The Lewis Academy was established in Forney in 1892 by Mr. E.C. Lewis, whose parents were residents of the town of Brooklyn which in 1874 was renamed Forney when the first Post office was established. His mother was a school teacher in 1866 and married Mr. John Lewis, and from this union came the people who were to take progressive steps in education in Forney.

Mr. E.C. Lewis was a graduate of Peabody Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, and returned to Forney in 1892 and began plans for the Lewis Academy which began in 1893. The school was located on Cedar Street in North Forney and contained three buildings: the Academy, the principal's cottage, and the boy's dormitory. The Academy consisted of five rooms arranged for the accommodation of ninety pupils. There was a Science Recitation room, a well-equipped library, and a gymnasium. On the grounds there was a football and baseball field and tennis and croquet courts. The boy's dormitory was a building of four rooms, constructed and arranged to accommodate six boys and one teacher, who took their meals at the principal's cottage or a residence near by.

The sports program of the school was very modern, with football, baseball, tennis, and croquet available. The gymnasium was well equipped and offered many advantages for indoor activities consisting of chest weights, wands, dumb-bells, and Indian clubs which proved popular with the female students. The gym was accessible to every student the year round. The Academy believed that every person should indulge in some sort of sport or exercise; thus the weak were made strong and the strong made stronger. The very first football game to be played in Forney was played between Lewis Academy and the Toon-Hewen College of Terrell. This game was played under lights and was the first to do so in the State of Texas, on November 25, 1897.

The Academy curriculum was an important factor in its formation. Science was taught from the first grade to the Senior level. Biology, zoology, physics, writing and drawing were stressed in the lower grades. In the upper classes pupils were allowed to select classical or modern languages, or business courses. Latin, Greek, German and French, were offered, as well as music, art, and mathematics. Pupils graduating from the Academy were well prepared to enter college without entrance examinations. The school was rated very high in the schools of the state and nation during its ten years of operation. Due to ist classical, curriculum, it was affiliated with the University of Texas in mathematics, Latin, history and English. The Academy was accredited with Washington and Lee University, and, upon recommendation of the principal, to the Bliss School of Electricity, Washington, D.C.; the University of Nashville, Tennessee, and the Medical Department of Vanderbilt University at Pennsylvania. Such ratings made it almost a college in itself. Graduates of the Academy went far in their work.

The school, when founded in 1893, had its purpose to accommodate parents who had children to education and were sufficiently interested in their progress to be willing to pay for instruction. Many families realized that instruction that costs nothing was worth nothing.

Some of its rules were admirable; discipline played an important factor in its rules. The general idea of discipline is punishment.

"Punishment is only an incident of discipline. All that tends to develop a child's noble nature, to repress or eradicate his evil tendencies and to endow him with a strong character is discipline. It is the first duty of the parent and the teacher to make discipline effective. Every child has a right to be taught obedience to law, and his superiors, and a proper reverence for that which is good in humanity and science.

"In choice of discipline we are to be the sole judge of what is most effective. It is the true wish of every teacher that harsh punishment be abandoned, and a firm stand on teaching what is right or wrong, be instilled into every pupil."

Much of the Academy's success was accredited to its fine and well-educated teachers. They were all college graduates with degrees and were well qualified in their chosen fields, which placed them in good standing with other educational institutions in the country. It was noted as a school of learning and study with a staff who had the necessary knowledge to make it a fine school.

Tuition for a year's study in this school was $135.00, with a graduating fee of $10.00. Piano, violin, mandolin, guitar, and elocution lessons were available for extra small fees of from $2.00 to $5.00 per month.

The Lewis Academy served its purpose well; the combination of a classical curriculum, experienced and qualified teachers, objectives of the school, wise rules and regulations, and modern thinking produced an Academy that served the people well and had a superior standing in the schools of the nation. For the time it was in operation, 1893 to 1903, it was the answer to the needs of the education for the surrounding communities. But as the public schools began to offer a more equal education for all, the days of the Academy were numbered and finally in 1903. The Lewis Academy closed its doors and ceased to exist. The Forney Schools combined and had a school for everyone to attend. But the Academy left a permanent mark on the people who attended it; the foundation that they received was far superior to that of public schools.

Trustees who served the Academy were W.H. Pinson, J.M. Davis, Tom Layden, J.K. Brooks, D.G. McKellar, and Martin Layden. Some of the Academy pupils attending the Academy that are still living are: Mrs. B.B. Hulsey, Mrs. Callie Walker Alexander, Arthur Pinson, and Joe Rhea.