The Peninsula Academies is a three-year high school program for at-risk students, designed to provide them with incentives both to graduate and to acquire labor market-relevant skills. An academy combines academic and technical training in a school-within-a-school setting, and is based on school-business partnerships. In the fall of 1985, 10 academy programs were established by the State of California as replications of the Peninsula Academies that had been in operation in a local school district for four years. This report evaluates the statewide academies' first operational year. Among the conclusions are the following: (1) the Academy concept can produce important gains in the attendance, grades, earned credits, and reduced dropouts of at-risk high school students; (2) Academy students improved their attendance by 5 to 18 percent, their retention by 5 to 15 percent, and their grade point averages by more than a full point; (3) Academy students' attitudes towards school and their self-esteem improved significantly; (4) students liked the Academies significantly better than their regular high school program; (5) students did not have more precise post-graduate plans as a result of the academies; and (6) substantial improvements are needed in both program operations and evaluation procedures. Recommendations are offered for program improvement and future evaluation. Tables illustrate the data. A short list of references is included. An appendix provides technical notes. (BJV)