Marmion Academy (formerly Marmion Military Academy) is a grade 9–12

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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., ...

for

boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

, United States. It is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford. The academy is owned and operated by the Benedictine monks of

Marmion Abbey Marmion Abbey is a Benedictine community of the Swiss-American Congregation in Aurora, Illinois. It was founded in 1933 from St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana. The principal apostolate of the monks has been Marmion Academy, though a variety of ...

on campus. The leadership formation programs include: Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program and a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military bases across the world. The progr ...

(JROTC) program that has been a part of the academy since its early years, but was not a part of the school in the inaugural year of 1933–34. The school is a part of the

Chicago Catholic League The Chicago Catholic League (CCL) is a high school athletic conference based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. All of the schools are part of the Illinois High School Association, the governing body for Illinois scholastic sports. While some ...

History

Marmion Academy was founded in 1933 when the monks of St. Meinrad Abbey combined Jasper Academy (

Jasper, Indiana Jasper is a city in and the county seat of Dubois County, Indiana, United States, located along the Patoka River. The population was 16,703 at the 2020 census making it the 48th largest city in Indiana. On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned ...

) with the Fox Valley Catholic High School, which the Augustinians had just returned to the diocese of Rockford. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

era, it was difficult for students to pay their

tuition Tuition may refer to: *Formal education, education within a structured institutional framework *Tutoring, private academic help *Tuition payments Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth ...

as well as to buy uniforms, so the monks, in 1935, associated with the

JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a Federal government of the United States, federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US mil ...

program and changed its name to Marmion Military Academy. At the time, all JROTC uniforms were provided for by the

US government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

. In the 1990s, in order to provide more options for its student body and a return to the original spirit of the school, the monks of Marmion Abbey decided to make JROTC an optional program and to reinstitute the original name of the school, Marmion Academy. At one point, there were two campuses: one for residential students and one for day students. The two merged back into the Butterfield Road campus, which had been the residential campus. In early 2002, the school decided to close its residential program and started to expand its student body. In sports, the Marmion Cadets have been successful. In 2000, the Marmion swim team captured the school's first state championship, along with a 3rd place in 1998, 2nd in 1999, and 3rd in 2001. Later that decade, the 2010 Marmion Cadets placed 2nd in the state in the 6A State Championship for football and 3rd in the Cross Country Class 2A State Championships. In 2017, the Marmion Cadets baseball team finished 3rd in the 3A State Finals. Just a year later, the Cadets captured their 2nd state championship in school history as the track and field team won the 2018 Class 2A State Championship.

Academics

Graduation Requirements: Marmion requires that each graduate complete 4 credits each in English and Theology; 3 credits in Mathematics; 3 elective credits; 2 credits each in a Foreign Language (4 credits recommended), Science, Social Studies, and either Military Science (JROTC) or Leadership Education and Development (LEAD); and 1 credit each in Health/Physical Education; and ½ credit in Music and Art. Marmion students are required to perform at least 15 hours of community service each academic year. The

GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

is based on a 5.67 Scale. At least 23¼ credits are required for graduation.

Leadership programs

Marmion has two leadership programs, LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) and JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps). The LEAD program was started in 1994, while the JROTC has been a part of the school since 1935.

Notable alumni

Brad Childress Brad Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 1994 ...

, former NFL coach * Larry English, former NFL

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

* Graham Glasgow, NFL offensive lineman (

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

) * Jordan Glasgow, NFL linebacker * Ryan Glasgow, former NFL defensive tackle *

Chick Hearn Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years, as well as the team's assistant ge ...

, former play-by-play announcer for the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

* Ben Kanute, triathlete who competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

* James D. Oberweis, former Illinois state senator, owner of

Oberweis Dairy Oberweis Dairy, headquartered in North Aurora, Illinois, is the parent company of several dairy-related and fast food restaurant operations in the midwest region of the United States. Its businesses include a home delivery service available in ...

* Daniel P. Ward, former Chief Justice of the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the judiciary of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the fiv ...

Notable staff

George Ireland George Ireland (June 15, 1913 – September 14, 2001) was an American basketball coach who led the Loyola Ramblers to the 1963 NCAA championship. Background Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Ireland was an All-American basketball player at the Uni ...

is a former head basketball coach. He later coached the Loyola University men's basketball team to the 1963 NCAA Championship.Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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References

External links

* {{authority control Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford Catholic secondary schools in Illinois Boys' schools in the United States Education in Aurora, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1933 1933 establishments in Illinois Benedictine secondary schools