of the Academy have benefited from countless opportunities and individualized attention that allows each student to take risks and experience success. To this day, Elgin Academy continues to inspire students to become our creative, courageous and compassionate future.

It is hard to understand what it means to be 180 years old. Here are some facts to help put it in perspective. In 1839 when EA was founded:

• Our country was only 63 years old.

• The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, was in office. Van Buren was the first president born after the independence of the United States from the British Empire.

• John D. Rockefeller, oil industry business magnate and philanthropist, was born.  

• The 1st photo of the Moon was taken by French photographer and inventor Louis Daguerre.

• English naturalist and "On the Origin of Species" author Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood.

• The average life expectancy was only 37 years.

• Illinois had only been a state for 20 years, and the City of Elgin was established only 3 years earlier.

We hope you enjoy this video tribute to Elgin Academy’s rich history. Celebrating 180 years through 180 pictures in 180 seconds. Thank you to junior, Ethan Moore, for putting this video together.

Faculty, staff, parents, trustees, alumni, and friends gathered together today to commemorate Elgin Academy’s heritage at a traditional tea served in the Sears Gallery. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate our 180th birthday.