Portal:Chicago/Selected article/102

The Avery Coonley School, commonly Avery Coonley, is an independent, coeducational day school serving academically gifted students in preschool through eighth grade in Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S. Avery Coonley (ACS) was founded in 1906 to promote the progressive educational theories developed by John Dewey and others, and was a nationally recognized model for progressive education well into the 1940s. From 1943 to 1965, ACS was part of the National College of Education (now National-Louis University), serving as a living laboratory for teacher training and educational research. In the late 1960s, ACS became a regional research center and a leadership hub for independent schools. It became a school for the gifted in the early 1970s. The school has had several structures in its history, including a small cottage on the Coonley Estate and a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building. It moved to Downers Grove in 1916 and became Avery Coonley in 1929, with a new 11-acre (4.5 ha) campus designed in the Prairie and Arts and Crafts styles, landscaped by Jens Jensen. The campus has been expanded several times since the 1980s. ACS was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The modern curriculum retains many progressive traditions from the beginning of the school. Students work a minimum of one year above their grade level. Opportunities to build on classroom studies are offered through a range of extracurricular activities. Admission is competitive and an IQ score of at least 120 is required. ACS is notable for its record of success in academic competitions and was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 1988.