Academy of Our Lady and Spalding Institute were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s across the street from each other in downtown

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. The academy (AOL), a

girls' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

, traced its lineage back to 1863. The Spalding Institute (SI), the

boys' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

, was founded in 1899 by the Franciscan Brothers of

Mountbellew Mountbellew or Mountbellew Bridge (historically ''Creggaun'', from ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies mostly within the townland of Treanrevagh (''Trian Riabhach'') on the N63 national primary road. As of the 2022 census, it had a ...

, Ireland, at the invitation of John Lancaster Spalding, the first Bishop of Peoria. It was one of the communities which left that

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

to split off and become part of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance, based in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy.

Childrens Home Academy - Academy of Our Lady

The schools merged into one co-educational school, Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute in 1973. AOL/SI (also known as Academy/Spalding) was merged with Bergan High School to form

Peoria Notre Dame High School Peoria Notre Dame High School is a Catholic parochial high school in Peoria, Illinois. It is the largest school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria with approximately 815 students. It has a college preparatory curriculum, and according to the ...

in 1988, and the campus was closed at the end of the 1988–1989 school year. Father Sweeney School for the Academically Gifted was also housed at the Spalding Institute building until its closure in the early 2000s. Joe Girardi is an alum of both schools, Father Sweeney middle school, and Spalding Institute high school. Buildings on the campus are

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

of the North Side Historic District.

Notable alumni

* Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (SI, 1913) Venerable Sheen to be beatified; in his bio he recalls it run by the Brothers of Mary. * Archbishop

Gerald Thomas Bergan Gerald Thomas Bergan (January 26, 1892 – July 12, 1972) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines in Iowa (1934–1948) and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska ( ...

(SI) * Pete Vonachen (SI) * General

Wayne A. Downing Wayne Allan Downing (10 May 1940 – 18 July 2007) was a four-star United States Army general born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 and held a Master of Busines ...

(SI) *Actor

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. ...

(1913) *Actress

Marian Driscoll Jordan Marian Irene Driscoll Jordan (April 15, 1898 – April 7, 1961) was an American actress and radio personality. She was most remembered for portraying the role of Molly McGee, the patient, common sense, honey-natured wife of Fibber McGee on the NB ...

(AOL 1915) * Brigadier General Frank Rezac (SI, 1962) *

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

and U.S. Transportation Secretary

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

(SI, 1963) * Congressman

Darin LaHood Darin McKay LaHood ( ; born July 5, 1968) is an American attorney and politician who has served as a U.S. representative from Illinois since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, LaHood has represented the 16th district since 2023, and previo ...

(AOL/SI, 1986) *

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

chemist Timothy L. Mounts *

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

manager

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, C ...

(AOL/SI) *

Jim Ardis Jim Ardis (born May 25, 1959) is an American corporate executive and politician who served as mayor of Peoria, Illinois from 2005 to 2021. Prior to becoming mayor, he had previously served on the Peoria City Council from 1999 through 2005. Ardis ...

(SI, 1977)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Of Our Lady Spalding Institute 1899 establishments in Illinois Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois Education in Peoria, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1863 Educational institutions established in 1899 Educational institutions disestablished in 1988 Defunct Catholic secondary schools in Illinois Defunct high schools in Illinois Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria Schools in Peoria County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois