Beacon Academy

Beacon Academy was the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Vale. The Academy trained teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the various monsters that plague Remant. It was overrun following an assault on the academy led by Duncan Crystal in conjuction with the Grimms and the White Fang. Beacon's students and professors were accepted in Signal Academy for a few months until the end of that year.

This Beacon Academy is a different one from RWBY as it is an alternative version of itself in the alternative universe where the Beacons of Darkness exist.

History
Following the end of the Great War, Beacon Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Vale. Along with the other three Huntsmen Academies, Beacon was founded in order to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm. In addition to its tole of training future warriors, the Academy also played an important role in worldwide security. The headmaster, Professor Ozpin, along with Glynda Goodwitch and previously Hope Goodwitch, and staff members of other schools, are part of a clandestine group which actively works to protect the world from threats. In addition, Vale's Cross Continental Transmit System tower, which was vital for long-distance communication across Remnant, was also built in the center of the Beacon campus. It also hides a secret object known as a relic. As something additional, only Beacon Academy had a secret mission to end with the vampires in Remnant.

Fall of Beacon
In the lead-up to the Vytal Festival, a celebration of the peace that followed the Great War, students from the other three Huntsman academies around the world converge on Vale to participate and are welcomed into Beacon.

During the Vytal Festival, Cinder and Duncan orchestrates a concerted attack on Beacon, which also spills over into the City of Vale. Despite a valiant defense of the Academy from students and staff, Beacon falls to the forces of the White Fang and overwhelming numbers of Grimm. In the aftermath of the battle, Beacon is left in ruins and heavily infested by Grimm. Salem has authority over forces located there, who are under instructions to find the relic. So far, they have been unsuccessful since the relic was already taken by Sapphire Dust.

Meanwhile the students and staff were accepted in Signal Academy until they finihs preparing the last generation of huntsmen. As noted by Peter Port, after the students left, the other professors have been working diligently in their efforts to reconstruct Beacon. Glynda was named the new Headmistress of Beacon, following the "death" of Ozpin.

Description
Students with the aspiration to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, whose duty is to keep the peace within the world, strove to attend Beacon. It also was known to have a rehabilitation program for criminals and granted with a second chance instead of go to prison or be executed. All of them low criminals with the exception of Ian and Exter.

Students
Beacon Academy was a residential or boarding-type school, with its students residing in dormitories on the campus. The school seemed to provide all living facilities, including hygiene, food, and laundry. However, students were not restricted to the campus outside of lessons and frequently spent their weekends in Vale.

In order to be accepted into Beacon, students typically went to combat schools, such as Signal Academy, in order to prepare for the Academy's rigorous entrance exam. Some candidates, like Ruby Torchwick, may be invited to the school after showing exceptional skill. However, attending previous combat schools does not seem to be a prerequisite, as some entrants were talented enough to pass the exam without transcripts, such as Blake Belladonna. Students were generally admitted at around age 17, although Ruby was one exception, being admitted at age 15. There is also the criminal rehabilitation program that accept people of any age, being the two known cases Exter Ironwood at age 30 and Ian Belladonna at age 15.

In the lead-up to the Vytal Festival, Beacon also participated in an exchange program with the academies of the other three kingdoms of Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral. Exchange students participated in some activities, such as sparring matches, and attended events such as the Beacon Dance.

Dress Code
For males, the Beacon Academy uniform consisted of black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. The females wore a red plaid skirt, stockings of various length, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar.

Students were given the freedom to customize their attire, as Ruby also wore her hood with her uniform. The dress code did not seem to be upheld very strictly, as students were often seen in casual attire during classes, assemblies, and field trips. Students tended to avoid wearing their uniforms during combat practice. There some other cases, like Exter who kept his shirt unbuttoned and Ian who got a patch of the White Fang on his uniform.

Location
Beacon lies along the east edge of the city of Vale and has a wide river that runs through part of it. Airships were used to transport new students to the academy.

A port is seen at the bottom of the cliffs next to Beacon Academy, implying that naval transportation was also possible.

Beacon's boundaries appear to extend rather far, including the large Emerald Forest and some surrounding terrain, such as the Beacon Cliff. The academy also held field trips in areas such as the Forever Fall forest.

Cliffside
Beacon is situated just before an impressive cliff's edge that overlooks the city across the sound. At the top edge of the cliffside are several large, circular aerial docking bays, where airships and Bullheads can dock and allow their passengers to disembark. At the base of the cliffs, a docking bay is also available for water-going surface vessels, and a path from there leads upwards to the top of the cliff.

Main Avenue
After arrival, new Huntsmen and Huntress cadets were deposited on a long, wide avenue leading up to what appears to be the main academy buildings and their large, impressive main doorway, which opens up to a large amphitheater surrounded by a double ring of colonnades bisected by the main avenue with the outer ring rising high over the main entrance to the academy itself. The avenue is marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways.

In front of the entrance to the main amphitheater is a large statue and fountain of a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop a rock, beneath which a Beowolf cowers. There's also a large circular pond feature surrounded by a pathway and a garden of red trees. The main avenue is also referred to as the courtyard.

Beacon Tower
The most prominent part of the academy buildings is a large tower. The tower was surmounted by a number of green spheres or lights (possibly the beacon after which the academy was named), as well as an intricate clockwork mechanism consisting of many interlocking cogs and gears. Situated immediately below this was Ozpin's office, which sat high above the clouds and afforded an impressive view of the surrounding area.

Cross Continental Transmit System Tower
Forming the base of Beacon Tower, the CCT allows for seamless communication between locations within the other kingdoms outside of Vale. It is very tall, with an elevator in place to take visitors to a level of their choosing.

The interior of the communications room has several video terminals where a holographic AI operator would patch users to the location where they wished to send their messages.

Beacon Academy Statue
The campus of Beacon Academy includes a large statue featuring two figures, one a male and the other a younger-looking female, standing on a rock outcropping. They are both dressed in a robe with hoods over their heads.

The male has a sword in his right hand, raised in a seemingly triumphant gesture. The younger female has a double-edged battle-axe in her left hand and looks off to the side into the distance. Below the two figures is a Beowolf looking in the same direction as the male figure.

Amphitheater
The assembly area takes the form of a glass-domed amphitheater with raised bleachers arranged in a circle around a circular stage that has a tall, ornate (possibly wooden) backdrop with blue lights. There is also a large, open area in front of the stage where students could stand.

As well as being used for meetings of the student body, the assembly area could be used for dueling practice, with the raised stage serving as the fighting area. The lighting in this area could be carefully controlled, making it impossible to see the rest of the area, thus giving duelists the illusion of being entirely on their own.

This also appears to be the location from which missions were assigned to students. The missions were displayed three at a time on numerous screens, listing the type of mission, location, and mission start time, among other extra details. Teams assigned themselves to missions by selecting one and then entering their team name.

Lecture Hall
Beacon Academy has at least one lecture hall not unlike those found in universities. A lecture hall with (apparently) antique drawings of the various known species of Grimm is shown.

This hall has sufficient space for practical demonstrations in front of the students' desks: The front of the lecture area could be used for combat training, one of the classes takes place in a lecture hall rigged for a history lesson; the Remnant world, map overlaid by a complex pattern of notes linked with strings, is displayed on the wall behind the lecturer, Doctor Oobleck.

Dorms
All the dorms at Beacon appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The students noted that these rooms are somewhat cramped. However, more organized teams generally found that there was sufficient room to meet all of their needs.

The doors to the dorm rooms were secured using an electronic lock, which could be disengaged using a student's scroll. It was possible to get locked out if the door closes and a student does not have their Scroll with them.

In each dorm room there are two additional doors, one on each side of the room suggesting that they are closets.

The blocks containing the dorms are shown to be located in separate buildings some distance from the main academy buildings. Students can be seen running through the Academy Gardens on the way to classes.

Dining Hall
The Academy includes a large, formal dining room running down the length of a cloister-like hall. The dining room features four long tables running the length of the hall with benches to either side and walking areas located in between. Students were able to sit not only with their teams, but other groups.

Like all parts of the academy buildings, the dining hall is somewhat gothic in appearance. The walls are marked with the academy's crossed-ax logo.

It is established that students were allowed to eat in their dormitories.

Library
The library is a repository of books and other sources of archived information within the Academy. It was generally meant to be a quiet place for students to read and study, though students often used the area as a gathering place, playing board games and socializing instead.

It could also make transcontinental calls to areas outside of the kingdom of Vale, similar to the CCT. The library also has access to several holographic computer terminals, which could be freely used by the students.

Ballroom
There is also a ballroom that was used in the Beacon Dance. The ballroom also doubled as a living area that new students slept in until they were assigned proper quarters.

Locker Room
A unisex locker room with washroom facilities is also present. After the initiation, to store weapons and extra armor, each student was assigned a rocket-propelled locker that can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code.

Emerald Forest
Beacon Academy used the Emerald Forest as the location for its initiation. The forest is filled with dangerous wildlife. Students were catapulted into the forest from Beacon Cliff, on purpose-built launch pads emblazoned with the academy's insignia.

Vital Festival Fairgrounds
During the Vytal Festival, a large fairgrounds consisting of many temporary buildings and tents were set up at the Beacon campus, where visitors from all the kingdoms could congregate and intermingle. There were shops and stalls set up to get food, one of which was run by the Shopkeeper, as well as tables and chairs for people to sit.

The fairgrounds are surrounded by a lightly wooded area, but it is not known where it is situated in relation to other Beacon buildings.

Farm
Beacon has a farm with chickens somewhere on campus. This farm is freely accessible by students.

The Vault
Located deep beneath Beacon Academy tower and accessible by an elevator, the Vault is where Amber, the former Fall Maiden, was kept on life support before she was killed by Cinder Fall. The Vault appears to be a very closely guarded secret. Ozpin and his allies bring Pyrrha Nikos down here when they ask her to assume the mantle of the Fall Maiden. They also brought Duncan Crystal to interrogate him about the Beacons of Darkness, not knowing that would be the cause of the Fall of Beacon.

Staff Members

 * Ozpin - Headmaster
 * Glynda Goodwitch - Combat Instructor
 * Hope Goodwicth - Combat Instructor (Third Years)
 * Peter Port - Grimm Studies
 * Larry Chrome - Military Strategy
 * Bartholomew Oobleck - History, Legends of Remnant
 * Thumbelina Peach - Plant Sciences
 * Ann Greene - Stealth and Security
 * Harold Mulberyy - Weapon Crafting and Upkeep
 * Ochre Fall - Criminology
 * Other Unnamed Teachers.

First Year

 * Team RWBY -Field graduated and licensed
 * Team NR - Field graduated and licensed
 * Team CRDL, Jaune, Ian, Leo & Exter - No licensed due to betrayal
 * Pyrrha Nikos - No licensed due to comma

Second Year

 * Team CFVY - Field graduated and licensed

Third Year

 * The rest of Sasha and Natalie's team - Licensed
 * Sasha & Natalie - No licensed due to be missing
 * Duncan Crystal - No licensed due to be betrayal

Alumni

 * Team STRQ
 * Team DETC
 * Team KDGME
 * Team AWEP
 * Beadle & Team WPT - No licensed due to death.