Academy Overview
Canopy Academy is the flight school module — purpose-built for Part 61 and Part 141 flight training operations. This article explains how it works and how it fits together.
Is Academy right for you?
Canopy Academy is for organizations that operate as a flight school and track formal training toward FAA certificates or ratings. If you're a flying club that does some informal training, the standard Training & Qualifications module may be sufficient.
Academy adds:
- Structured syllabi aligned to FAA ACS/PTS standards
- Per-student logbook with instructor grading
- Stage checks and endorsement tracking
- A dedicated student-facing portal view
- Academy dashboard with school-wide progress metrics
How it works
Org creates Courses → Creates Syllabi within courses → Enrolls Students
Students fly lessons → Instructors grade each lesson → Stage checks unlock
Stage checks completed → Endorsements recorded → Certificate milestone reached
Courses
A Course represents a certificate or rating program — e.g. "Private Pilot Certificate (Airplane)", "Instrument Rating", or "Commercial Pilot". Each course contains one or more Syllabi.
Syllabi
A Syllabus is the structured lesson plan within a course — a sequence of stages and lessons that a student works through. Each lesson has objectives, references (FAR/AIM, ACS), and a grade scale.
Stage Checks
Stage checks are formal evaluations at the end of each stage in a syllabus. They must be completed by a designated check instructor (not the student's primary instructor) before the next stage unlocks.
Students
Students are members of your organization with the Member or Student role. Enrolling them in a course creates their personal training record within that syllabus.
Instructors
Instructors are members with the Instructor role. They are assigned to students and can grade lessons, record ground time, and sign off stage checks.
Getting started with Academy
- Create a Course — Admin → Academy → Courses → New Course
- Build a Syllabus — add stages and lessons with objectives and references
- Enroll a Student — Admin → Academy → Students → [Student] → Enroll in Course
- Assign an Instructor — set the primary instructor from the student record
- Grade lessons — after each flight, the instructor grades completed lessons
For detailed instructions, see: