Lake Forest Academy Opens 170th School Year

Lake Forest Academy welcomed a total of 448 students on the first day of the 2026-27 school year as the school opened its doors with the Opening of School Meeting followed by LFA’s traditional All-School Handshake.

The 448 students feature 134 new students that joined 314 returning students for the school year. The student body traveled to the Lake Forest campus from 15 different states and 40 countries and territories. In addition to the students from across the nation and around the world, day students from 52 different local communities are enrolled this year at LFA.

The entire LFA community met in the Formal Gardens with Head of School Tom Johnson P’30 and All-School President Maxim Grinberg ’27 starting the All-School Handshake with a flip of the coin to decide which direction to start. The All-School Handshake is a LFA tradition that allows every member of the school community to personally wish each other a great school year.

Prior to the start of classes a week of preseason events brought the campus to life once again as fall sport athletes reported to campus, theater workshops took place, and students participated in a variety of community service opportunities. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, retreats were held for all classes for the first time as the seniors traveled to Lake Geneva, Wis. for two days while the freshmen took a day trip to Boundless Adventures in Bristol, Wis. The junior class spent the day at Devil’s Lake State Park in Sauk County, Wis., and the sophomores went to Chicago for a day of sites and sounds along the Chicago River.