A non-denominational secondary school in the Kildrum neighbourhood of Cumbernauld, Cumbernauld Academy was established in 2014 initially using the premises of the former Cumbernauld High School. It represented a merger between the High School (opened 1964) and Abronhill High School (opened 1978). The roll is 868 pupils (2015) but is predicted to grow to a maximum of 1315. A new campus will open in 2017, incorporating Cumbernauld Theatre. The school draws pupils from Abronhill, Carbrain, Cumbernauld, Kildrum and Whitelees Primary Schools.
Cumbernauld High School was the first secondary school to be built in the New Town and was somewhat of a showpiece. The buildings are constructed in red brick with horizontal fenestration, highlighted in blue, with mahogany and teak hardwood finishes inside. The school comprises the main Robert Burns building which houses most of the classroom subjects in its three tower blocks. The James Watt building is used for technology subjects, the Andrew Carnegie building provides a home for business studies and the sciences, while the David Livingstone building houses home economics. The assembly hall is spacious and there is a well equipped physical education wing with a swimming pool, while extensive playing fields surround the school.
Notable former pupils of Cumbernauld High School included soprano Isobel Buchanan (b.1954), comedian Craig Ferguson (b.1962) and his sister actress and screen-writer Lynn Ferguson (b.1965), while poet Liz Lochhead (b.1947) was a teacher here. Abronhill High School was the setting for Bill Forsyth's romantic comedy Gregory's Girl (1981) but closed in 2014 and was demolished the same year.
