Parents met to find out more about Putteridge High School becoming an Academy on Wednesday.
The secondary school is set to become part of the Barnfield Federation, and Barnfield executive director Stephen Hall led the consultation evening.
The changeover to academy status is planned for April this year rather than September, to coincide with the new financial year and so the process happens sooner.
Putteridge High School, which currently has 866 students and was rated satisfactory by Ofsted, will become Barnfield East Academy.
The main aims for the new academy are to achieve “outstanding” status by 2017, clear the deficit in the next five years, and upgrade the current school facilities.
Concerns raised by parents at the meeting included the catchment area, which Mr Hall said will remain the same, with siblings of students already at the school given automatic places. There is a possibility the catchment area will be extended in the future, but those in the original area will always get priority.
As part of Barnfield Federation, it will benefit from funding and the support of other academies.