International Academy - Facilities

Facilities

The International Academy's Central Campus is housed in the former site of Elizabeth Taylor Traub Elementary School. Though additions extending into the former playground have significantly increased its size, the use of an elementary school for a campus of over 700 teenagers can make the halls rather crowded. The building suffers from masonry issues, several leaks in the roof, heating and cooling issues, and a shortage of hot water. The Central Campus's classrooms are organized by subjects into different hallways: the 100 hallways house the foreign language, music, and Theory of Knowledge classrooms; the 200 hallway houses the math and science classrooms; the 300 hallway houses the social studies classrooms, as well as the art room; and the 400 wing houses the English classrooms. This makes it relatively easy for students to figure out where each class is, especially in such a small school. The school also has an all-purpose room, called the International Student Center (ISC), where school assemblies, Adventure Challenge classes, school plays, and large social events such as dances are held. This is also where students eat lunch every day. However, the ISC's relatively small size for an auditorium (about the size of an elementary school gymnasium) limit it from holding larger events, such as large musical concerts or graduations. These are normally held at other schools, such as Lahser High School (where orchestra, band, and choir concerts are held), Lake Orion High School (where the IA graduation ceremony was held through 2009) and Lakeland High School (where the graduation ceremonies are now held).
Districts which send students to the Central Campus include Bloomfield Hills, Berkley, Birmingham, Clawson, Lake Orion, Rochester, Royal Oak, Walled Lake, Waterford and West Bloomfield. The Farmington and Oxford districts have recently chosen to leave the IA consortium in order to start their own IB programs.