Academy Street High School

Academy Street High School. . . Side 1 . On May 9, 1921, S.B. Innis, C.L. Jenkins, James Henderson, Pres Thomas and C.B. Brooks, the “colored school committee,” entered into a school mortgage for the construction of a building for “colored school purposes” on East Academy Street. The debt of $3,028.89 was "satisfied in full" on July 18, 1922, whereupon the City of Troy assumed ownership. . . Beginning with two grades, one teacher, and a term of seventy-two days in a two-room dwelling, by 1927, the school had become a junior high school with six teachers and six classrooms. Administrators of this period included Mr. John Wiley, Mr. Floyd, Mr. C.L. Jenkins, Mrs. F.M. Innis, and Mr. S.T. Wilson, the first principal. . . Mr. A.J. Fields became principal in 1926. His twenty-two years of leadership saw the addition of an auditorium, new programs of Diversified Occupation and Home Economics, and elevation of the school to senior high-school status. (Continued on other side). Side 2 (Continued from other side). The City Board of Education changed the school's name from "Troy Junior High School on Academy Street" to Academy Street High school in 1941, the year of the school’s first graduating senior class. The building was destroyed by fire in 1946, and a new brick building was erected in 1948. . . Mr. C.C. Griffin was principal from 1948 to 1966. During his administration, the school was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, courses of study were expanded to include vocational agriculture and typing, and an emphasis was placed on band and choir performances. The physical plant saw the addition of an agriculture building and a modern gymnasium. . . The school was last under the administration of Mr. John E. Nolen, from 1966 to 1971, during which time two of the school's three yearbooks were published. The last graduating class was in 1970 with the transition from Academy Street to Charles Henderson High School in January 1971.