What's the difference between the navy and the Naval Academy?

I'm a bit confused about how the Naval Academy fits in with the Navy. Are they separate entities or just different parts of the same organization? How does attending the Academy lead to a career in the Navy?

The U.S. Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. military, responsible for carrying out naval operations. In contrast, the U.S. Naval Academy is a higher education institution that trains students for careers as officers in the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps.

Attending the Naval Academy is one pathway to becoming a commissioned officer in the Navy. The Academy provides a four-year undergraduate program during which midshipmen (as students at the Academy are called) study a wide variety of subjects but primarily focus on military leadership, sea power, naval sciences, and tactics.

On successful completion of the four-year program, midshipmen graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as Ensigns in the U.S. Navy or Second Lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corps.

So, while the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Academy are interconnected, they serve different functions within the larger structure of the U.S. military. The Navy is the branch of the military that conducts naval operations, while the Naval Academy is an institution that prepares individuals for leadership roles within the Navy or Marine Corps.