The American Academy was established in 1908 and is one of the oldest schools in Cyprus. In 1975 control of the school, and all its facilities, was handed over to the American Academy Alumni Foundation, since which time it has been run as a non-profit making organisation with charitable status by its own graduates. The governing council consists of 11 elected members, who serve for five years and two representatives of the church.
The school is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational, selective day school, offering education from pre-Junior through to Year 7 (i.e. Upper Sixth). The school has built a strong reputation for the high level of educational success of its students and for its emphasis upon service within the community. The vast majority of graduates achieve University entrance overseas (primarily in the UK and the USA) and many achieved positions of responsibility in both commercial and educational institutions in Cyprus and abroad.