In 1969, the first academy opened at Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. Called the Academy of Applied Electrical Science, the program was set up as an independent not-for-profit corporation with its own board of directors. Over the years, three more career areas--business, health and automotive--opened academies as independent entities. In 1988, the individual academy programs relinquished their status as separate, tax-exempt, organizations and merged into the Philadelphia Academies, Inc., an intermediary organization that works in partnership with the Philadelphia School District and the private sector to bring student services to career academies and manage the academies' business partnerships. This school year, the Philadelphia Academies, Inc.--now boasting 14 career areas, in 17 of Philadelphia's public high schools and three middle schools, and serving more than 8,000 students--will celebrate its 35-year anniversary with the opening of a new academy with longtime partner, Sunoco, Inc. This article describes the student benefits provided in celebration of this anniversary.