Dumbarton Academy
Dumbarton Academy is a mixed secondary school in Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Location. The school is situated near the railway off the B830 in the east of Dumbarton. St James Retail Park is on the opposite side of the North Clyde Line. History. Dumbarton Academy, which was originally based in the tower of Dumbarton Parish Church, dates back to the 15th century. It moved to a rented room in a building in the High Street known as "Walker's Close" in 1761 and to a new purpose-built building on the west side of Church Street, close to  the corner with the High Street, in 1789. After that building was also found to be inadequate, a new combined burgh hall and academy was erected in Church Street in 1866 designed by William Leiper. The academy then moved to a site formerly occupied by Braehead House in Townend Road in August 1914, before being converted into a comprehensive school and relocating to Crosslet Road in Hartfield in 1972. Today. Today the school serves the catchment area of Dumbarton and currently has an enrollment of over 600 pupils. Alison Boyles is the head teacher. The school received a positive report  from the 2009 HMIE inspection. The school currently operates a policy of inclusion with recent initiatives taken to increase the inclusion rate for less able pupils and decrease the rate of bullying in the school.