Private School League

The Private School League was a high school conference in northeastern Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprised 28 small private schools, with enrollments between 50 and 400 students, in Bureau, DuPage, Kane, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, Will, and Winnebago counties.

Private School League
Established1930
Dissolved2009
AssociationIHSA
Members27
RegionNortheast Illinois (Bureau, DuPage, Kane, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry, Will and Winnebago counties)
Locations
The Private School League within Illinois

History

In December 1930, five private religious and secular schools in the Chicago area came together to create an athletic conference for non-public schools. The five schools weren Chicago Christian of Palos Heights, Chicago Luther Institute, Wheaton Academy, Chicago Central YMCA, and the Pullman Free School of Manual Training in Chicago. Initially the conference was organized for basketball only; however, as time progressed, the conference added other sports.

The league soon expanded with other secular and private academies. In 1931, Pullman School withdrew from the league. In 1935, Chicago Harvard School and Chicago North Park Academy joined, as did Francis W. Parker School and Woodstock Todd Seminary in 1936. Another addition to the league occurred in 1938, with Chicago Latin School, Chicago University High School, and the high school program of Concordia Teachers College joining. Chicago Central YMCA withdrew in 1939, leaving the league with a total of 10 teams as the 1940 school year commenced.

Luther Institute split into Luther North and Luther South in 1953, and in 1954, Elgin Academy, Glenwood School, and North Shore Country Day School joined the conference. In 1955, Walther Lutheran High School (Melrose Park) joined the league. With these additions, the league divided into two divisions with a championship game between the division winners. The championship game was dropped after 1957 but the division set up remained until 1966 when 6 schools left to form the Independent School League. Those schools were Chicago Latin, Elgin Academy, Francis W. Parker School, Glenwood School for boys, Morgan Park Academy, and North Shore Country Day. Morgan Park Academy had joined in 1960, however, it was included with the six teams that exited the conference and with Chicago Harvard leaving the conference in 1962, it left the league with a total of seven teams at the beginning of the 1967 school year.

North Park Academy departed the conference in 1969, Wheaton Academy left in 1971. To replace them, Little Flower Academy and Providence Catholic High School were added in 1971. Aurora Central Catholic High School was added in 1973 when Little Flower Academy closed, keeping the league at seven members as the 1970s came to a close.

Nazareth Academy joined in 1980 and Wheaton Academy returned to the league in 1984 for just the one season. In 1987, Providence Catholic High School left while in 1995, St. Gregory and Peru St. Bede joined. Aurora Central Catholic High School left the conference in 1997 and in 1998, St. Gregory and Peru St. Bede left the league and Aurora Christian High School joined. In 2001, Nazareth Academy left but Rockford Christian High School, Rockford Christian Life High School, and Rockford Lutheran High School became members of the league. In 2003, Rockford Christian and Lutheran left and Lake Forest Academy joined. In 2005, Seton Academy became the final addition to the league, although Wheaton Academy, a team that had been part of the league two times before, returned in 2007. As the conference came to a conclusion in 2009, it had ten teams,most of whom joined the Suburban Christian Conference, Metro Suburban Conference, Northeastern Athletic Conference, or Independent School League.[1]

All-Time Membership

The Private School League had 29 teams throughout its history, the list of schools encompasses all of the schools which were once a part of the conference.

School Location Mascot Colors Year Joined Year Left IHSA Classes A/AA[2] IHSA Football Class[3]
Chicago Christian
High School
Palos Heights, IL Knights    
Purple, Gold
1930 2003 2A 4A
Chicago Luther
Institute
Chicago, IL Wildcats    
Blue, Gold
1930 1953 - -
Wheaton Academy West Chicago, IL Warrior    
Maroon, White
1930
1984
2007
1971
1985
2009
3A 4A
Chicago Harvard
School
Chicago, IL Hurricanes    
Black, Gold
1935 1962 - -
Chicago North
Park Academy
Chicago, IL Vikings    
Royal Blue, Gold
1935 1969 - -
Francis W. Parker
High School
Chicago, IL Colonels    
Blue, White
1936 1966 - -
Woodstock Todd
Seminary
[4]
Woodstock, IL Red Raiders    
Red, White
1936 1954 - -
Chicago Latin
School
Chicago, IL Romans    
Blue, Orange
1938 1966 - -
Chicago University
High School
Chicago, IL Maroons    
Maroon, White
1938 2009 2A -
Concordia
High School
River Forest, IL Cougars    
Maroon, Gold
1938 2009 - -
Luther North
High School
Chicago, IL Wildcats    
Blue, Gold
1953 2009 1A 2A
Luther South
High School
Chicago, IL Braves    
Blue, Gold
1953 2009 1A 2A
Elgin
Academy
Elgin, IL Hilltoppers    
Orange, Black
1954 1966 - -
Glennwood
School for boys
Glenwood, IL Wildcats    
Blue, Gold
1954 1966 - -
North Shore
Country Day School
Winnetka, IL Raiders    
Purple, White
1954 1966 - -
Morgan Park
Academy
Chicago, IL Warriors    
Maroon, Ivory
1960 1966 - -
Little Flower
Academy
Chicago, IL Lancers    
Black, White
1971 1973 - -
Providence
High School
New Lenox, IL Celtics    
Kelly Green, White
1971 1995 A 3A
Aurora Central Catholic
High School
Aurora, IL Chargers    
Blue, Gold
1973 1997 A 3A
Nazareth
Academy
La Grange Park, IL Roadrunners      
Columbia Blue, White & Navy Blue
1980 2001 A 3A
Peru St. Bede
High School
Peru, IL Bruins    
Green, White
1995 1998 A 2A
St. Gregory
High School
Chicago, IL Greyhounds        
Red, White, Royal Blue, Gray
1995 2009 A 2A
Aurora Christian
High School
Aurora, IL Eagles      
Red, White, Gray
1998 2009 A 2A
Rockford Christian Life
High School
Rockford, IL Eagles    
Blue, Gray
2001 2009 A 2A
Rockford Christian
High School
Rockford, IL Royal Lions      
Royal Blue, Metallic Gold, Black
2001 2003 A 2A
Rockford Lutheran
High School
Rockford, IL Crusaders    
Purple, White
2001 2003 A 2A
Lake Forest
Academy
Lake Forest, IL Caxys    
Orange, Black
2003 2009 A 2A
Seton
Academy
South Holland, IL Sting      
Black, White, Gold
2005 2009 A 2A
Walther Lutheran
High School
Melrose Park, IL Broncos Green, White 1955 2009 A 2A

Sources:IHSA Conferences,[5] IHSA Coop Teams,[6] and IHSA Member Schools Directory[7]

Membership timeline

Full members

References

  1. "The Great Conferences". www.illinoishsglorydays.com. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  2. IHSA.org Enrollments
  3. "Records & History". www.ihsa.org.
  4. "Todd Seminary for Boys 1848-1954" (PDF). Woodstock Public Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  5. "Conferences & Affiliated Schools | Schools | IHSA". www.ihsa.org.
  6. "Cooperative Teams | School Directory | Schools | IHSA". www.ihsa.org.
  7. "School Directory | IHSA". www.ihsa.org.
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