José de Diego Community Academy is housed in a building that has gone through many transitions. Originally it was known as the Northwest Division High School, then Murray F. Tuley High School, Tuley Middle School and finally as it is known today José de Diego Community Academy.
Northwest Division H.S.
In 1890 work was started on plans for a new school building that was formally opened with the graduation exercises on June 22, 1892. The Northwest Division High School was at the time considered one of the best and most modern in the city.
Murray F. Tuley H.S.
Due to the continued growth of the Northwest Division High School, a decision was made that an addition to the high school was necessary to relieve the overcrowded conditions. In 1917 work to expand the building started. The name of the high school was also changed to Murray F. Tuley High School, after Judge Murray F. Tuley who had risen to fame not only as a judge, but as the author of the State of Illinois’s Act of the Incorporation of Cities.
The expansion was completed in 1919 and, again, the school became one of the most modern high schools with new classrooms, laboratories, gymnasiums, swimming pool, shop rooms and one of the largest assembly halls in the city, seating 1,500 people.
Tuley High School was one of the best academic high schools in the city and the scholastic laurels won by its students were many. The main goal of the school was to produce scholars. Early Sunday morning, February 7, 1938, the original building of the Tuley High School was badly damaged by a fire. The Board of Education decided the ruins were past salvaging and a Public Works Administration grant made possible the erection of a new building. After a year and a half of carrying on under very crowded conditions, the new addition to the Tuley High School opened on September 5, 1939.
In September 1973, the faculty and students of Tuley High moved to a new building at Western and Division Streets, taking the new name of Roberto Clemente High School.
Tuley Middle School
After a period of limited use, the former Tuley building opened in September 1975 as the Tuley Middle School. This new learning Center embodied the concept of “a school within the school” and served students of eleven years of age and over.
José de Diego Community Academy
The José de Diego Community Academy, named after a prominent Puerto Rican lawyer, poet and journalist, came into being in September 1982 as one of the six elementary schools that integrated special educational services with basic curriculum to assist students in achieving their highest potential in school.
Throughout the history of the school, students have reaped many honors, not only in the academic field, but also in fields of music, art and radio broadcasting. No comprehensive list of former students and their achievements is available but, on Tuley’s records one will find the names of such well known persons as Knute Rockne, Abe Stollar, Sidney Justin Harris, Saul Bellows and Sam Wanamaker.
