School Profile
Houghton Academy
School Overview
Houghton Academy is a private, Christian day and international boarding secondary school (grades 6-12) in the beautiful rolling hills of Western NY, adjacent to Houghton University.
For nearly 140 years, the Academy has been preparing students for their next steps in life by providing excellent education in a Christ-centered environment.
The Academy has been blessed to serve students representing more than 60 countries, and our reach continues to expand through new and innovative programs.
The mission of Houghton Academy is to offer young people a college preparatory education within the framework of a Christian worldview.
Houghton Academy models and communicates a Christian community that reflects Core Values crucial to prepare students to live authentically, learn deeply, lead globally, and love boldly for the glory of God.
School History
Over a century ago, Wesleyan Methodist evangelist Willard J. Houghton traveled the Genesee valley by horse and buggy, tirelessly inviting children to Sunday school. In 1882 his conversations with area church leaders turned a love for young people into a vision for a school--a school that would serve as a "moral lighthouse" for a "dark world.
Soon the ground was broken, and in one year, Houghton Wesleyan Methodist Seminary opened the doors of a handsome brick building in northern Allegany County and began its educational ministry. Committed to a Christ-centered approach to schooling from the beginning, the institution has always remained faithful to its roots.
In the 1890s, as enrollment grew, the Seminary began offering post-secondary courses, resulting in the founding of Houghton University. The Seminary and University continued to share administration, faculty, students, and campus facilities for years after that, even after the University received a separate charter in 1923.
In 1955 the Seminary's administration separated from that of the University, and the Seminary was renamed Houghton Academy. Three years later, the Academy began building on its present 25-acre campus and has since erected an administration and classroom building, a gymnasium, and boys' and girls' dormitories. In 1995 additional offices, classrooms, a computer lab, a science lab, an art studio, and a three-hundred-seat auditorium/theater were added.
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the Association of Christian Schools International fully accredits Houghton Academy.
Benefits
On-campus meals.
Access to Houghton University facilities and programming.
Diverse environment, working with students from well over a dozen different countries.
Houghton Academy is like a family. We care and take care of our people well.