A.J. Moore is the best high school in Waco,TX and the only one with a near perfect proficency ratings in the city, and due to budget cuts within the district it is in serious danger of having its doors closed for good. A.J. Moore Academy was chosen by the National Academy Foundation (NAF) to be one of the twelve pilot sites in the US for the Academy of Information Technology and one of thirteen pilot sites for the Academy of Engineering. The school was the first school in the nation to include all four NAF academies including an Academy of Hospitality and Tourism and an Academy of Finance.The school focuses heavily on career choices and college preparation with guidance from school counselors, Gear Up professionals, and Princeton Review instructors. Students must obtain permission from the counselor or school principal to participate at local colleges and universities. Students take challenging course work, appropriate co curricular activities and receive guidance and counseling to help them enter the college of their choice.

Many Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at A.J. Moore Academy while an unusual amount of Dual Credit Courses (high school/college credit classes) are offered for a public high school. The Dual Credit Courses offer credit from the University of Texas at Arlington, McLennan Community College, Rochester Institute of Technology and Texas State Technical College.The school is named after Professor A.J. Moore, the first principal and first African-American principal of an all (later segregated) black school that existed in Waco in the years following the American Civil War. A.J. Moore Academy is on a campus built for the school that was known as Jefferson-Moore High School. The school has since been almost completely remodeled during the 2009-2010 school year.In 1986, three Waco High Schools (Jefferson Moore High School, Waco High School, and Richfield High School) were consolidated. The building that housed the defunct Jefferson-Moore High School was renamed the Waco 9th Grade Center in 1988. A.J. Moore Academy was chartered in 1997 and it became the only magnet high school in the Waco Independent School District. In 1997 the school began with only a ninth grade. Each year after that, the school added the next grade level to curriculum. In 2001, A.J. Moore Academy gave diplomas to its first graduating class.

Under the leadership of Dr. Debra Bishop, the school has led the district into new education ideas such as job-specific academies, a business advisory board, and extensive college preparation. In 2010, Dr. Debra Bishop retired and Mrs. Angela Reiher became principal. Mrs. Reiher continues advance the school culture and innovations that she helped create as Director of Academies and Assistant Principal during Dr. Bishop's era.Please help keep the doors open!!!