Horace Mann students, 1908. Several of these students’ families were long-term residents of the village, including Leila Runnfeldt (top row far left), Elizabeth Greeley (top row second from right), and Guilford Windes (bottom row second from right).
Early Education in Winnetka
Education has played a central role in Winnetka’s community identity. The earliest settlers had little access to formal education, and as the population grew, residents sought ways to provide effective avenues for learning.
In 1859, Winnetka’s school district was born when the first public school was built on the southeast corner of Elm Street and Maple Street. With a budget of $200 for the initial year, the district’s directors hired Mrs. W. W. King as the first teacher for the school’s 25 students.
In the late 1860s, Artemas Carter, the first village president, envisioned Winnetka as the home of a great university called Academy Hall. The building was completed, but the university never materialized. Instead, Academy Hall became the new home of the public school until 1899 when the Horace Mann School was built.
While young students had an opportunity for formal learning in Winnetka, prior to the turn of the century, students wishing for an education beyond eighth grade had to travel to Evanston. To remedy this, New Trier High School opened in 1901 with 76 students, two of whom graduated that year. This historic school had almost 1,000 graduates in 2024 from Winnetka, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Northfield, Wilmette, Glenview, and Northbrook.
New Trier High School, 1902.
Local Education Revolutionized
Carleton Washburne, c. 1940s.
In the late 19th century, a new approach to education emerged as prominent educators like Francis Parker questioned traditional methods and, instead, favored an experimental and collaborative learning philosophy called progressive education. In 1883, Parker moved to Chicago to serve as principal of an experimental school where a young Carleton Washburne was studying.
Progressive education had a profound impact on Washburne. When he was hired at the age of 29 as Winnetka’s public school superintendent in 1919, he brought his own ideas about learning with him. He instituted a new style of teaching based on progressive education’s philosophies that became known as the “Winnetka Plan,” which allowed teachers to research and develop curriculum focused on instilling social responsibility and practicing hands-on learning.
Since Washburne left the village in 1943, Winnetka’s schools have continued to lead the nation in progressive education and serve as a model for the efficacy of the approach in developing well-rounded, civic-minded individuals.
Washburne’s Dream School
In his final years in Winnetka, Washburne spearheaded efforts to develop a school that would embody progressive education in its approach and design. Designed by architectural firm Perkins, Wheeler, and Will and completed in 1940, Crow Island School’s child-sized hallways and furniture were a vast departure from designs at the time.
Crow Island School was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990 and continues to provide an environment specifically designed for curiosity and hands-on learning to thrive.
Crow Island School, c. 1940s.
Crow Island students in Look Magazine, 1943.
View the gallery below to see the timeline of when schools were founded in Winnetka.
1859: Winnetka Public School Southeast corner of Elm and Maple Streets
