Avery Coonley School

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The Avery Coonley School is a highly selective, non-denominational private day/elementary school in Downers Grove, Illinois. The school was founded in 1906 by Queene Ferry Coonley, a wealthy education patron. The school serves preschool through 8th grade. Students are admitted into preschool, and have to pass a test to enter kindergarten. Entry is competitive with a waiting list.

The school has won many awards in math, science, social studies, French, and problem solving competitions. The soccer and volleyball teams have also placed high in their leagues. The school was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School in 1987–88.[1]

The curriculum includes accelerated English, math, science, and social studies curriculum. Students also take French, theater, computer science, music, and visual arts. The French program is unique in that it begins in the kindergarten and continues through the eighth grade, culminating in a trip to Quebec, Canada. The school has a student orchestra. The physical education curriculum has now introduced a fitness curriculum including body fat testings and cardiac monitoring. The student body is highly diverse.

The school has undergone recent additions, including a 15,000 square foot building with state-of-the-art math and science labs, included in the middle school wing, constructed in 2006. An older update to the school, conducted in 1991, added a theater, new library, computer lab, and other classrooms.

Parent and alumni involvement in the school is high. There is an annual fund raising dinner and auction every May which contributes over $13 million to the endowment yearly.

The school building was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jens Jensen, and was designated as a historical site in 2006 by the Downers Grove Historical Society. The garden designed by Jensen, known to students colloquially as the "Rock Pond" was refurbished in 2006, in memory of the school's late headmaster, Thomas Kracht. [2]

Students won the Illinois State Science Fair competitions for four consecutive years.[3] The school has an excellent 11:1 teacher ratio.

2007 Science Olympiad Jr. High State Champions

This school's basketball team has preformed very well in the WDESA Conference, and has won the conference championship two years in a row, and won the conference finals in the 2007-2008 season.

In the Latin school math competition in downtown Chicago, "Find the Rate in 2008" on January 26, 2008, This school swept the competition in the team and individual events.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program, www.ed.gov (.pdf)
  2. ^ Meeting Minutes, Downers Grove Village Council, September 19, 2006
  3. ^ "The Academy of (Lesser) Science", Education Week, August 3, 1994

[edit] External links

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