Academy

The is Konoha's training center for Academy Students before they become Genin. Known teachers at the Konoha Ninja Academy include Iruka Umino, Shikamaru Nara, and formerly Mizuki.

Appearance
This building can be identified by the tree in front which has a swing on it (on which Naruto Uzumaki is sometimes seated). Classrooms in the academy are large and have high ceilings, based on a theory that larger classrooms lead to expansive education, expanding even to the blackboard itself. In front of the blackboard is a podium, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher can view everyone at once. The large windows in the classrooms can be used as exits in case of emergency.

Curriculum
Students are taught strategies and basic level Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and how to control their Chakra, if they have the ability to do so. When they have graduated, they are separated into squads of three Genin and a Jonin. At this point, they are tested once again, this time by their Jonin teacher; if they fail, they are sent back to the academy, or are dropped from the program at the teacher's discretion.

Student Body
The best student of any graduating class is awarded the title the "Number One Rookie"; known Number One Rookies include Neji Hyuga and Sasuke Uchiha. On the bottom end of the pecking order of any graduating class is the "Dead-Last", the name given to the student who performed the worst out of their class; known Dead Lasts include Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki. According to Might Guy, he was the Dead Last of his graduating class when he went to the Academy. Kakashi Hatake was himself the 'Number One Rookie' of his own graduating class.

Graduation
Graduating from the Academy usually consists of taking both a written exam and a practical exam, administered by a Chunin instructor, to earn enough marks to pass. Upon graduating, students receive a forehead protector or 'hitai-ate'. As mentioned above, graduating students are then separated into squads of three Genin and assigned to a Jonin-sensei to instruct them further, and, at this point, they will be tested once again by their Jonin teacher to assess whether they would be able to handle the demands that will be made of them as ninja (i.e. the dynamics of teamwork).

Although students are only instructed in the use of basic level Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, knowledge of these techniques are ultimately not pivotal to their success as ninja; students like Rock Lee, who graduated knowing only Taijutsu, and Naruto Uzumaki, who failed to perform the Clone Technique, a E-Rank technique, but could effortlessly perform the Shadow Clone Technique, a B-Rank Jonin-level technique, are both examples of this.

Students who don't pass the tests set by their Chunin-sensei may be held back for another year. However, students who do pass the tests set by their Chunin-sensei, but later fail the tests administered by their assigned Jonin-sensei, may either be sent back to the academy or else, depending on their performance, dropped from the program at their Jonin-sensei's discretion.

Other Ninja Academies
Graduation requirements vary from academy to academy. In Konoha, the graduation exam is comprised of some sort of written test, as well as knowledge of basic techniques. Some limited details about the other Hidden Village Ninja Academies have also been disclosed:
 * The Suna Ninja Academy: Not much has been mentioned about the previous curriculum, but during the final Pre-Shippūden filler arc in Part I of the anime it was revealed that the Ninja Academy at Suna has adopted the same training program as the Konoha Ninja Academy.
 * The Kiri Ninja Academy: At one point in its past, the Kiri Ninja Academy final graduation exam consisted of pitting all of the Ninja Academy's male graduates against each other in a battle to the death, with the winners/survivers graduating. After Zabuza Momochi, not yet himself a graduate, imposed himself into the fight and slaughtered all one hundred of that year's students, the practice was discontinued in favor of more and less depopulating methods.

Trivia
Although the Japanese name for the Ninja Academy is simply, it's written with the kanji for.