Wheaton Education
Spotlight on Wheaton Education
By Catherine L. Tully & Kristin Roberts
The City of Wheaton has a long-standing reputation for providing superior educational opportunities. Wheaton lies within the highly rated School District 200, which continually ranks among the top districts in the Chicagoland area. Community Unit School District 200 consists of thirteen elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools serving 14,173 students in preschool through 12th grade. Continuing the Wheaton community tradition of educational excellence, Wheaton North High School was named by Newsweek as one of the top 1,000 schools in the Nation in 2006.
Mr. Robert Rammer, Director of Communications for the district, notes that there are always changes underway as they strive to continually improve the facilities and services to both students and families. “We are rolling out an online program called Edline where teachers can choose to post projects and share grades with parents in a secured area,” Rammer says.
Other changes in the district include the Creating Independence Through Student-Owned Strategies program, which will offer both secondary and middle school students support in reading. Curriculum reviews are underway in the science, social studies, math, and physical education departments, and there will be a new family and consumer science curriculum implemented in the middle schools. Additionally, with funds from the last referendum, Wheaton-Warrenville School District 200 invested in a complete remodeling, expansion and updating project for the interiors of both Wheaton North High School and Wheaton-Warrenville South High School. Expanded classrooms and areas, along with major technology improvements are among the many features of this extensive plan.
While Wheaton falls primarily into the District 200 public school grid, portions of the area are served by School District 87 and 89 as well. There are also quite a number of parochial and private schools serving the community, examples include Wheaton Christian Grammar School, St. Michael School, St. Francis High School, and Wheaton Montessori School, to name a few.
Sue Cornman is the Admissions Coordinator for Wheaton Christian Grammar School and says that they are looking forward to the construction of a new school building near the intersection of Gary and Geneva Avenues. The new building will allow WCGS to offer greatly enhanced learning opportunities for up to 650 students. The planned facility will provide more than 100,000 square feet of instructional space on a 35-acre campus. Key features will include technologically-equipped classrooms, an acoustically-engineered auditorium, and expanded field and gymnasium space.
A significant portion of students from these area schools move on to Wheaton Academy and then Wheaton College. Wheaton Academy, founded in 1853, is a college preparatory high school that is committed to the evangelical Christian faith. Wheaton College is a well-known interdenominational Christian school that has approximately 2,400 undergraduate students and 485 graduate students. Founded shortly after Wheaton Academy, the college is already gearing up for the 2009-2010 school year, as it will be their Sesquicentennial celebration (150 years).
Top-notch educational opportunities abound in the Wheaton area, whether it is at a public or private institution. With a vast array of schools to serve the community and continually updated and expanded efforts to stay current, those living in the area can rest assured their children are getting a quality education.
Higher Education
Originally established in 1854 by the Wesleyans as the Illinois Institute, Wheaton College was officially renamed in 1860 in honor of Warren Wheaton’s donation of land to the Institute. Wheaton College is a private, interdenominational Christian college founded on a commitment to combine intellectual growth with Christian faith, and seeks to relate a quality Christian liberal arts education to the needs of contemporary society. The curriculum is designed to combine faith with learning so that students may gain a biblical perspective needed to relate Christian experience to the demands of those needs.
Located near downtown Wheaton, Wheaton College is situated on a picturesque 80 acres. Gracing the campus is the Billy Graham Center, named for the college’s most famous alumnus. Reverend Graham and his wife Ruth both attended Wheaton College and were married following graduation.
“I have found that there’s never been a thing that I learned at Wheaton College that I haven’t been able to use somewhere,” explained Billy Graham in the book, It’s My Turn. “The atmosphere at Wheaton was not hostile to my still-simple, childlike faith. It was like a home away from home. Looking back over the years I spent there, I’ll have to admit I learned more from people than I did from books.”
Wheaton College is also home to the Marion E. Wade Center, which is a major research collection of materials by and about seven British authors, some of whom were part of the group known as the Inklings: Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. In all, the Wade Center has over 11,000 volumes including first editions, critical works, personal letters, manuscripts, audio and video tapes, artwork, dissertations, periodicals, photographs, and other related materials.
With a combined enrollment of approximately 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate courses, the average class size is around 22 students with a student to faculty ratio of approximately 12:1. A variety of majors in the arts and sciences, as well as a conservatory of music program, allows the college to combine coursework with a variety of ministry and service opportunities. Additionally, as an NCAA Division III school, Wheaton College features a number of intercollegiate sports for men and women, as well as a number of team, co-ed and intramural athletics.
Part of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor, and a center for the nationally recognized research institution, Illinois Institute of Technology’s Rice Campus is located in Southern Wheaton. While the main campus for the Institute is located in Chicago, a sizable portion of the student body attends the Rice facility, which specializes in computer and information technology, engineering, business, and technical education.
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