Academy Design

Each of Granby's four academies serve about 525 students, from grades nine to 12. Ninth-graders are randomly assigned to the four academies, and students stay with the same academy through their senior year. Granby intentionally avoided the creation of theme-based academies to discourage the social strata between the academies. Each academy offers courses in math, science, social studies, English, foreign languages, business lab, and special education.

Each academy is autonomous, with its own assistant principal who manages the academy's budget, leads the teaching and clerical staff, and serves as disciplinarian of students. The assistant principal's office is located in the administrative suite within the academy, where he or she works with two guidance counselors and one administrative professional. Student records are kept in the academy administrative suite, although a centralized record-keeping system is also available for outside data retrieval.

The graph shows marked growth in the percentage of students meeting state standards across all four subjects from 1997-2002, especially in Math and History.

Students take many of their core courses within their academy, although they may take advanced courses and electives outside. During the lunch period, each academy takes a turn in the food court. Within the academy, each student is given personalized attention.

At Granby, all teachers belong to an academy, including those who do not teach inside the physical boundary of the academies (e.g., PE). For administrative matters, teachers report to the assistant principal. Their professional training is planned jointly by the assistant principal and the department head. Teachers' desks are in their academy's multidisciplinary workroom. Teachers also benefit from academy structure.