Canandaigua Academy was founded in 1791 as a private boys' school. It became a public high school in 1900, but retained "Academy" in its name. The current Canandaigua Academy is the fourth academy since its founding in 1791. The first was located on Saltonstall Street ; the second was on Main Street, now Fort Hill Apartments; the third was on Granger Street, and is now Canandaigua Middle School. The current building was built in 1991, and suits the needs of all departments. On March 14, 2006, President George W. Bush visited Canandaigua Academy to inform the public about Medicare. In 2007, renovations were made on the southwestern wing of the building. The building's music wing was expanded to host additional classroom space, to be used by the Hochstein School of Music. Additionally, an expansive field house was appended to the gym on the southern side of the building to meet the needs of the Physical Education department. On May 5, 2009, a student named Tom Kane took his own life with a shotgun in a bathroom stall at Canandaigua Academy. No additional casualties were caused. In the summer of 2015, the boys' locker room was renovated for the 2015-2016 school year. The school began construction in 2016 on a new sports complex which was completed in 2017. Among the new facilities are a new stadium-style track, additional facilities, new parking areas, and concession stand facilities on the soccer field below the track. The school also installed turf fields.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The school's sports teams are known as the Braves, and wear cherry and grey team colors. The teams are in section V in the NYSPHAA. In 2018 the Canandaigua Academy Cheerleaders won the NYSPHSAA Division 1 Championship, coached by Laura Burgess, Candace Foley, Kirstyn Morrell, and Maria Catalano. Other state championships for the school include girls' volleyball and boys' lacrosse, both in 2009. The Canandaigua girls' swim team has won section V sectionals first place for 11 years straight. In 1999, the football team won a state championship. In recent years, the Academy has hosted the Special Olympics, a day-long event which unites students and staff in support of disabled students and children in athletic competitions.
Music
Canandaigua Academy students are very active in the performing arts - with two concert bands, two jazz bands, a pep band, two orchestras, and four choirs. The Canandaigua Academy Music Department can be found on Twitter and YouTube. The Choral Department can be found on YouTube as "CA Choirs." The Academy Music Department is led by band director Gregory Kane, who works alongside orchestra director Hannah Cox, band director Diana Chase, and choral director Sean Perry. The choral department was formerly led by nationally-recognized music educator Amy Story. Retiring in 2015, Story was honored as the American Choral Directors' Association's "Helen Kemp Award" winner in 2012 for a lifetime commitment to vocal and educational excellence. She is a registered NYSSMA adjudicator, an active member of ACDA, a conductor for numerous honor choirs across New York and Pennsylvania, and continues to work with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2006, the Canandaigua Music Department has hosted a number of guest musicians and artist/educator visits including:
Eric Whitacre
Z. Randall Stroope
Stephen Melillo
Ingrid Jensen
Camille Thurman
Mambo Kings
Nick Finzer
Edward S. Lisk
Ron Sutherland
Kana Omori
Dave Chisholm
Bill Tiberio
Dave Mancini
The Canandaigua Academy Players, led by Scott Schauman, Matt Rodgers, Gordon Estey, and Jim Kelly, has also been recognized for its achievements by Rochester Broadway Theater League's "Stars of Tomorrow," having taken high honors for many of its musicals. In 2017, the Finger Lakes Opera moved their performing venue from the State University of New York at Geneseo to the performance hall at the Canandaigua Academy.
