Saint Hilary School  Saint Hilary School is a private Roman Catholic school offering preschool, elementary, middle school and junior high education in Chicago, Illinois. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. Hilary School is a Catholic, culturally diverse school located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, at the intersection of the Budlong Woods, Arcadia Terrace, West Ridge and Lincolnwood neighborhoods. The St. Hilary parish plant is situated in the heart of Budlong Woods. The area bounded by Western on the East, Peterson Avenue on the North, the North Branch of the Chicago River on the West, and Foster Avenue on the South, was originally the wooded area of the Budlong brother’s farm. The Budlong brothers developed their farm into one of the largest truck garden farms in the Chicago area. The farm gained its fame as the home of the Budlong Pickle Company. With the spread of the city, the farm was sold. A golf course was started in 1921, but it soon gave way to land developers. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Annen, who moved into the Budlong Woods subdivision in 1919, found that they were part of St. Ita’s parish. At that time, they had to take a streetcar, with three transfers to attend Mass on Sunday. In the next 7 years, 200 families were living in the area, and after many requests, the announcement was made that a new parish would be established – consisting of Arcadia Terrace, Peterson Woods, and Budlong Woods. On the first Sunday of May 1926, the first Mass for St. Hilary Parish was celebrated with about 150 people in attendance. The church was a portable structure, procured from St. Timothy’s parish, and was located on Lincoln Avenue between California and Fairfield. So began the life of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s 245th parish. In April 1928, with a budget of $185,000, the construction of a building, which would serve as a school and a temporary church, was begun. On November 12, 1928, a hundred and thirty two students were admitted to St. Hilary School. The Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica taught them. There were three nuns teaching and one nun as principal. In 1931 St. Hilary Parish School sent forth its first graduating class of ten boys and ten girls. The original school housed both the students, during the day hours, and the nuns, who occupied the second floor of the school building.