Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, it is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago but is run by lay staff with several Sisters sitting on the Board of Trustees.

Donors later purchased the premises of the former Barat College and donated it to the academy, reuniting the campus with its roots.

WA sponsors volleyball, tennis, field hockey, basketball, soccer, and softball as varsity sports.

The school sponsors golf as a club sport, in addition to being affiliated with North Suburban Crew and the Lake Forest Scouts ice hockey team to permit participation in crew and ice hockey.

[4] Over the over 150 years of the school's existence, a number of secular and religious traditions have evolved, some of which are unique to Woodlands:[5]