Marmion Academy set to welcome girls as students for first time ever Monday

AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- Marmion Academy is making history Monday, welcoming girls for the first time in the school's nearly 100 year history.

The long-time all-boys school in Aurora is now officially going coed.

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Marmion Academy in Aurora opens today for its 94th school year, but this will be the first year with girls on campus.

The school is welcoming as many as 80 freshmen and sophomore girls Monday as the former boys-only high school is now coed.

The school will eventually have girls freshman through senior year.

Marmion is a Catholic-Benedictine college prep school founded in 1933.

When it partnered with the US government during the Great Depression, it introduced military training and became known as Marmion Military Academy. It stopped being military academy in 1994.

The school has been working hard to build an entire girls athletic program virtually overnight.

Everything from hiring coaches, uniforms, equipment, schedules, facilities, locker rooms, transportation to recruit student athletes to had to build a culture for entirely new teams.

Marmion expects to have seven girls sports this year from volleyball to basketball to cross country.

"It's really exciting. There are just so many opportunities that are open with being the first class of girls," said Payton Czupowski, with Marmion girls basketball.

"There's a lot of eyes, a lot of eyes on the program as we develop," girls volleyball coach Megan Wille said.

Marmion Academy kicks off into his historic academic year by welcoming all of their new students for orientation Monday. Girls will be in red shirts with boys in blue shirts.