NCC: North-Western Academy files

The North-Western Academy stemmed from the Academic Department which was the largest department in 1892 at North-Western College. The Academic Department offered an accelerated teacher training program. As standards for teacher certification were raised, the Academic Department became insufficient for teacher preparation and many students moved to the Preparatory Department, which offered more rigorous teacher training courses. In 1910 the Preparatory Department became the Academy of North-Western College. The Academy was focused toward students from three different groups. The first group was students who were older and felt out of place in the public high school. Second were those who weren’t able to complete four years of high school at their community school. The final group was those who wanted to go into ministry and receive preparatory instruction at a religiously affiliated institution. The Academy was discontinued in 1932 due to a lack of enrollment in the program and the introduction of college level education courses.