1963-1969 {{OSM Location map The Indian Trails Conference was formed in 1963 by four local public high schools, one state-run public high school and one private high school. The four local public schools (
Clinton,
Norris Foundation,
Palmyra and
Williams Bay) were former members of the Southeastern Wisconsin Conference, and the two others (
Northwestern Military & Naval Academy,
Wisconsin School for the Deaf) competed as independents after their former conference, the
Southern Wisconsin Association of Private Schools (SWAPS) Conference, disbanded in 1961. Competition began in spring 1963 with a full baseball schedule. The Indian Trails Conference would compete in this configuration for six years, which to date has been the longest period of stability for conference membership.
1969-1980 The late 1960s and early 1970s marked a transition for the Indian Trails Conference from a conference with mostly public high schools to one with mostly small private high schools. In 1969, Clinton and Palmyra left the Indian Trails Conference to join the
Central Suburban and
Eastern Suburban Conferences, respectively. They were replaced by three private schools:
Brookfield Academy,
Rockford Lutheran and
The Prairie School in
Wind Point. Williams Bay left to follow Palmyra into the Eastern Suburban Conference in 1970, and were replaced by
Divine Word Seminary in
East Troy.
St. Joseph Seminary in
Edgerton joined in 1971, and Rockford Lutheran left the following year to join the Northwest Seven Conference in
Illinois. They were replaced by
Ethan Allen School for Boys, a
reform school in Wales, in 1973. Brookfield Academy left to join the
Classic Conference in 1976 and were replaced by
Maranatha Baptist Academy in
Watertown, who has to date been the conference's longest tenured member. The Prairie School followed Brookfield Academy to Classic Conference membership in 1977, and in 1979,
St. John's School for the Deaf in
St. Francis joined the Indian Trails Conference.
1980-2004 The 1980s brought continued instability for Indian Trails Conference membership. St. Joseph Seminary left the Indian Trails when they closed their doors in 1980, followed by Norris Foundation in 1982 after they dropped interscholastic athletics. St. John's School for the Deaf was closed by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1983 after running at a deficit for several years made operation of the school unsustainable. In 1986,
Messmer High School in
Milwaukee, which had returned from nearly closing two years prior, joined the Indian Trails Conference, and there would be a short period of membership stability that lasted until the 1990s. Changes occurred on a somewhat regular basis during this decade, the first of these was the addition of
Alden-Hebron High School in Illinois and
Calvary Baptist Christian School in
Sun Prairie to the conference in 1990. They replaced Wisconsin School for the Deaf, who left to join the
Southern Wisconsin and Illinois Small Schools (SWISS) Conference as full members. The Indian Trails Conference lost Divine Word Seminary when it was announced that they would cease operations in 1991.
Calvary Baptist School in
Menomonee Falls and
Waukesha Christian Academy joined the Indian Trails in 1993, replacing Messmer after their exit to join the
Midwest Classic Conference. In 1994,
Wayland Academy in
Beaver Dam joined as full members after years of splitting boys and girls athletics between the Indian Trails and Midwest Classic Conferences. The next year, Northwestern Military & Naval Academy would merge with
St. John's Military Academy in
Delafield, with their successor taking St. John's place in the Midwest Classic Conference. Wayland Academy left to return to the Midwest Classic Conference in 1996 and were replaced by two schools:
Beloit Catholic and
Oshkosh Christian.
Union Grove Christian joined the next year and were followed by
Rock County Christian of
Beloit in 1998. The next year,
Victory Christian School in
Neosho would replace Oshkosh Christian after their exit, and membership subdivided into North and South Divisions: The Indian Trails reformed as a single division after one year of this alignment and welcomed
Grace Christian Academy of
West Allis into the conference that same year. They replaced Beloit Catholic, who was closed by the
Madison diocese in 2000. In 2001,
Reuther Central High School, a public alternative high school in
Kenosha, joined the Indian Trails Conference. Two years later, Calvary Baptist Christian in Sun Prairie would leave the conference with
Rockford Christian School in Illinois taking their place.
2004-2021 In 2004, the Indian Trails Conference split its eleven members into Blue and Gold Divisions: The near-annual turnover of conference membership continued in 2005 with Victory Christian Academy leaving the conference and
Parkway Christian Academy in Milwaukee joining from the SWISS Conference as a replacement. Waukesha Christian Academy would leave the conference the next year and were replaced by the return of Wisconsin School for the Deaf, who were displaced by the ending of the SWISS Conference. In 2007, four former SWISS Conference members would enter the Indian Trails Conference:
Berean Christian School and
Keith Country Day School of Rockford,
Faith Christian School out of
Williams Bay and
University Lake School in
Delafield.
Trinity Academy in Pewaukee also joined the conference, and this was the divisional alignment for its sixteen members after the merger:
Christian Liberty Academy in
Arlington Heights and
Mooseheart Academy joined the Blue Division in 2008 as full members (Mooseheart had previously been a football-only member), but their stay in the conference was short lived. In 2009, the six Illinois-based schools in the conference would all leave, and five of those schools (Alden-Hebron, Christian Liberty, Keith Country Day, Mooseheart Academy and Rockford Christian) would join the newly created
Northeastern Athletic Conference, a conference sponsored by the
Illinois High School Association. Additionally, Parkway Christian Academy in Oak Creek closed its doors, bringing membership in the Indian Trails to eleven schools. Because most of the exiting schools were all members of the Blue Division, further conference realignment was made necessary with Calvary Baptist and University Lake School moving over to the Blue Division: 2010 saw the addition of
Eastbrook Academy in Milwaukee and
Mountain Top Christian Academy in
Horicon join the Blue Division of the Indian Trails Conference. The next year, Ethan Allen School for Boys was closed by the
Wisconsin Department of Corrections and juvenile facilities were moved to
Lincoln Hills School, just outside of
Merrill in the northern part of the state. Mountain Top Christian Academy would move to the Gold Division in 2012 to accommodate the entry of
Salam, an
Islamic school in Milwaukee, into the conference.
St. Anthony High School in Milwaukee joined the Blue Division in 2013, and
Early View Academy joined the Gold Division in 2014. They replaced Trinity Academy, who ended their stand-alone athletic program and entered into a
cooperative agreement with nearby University Lake School. In 2016, Calvary Baptist and Salam would exit the Indian Trails Conference, and were replaced by
Tenor/Veritas, a cooperative athletic program between two charter schools in Milwaukee. Eastbrook Academy also moved to the Gold Division that year, and in 2017, Mountain Top Christian moved to the Blue Division. They replaced Union Grove Christian, who left the Indian Trails Conference in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, the alignment of schools in the Indian Trails Conference featured an imbalanced format with the Blue Division having more schools than the Gold Division:
2021-present In 2021, six athletic programs (Early View Academy, Eastbrook Academy, Faith Christian, St. Anthony, Tenor/Veritas and University Lake/Trinity) would leave the Indian Trails Conference to form the new nine-member
Lake City Conference (along with independents
Augustine Prep,
Cristo Rey Jesuit and Salam). The remaining seven programs were joined by the return of Waukesha Christian Academy to the Indian Trails under a single division alignment. In 2024, Early View Academy rejoined the Indian Trails after a three-year stint in the Lake City Conference. The following year, Oakhill Christian School in Janesville became the tenth full member of the Indian Trails Conference. == List of conference members ==