 Auburn High School was founded as the private Auburn Academy in 1837 , less than three years after the Auburn area had been opened to settlement , funded by the sale of the lots which now make up downtown Auburn . On February 19 , 1838 , the Academy opened its first session , under the instruction of Simeon W. Yancey . A two @-@ story frame school building was constructed later that year , and in 1840 the school divided into male and female divisions as the Auburn Male and Female Academy . By 1846 , the schools were known as the Auburn High Schools , and in 1847 the male division split off the school , with the remaining female division taking the name Auburn Female Seminary . The school received a legislative charter as a Mason school in 1852 , becoming the Auburn Masonic Female College . 
