Founding in Chicago in the western
Czech Republic) in 1844, championed founding a parochial school for the children of Chicago's Czech immigrants. In the aftermath of the
Great Chicago Fire, Chicago's working-class
Pilsen neighborhood, a predominantly
Czech enclave, expanded quickly. To serve this growing ethnic population, St. Procopius
parish was founded in the summer of 1875, near the intersection of 18th and Allport Streets. The parish was named for
Saint Procopius of Sázava, who founded a
monastery in
Bohemia in the eleventh century and became the first
saint from
Czechoslovakia. Vilém Čoka served as the first
pastor. Planning to build a school, Čoka left it to the community to decide if the school would be secular or Catholic. They chose a Catholic school, despite the fact that only 25 percent of Pilsen's Czech population was Catholic. As the parish outgrew his capacity to serve them, Čoka turned for help to the
Order of St. Benedict. He founded St. Procopius priory in 1885. The priory took control of St. Procopius parish in January 1886, and Jaeger became the pastor. Jaeger also founded a
convent in 1895, consisting of
nuns brought from St. Mary's Convent in
Pittsburgh and headed by Jaeger's biological sister, Mother Mary Nepomucene Jaeger. The Czech-American media had pushed for a convent to prepare Czech-speaking nuns for teaching positions in Czech parochial schools, which had previously hired mostly lay teachers trained in Austrian
normal schools. The nuns were transferred from Pittsburgh to St. Scholastica's Convent on Chicago's north side, but later that same year moved to an old parish building at Ashland and 19th Streets, where they would remain until 1912. A section of the convent was converted into a music school. Graduates taught in parishes throughout the nation. The priory was elevated to the status of
abbey by Pope
Leo XIII in 1894, and the monks founded a school for
lay monks to help build a self-sustaining source of revenue. Lay students were trained for employment in the business world. In 1900, Chicago had one of the largest Czech populations of any city in the world, with approximately 75,000–100,000 Czechs living in the city's 10 Czech communities. Rev. Procopius Neuzil was named the first teacher and director. Classes began on March 2, 1887, when Neuzil taught a remedial course to two students in two small rooms at 704 Allport Street. Enrollment grew to 20 within the week, taught by three instructors during the four-month term. The first full year of classes began in the fall of 1887. The college was chartered by the State of Illinois in 1890; only a two-year high school program was offered at the time. Abbot Jaeger allowed the orphanage to use the land for free until more satisfactory housing could be constructed. The orphanage lacked stoves, fuel, adequate bedding, decent food, and any stable source of income. Neuzil, then editor-in-chief of the Czech Benedictine Press, raised $80,000 within 12 years from the generally impoverished Czech immigrant community through local publications. A new building was commissioned in 1899 to accommodate the increasing number of applicants for admission, including orphans from out-of-state. The new building was dedicated on July 2, 1900, at the same time as the cornerstone was laid for St. Procopius College, about away. Due to increasing applications for admission, still more space was required, and William Schwartz sold the abbey of land in Lisle. On July 16, 1911, a new building was dedicated on the grounds of what is now Benet Academy, the same day the cornerstone was laid for the nearby Sacred Heart Convent. A girls' dormitory building was built in 1923. It was later converted into classrooms and renamed Benet Hall). A power plant, a larger chapel, and additional classrooms were dedicated in 1926. A gym was built in 1936; at that time the facility housed approximately 400 orphans. According to school lore, ghosts of orphans still haunt the fourth floor of St. Joseph Hall and the basement of Benet Hall, where the nursery of the orphanage once was. Elementary schooling at the orphanage featured better equipped classrooms than the original building. A few years after operations moved in 1911, the school offered a two-year business program. By 1948 the orphanage comprised the Lisle Manual Training School for Boys and the Lisle Industrial School for Girls, both of which were managed by the Sisters of St. Benedict As enrollment increased to 46 in 1891, it became obvious that St. Procopius College's enrollment would soon outstrip its facilities in Pilsen. Neuzil was replaced as
rector by Rev. Ildephonse Wittman, also a Benedictine, in 1894. In 1896, the Abbey bought a farm in Lisle from Morris Neff to provide more space and a "better atmosphere". The groundbreaking was held on April 19, 1900, the school moved in May, and the new facility was dedicated on July 1, 1901, by
Peter Muldoon,
Bishop of the
Diocese of Chicago. Classes began in September with six faculty and 11 students. Income and enrollment fell during the
Great Depression. Between 1917 and 1930, enrollment fell from 205 students to 140. The school sought accreditation from the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, but the application was denied because the college and academy could not be accredited as a single institution, and financial constraints prevented their separation. In 1932 the abbey and the school lost most of their money when the Kaspar American Bank in Chicago failed. Academic programs and student activities were not greatly affected, in part because the faculty was mainly clergymen, who were not highly paid. Still unaccredited, the school was certified by the state of Illinois in September 1934. By 1947 the high school enrolled 30 students. Better times and higher birth rates led to growing enrollment at St. Procopius in the 1950s and 1960s. Enrollment in 1968 was at 875 students, including 575 boys and 300 girls. The business education program from Sacred Heart was continued at the new school; three teachers taught courses in
consumer economics, typewriting, shorthand, and bookkeeping. St. Thomas Hall, funded by a private donor, was erected to house a library and physical sciences facilities in 1975. A major construction project was launched in 1993, in response to increasing enrollment and a growing athletic program. New parking areas were planned and St. Mary's Hall was to be demolished. Neighborhood residents, concerned about the impact on property values, traffic, and aesthetics, opposed the project. Construction was completed in May 1994, and applications increased in the years that followed. Benet began construction of a new performing arts center at the east end of the campus to replace the 190-seat Assembly Hall on the third floor of St. Joseph Hall, originally a chapel for the St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage. Petru Hall, which was used for the annual school auction after the orphans left, was demolished to make way for the new performing arts center, named St. Daniel Hall, after Abbot Daniel Kucera and
Saint Daniel. In addition to plays and concerts, St. Daniel Hall is also used for assemblies, lectures, and
masses, which had previously been held in the gymnasium. In 2013, the school developed the supplementary St. Scholastica campus to have space for additional student parking and new athletic facilities. In the fall of 2015, Benet began its Building + Inspiring + Leading strategic initiative to evaluate ways to improve the student experience. This led to the construction of St. Mary Hall, which was completed in August 2020. This $10.2 million, 33,000 sq. ft. addition included multipurpose rooms for the performing arts, a new 5,100 sq. ft. Library & Collaboration Center, and an outdoor space for gathering, contemplation, and prayer. The addition also included a large gallery space for academic and social events and collaborative work, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, new restrooms, and additional storage. The new space connected the existing St. Daniel and St. Thomas Halls. In September 2021, the school became the subject of controversy when it was revealed that an offer to employ Benet alumna Amanda Kammes as a
lacrosse coach was rescinded after administrators learned that Kammes was in a
same-sex marriage. After a series of community protests took place, the school announced that it had re-extended its hiring offer to Kammes and that she had accepted. Shortly after this decision was announced, Austin G. Murphy, abbot of St. Procopius Abbey, released a statement saying that he was "deeply troubled" by the actions of Academy administrators, and that he would be "taking this matter to prayer" in order to discern how to proceed. On 4 January 2022, the school and St. Procopius Abbey released a joint statement announcing the termination of the governance and oversight agreement between the abbey and Benet. On 30 March 2022, the school announced that it had reached an agreement with the
Diocese of Joliet's Catholic Schools Office to "collaborate to promote and enhance" Benet's college-preparatory education in the Benedictine tradition beginning 1 July 2022. ==Admissions & Tuition==