Roycemore School Will Not Open for 2026–27 Year
Roycemore School’s board announced July 15 that the 111-year-old Evanston private school will not open for the 2026–27 school year, reversing a June announcement that the school had been saved.
The decision has an immediate effect on families who had enrolled students for the coming academic year. Those families must now look for other schools only weeks before the fall term, according to local reporting.
It also means Roycemore will not operate during the 2026–27 school year. The announcement changes the near-term outlook for one of Evanston’s longest-established private educational institutions, even though the approved reporting does not establish that the school has permanently closed.
A sharp change from June
The board’s July announcement reversed the position presented in June, when Roycemore was reported to have been saved. That earlier announcement had indicated that the school would continue toward the coming academic year. The July 15 decision means that plan will not result in an opening.
The timeline is significant for families because the decision came shortly before fall, after some students had already been enrolled for the new school year. The available reporting does not provide an enrollment total or say how many students or families must make new arrangements.
Without those figures, the size of the direct family impact cannot be determined from the approved material. What is established is that enrolled families were left seeking alternate schools on a compressed timeline.
What the announcement establishes
The board’s action establishes that Roycemore will not open for the 2026–27 academic year. It also establishes that the decision came from the school’s board and that it reversed the June announcement that the school had been saved.
Roycemore is identified in the reporting as a 111-year-old private school in Evanston. Its planned absence from the coming school year therefore affects the city’s private-school landscape as well as the families who had expected to attend.
That local effect is practical rather than merely historical. Families who had selected Roycemore now need to evaluate other school options, make new arrangements and do so close to the start of the academic year. The source material does not identify which alternatives are available or whether other schools have capacity.
Key details remain unanswered
The approved reporting does not state why the board reversed course. It does not identify a financial shortfall, enrollment decline, legal issue or another specific cause, and none should be assumed.
The packet also does not provide terms for the school’s closure, plans for the property or information about whether Roycemore could reopen in a later school year. It does not state that the campus has been sold or that the school is permanently closed.
Those unanswered questions matter beyond the immediate school search. They determine whether the July announcement concerns only the 2026–27 academic year or represents a longer-term change for the institution and its Evanston campus. The current reporting does not resolve that distinction.
For now, the confirmed change is limited but consequential: Roycemore will not open for the 2026–27 school year, and families who had enrolled students for that year must seek other schools before fall. No additional board deadline or next step is identified in the approved source material.
Sources
- Evanston Wire local coverage, Evanston Wire
- Proposed Development Projects and Land Use Commission Notices, City of Evanston
Look for updates to this story
Discover more from Interactive News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
