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. 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 28 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

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

Membership timeline

Full members

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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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