Although many of the qualifications are similar, each academy operates under its own admissions guidelines.
The academy operates with the pooled resources of nine fire departments.
The academy operates on a tight budget of about $10 million a year, he said, mostly financed by members' dues.
The academy and college operated for 16 years teaching hundreds of young men.
The theater is owned by the city, and the academy operates it.
More than a dozen academies were operating in the county at the outbreak of the Civil War.
These academies operate as small schools within one building.
With the purchase of the church property, the academy currently operates on 27-acre campus.
The nine academies, some with multiple branches, operate in 17 high schools.
Private academies operated on and off during Yorkville's early years.