On September 7, 1868, when the Albany Free Academy opened its doors to the public, there were 141 students enrolled.

As a result of the establishment of these four academies, students have access to additional support staff and have the opportunity to experience a themed academic environment while still in high school.

In November 2015, city voters narrowly defeated a $196 million plan to renovate and expand Albany High by a close vote of 5,794 to 5,897.

[6] Every year, several IB or AP students typically attend some of the nation's top-ranked universities, including those in the Ivy League.

The school also has Senior Career Explorations (internships) in six areas[10] and a Project Lead the Way engineering program.

[11][12] If the school does not demonstrate improvement in student performance within two years an Independent Receiver will be appointed by the district to serve under contract to the State Education Commissioner, and the district will have no control over decisions affecting the school.

The academic building is the largest edifice on the Albany High School campus and the only one with three stories.

It contains the media center (the large school library housing over 26,000 books[14] as well as PC desktop computers).

The building also houses the male and female locker rooms, the athletic health office, the athletic director's office, and the Falcon Fitness Center, a recently renovated weight room.

On the first floor of the two story building is the boiler room housing the school's heating equipment.

The third building on the Albany High campus houses the auditorium, main offices, and music classrooms.

The diamond shaped auditorium has red cushioned seats, a triangular stage, and a catwalk area which is accessible by ladder.

The auditorium building contains the main lobby and serves as an entrance for school visitors.

A brick and concrete space with small trees and many benches, it serves as an entrance place for students during the morning.

The Albany High campus contains athletic fields for soccer, baseball, American football, and softball.

[16] Albany High's varsity football, soccer and baseball teams play their games at nearby Bleecker Stadium.

The building offers many career and technical courses in fields such as construction, cooking, electricity, engineering, cosmetology, computers (including a Cisco networking academy), and even an emergency medical technician course.

Of Albany High School's approximately 2,600 students, about 54% are African-American, 21% are White (non-Hispanic), 13% are Hispanic, 11% are Asian, and 1% are Native American or multiracial.

The boys’ season was very monumental, as it was the school’s first trip to the Class AA Final Four since 2011, the most wins (16) in more than two decades, and the first Suburban Council Gray Division championship.

Isaiah Austin also became the first member of the boys’ team to score 1,000 career points in 19 years.