News

In celebration of Earth Day, students across campus took action to make a positive environmental impact. On Tuesday, April 22, students rolled up their sleeves, donned gloves, and set out with trash bags in hand to clean up litter around campus. 

Once again, The ACS Debate Team turned in impressive performances at Harvard University’s annual National Speech and Debate Tournament over President’s Day weekend in Boston. Team members Ethan J., Benjamin K., and Graham T. walked away with top speaker awards. This highly anticipated event was the culmination of a year of rigorous preparation.

On October 21, 2024, The Avery Coonley School hosted its second TEDx event themed The Green Frontier: Sustainable Ideas. The event was hosted by ACS Middle School students Marina Z., Gwen F., Sierra A., and Mia B. It featured six outstanding speakers who presented on topics including consumer evolution, resilience, food justice, and more.

When the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) announced the results of its annual student contest for grades 6-12 earlier this year, four students from The Avery Coonley School were recognized. Congratulations to Elana A., Kayla S., Jack V., and William Z.!

In the course of one year, the ACS Hydro Bloom Society has won multiple regional and national awards for their inaugural project. They received fourth place in the RISE Illinois Challenge including a $1,000 grant. They were honored as a national winner from Project Green School. and received the National Energy Education Development’s “Illinois School of the Year” award and a $4,000 grant to attend the NEED conference in Washington, D.C.

On April 24, 17 ACS students competed in the Illinois State History Day Competition in Springfield. Competing across five categories: papers, exhibits, performances, websites, and documentaries, students from around Illinois presented their work to multiple panels of judges.

The ACS FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) Robotics Teams travelled to Houston last week to attend and present at the FIRST World Championship Conference on April 18, 2024 . The ACS Teams (Cyber Seahorse and RAR) were among a handful of student-led groups selected to presents at the event and spoke on the topic of harnessing the innovations of gifted minds.

The ACS Music Program is honored to be one of twelve schools in Illinois to earn the "Best Community for Music Education" award from the NAMM Foundation.

Congratulations to the ACS Chess Team for their accomplishments at the IL State Chess Tournament.