A few lineup changes arrived in 2004, as guitarist/vocalist Tom Conrad and drummer Andy Mrotek climbed aboard as permanent members of the group. Relentless touring with the likes of Fall Out Boy, Something Corporate, Midtown, and Armor for Sleep steadily built a devoted audience around the country before the band's well-received label debut, Almost Here, arrived in February 2005. Gigs continued at a frantic pace in support on the album, and the Academy Is... released the six-song acoustic EP From the Carpet exclusively on iTunes in early 2006. The digital release contained three new songs (including a cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero") and acoustic versions of tracks from Almost Here.

Following a summer spent on the road with the Warped Tour, the guys parted ways with Conrad in the fall of 2006 (replaced by guitarist Michael Guy Chislett) and began writing new material back in Chicago. The Academy Is... eventually entered a California studio with famed producer Butch Walker (All-American Rejects, Hot Hot Heat) to record what would become their sophomore effort, Santi, which ultimately arrived in early April 2007. Fast Times at Barrington High, a reference to the school that Beckett and Siska attended as teenagers (as well as a nod to the '80s film Fast Times at Ridgemont High), arrived the following year.