Established in 1908, the American Academy of Larnaca is among the oldest and longest-running schools in Cyprus. The school was established by Rev. McCarroll and Mrs. McCarroll,
missionaries of the
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America who were first in charge of an elementary
mission school on the island. When the couple was allowed to open a boys' secondary school, they founded the American Academy of Larnaca. The school had 60 enrolled students in a year. According to the school's official website, "The purpose of the Academy was to provide a
Christian-focused education which encompassed not only academic training but also a focus on a Christian way of living. Students graduating from the Academy were taught to be tolerant and respectful, serve the community, and uphold high ideals and morals." Although the school was intended to be
boys’ school, a girls’ department opened in 1916 using the mission chapel. The initial experiment was short-lived, and the girls’ department closed in 1919. It reopened ten years later. The boy's department continued to grow as did the number of buildings on the present site. During the
Second World War, the school was temporarily transferred to the village of
Pano Lefkara where it was housed between 1941 and 1943. The present school began to take shape in 1954 with the completion of the Weir Hall. An auditorium was added four years later. The original Memorial Hall was demolished and the New Memorial Hall began to take shape in 1983. In 1975, the control of the school and its facilities was handed over to the American Academy Alumni Foundation. ==Notable alumni==