Wheaton Academy began in 1853 when a group of abolitionists founded Illinois Institute to educate their children. Two years later, they were given permission to form a college. Jonathan Blanchard was called upon to head the school and when he arrived in 1860, Illinois Institute was reorganized into Wheaton College and its preparatory school, Wheaton College Academy. In 1970, the school was renamed Wheaton Christian High School and in 1995 the school returned to its historic name, Wheaton Academy.