Month: December 2024

Ten students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recently received honors in the College Board National Recognition Programs. 

The programs celebrate students’ hard work and academic performance. Students who take eligible PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 or AP eligible exams and meet the score requirements are considered for awards. The five national recognition programs include the National African American Recognition Program, National First-Generation Recognition Program, National Hispanic Recognition Program, National Indigenous Recognition Program and the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program. 

ASMSA students earning recognition and their recognition program include: 

• Damian Biggs, a senior from Washington County, First-Generation, Indigenous and Rural and Small Town;
• Violet Dailey, a junior from Sherwood, First Generation;
• Alice Dong, a senior from Arkadelphia, First Generation;
• Lakaylah Hall, a senior from Little Rock, First Generation;
• Jaime Hernandez Perez, a senior from Decatur, First Generation and Hispanic;
• Kelvin Orduna, a senior from Huntsville, First Generation and Hispanic;
• Sarah Pham, a senior from Hot Springs, First Generation;
• Finneas Salazar, a senior from Searcy, Hispanic; and
• Sage Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, First Generation and Hispanic.

The academic honors offer recognized students an opportunity to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent, according to a release from College Board, a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity that was founded in 1900. The organization’s membership includes 6,000 educational institutions. 

Students apply for the programs through College Board’s BigFuture initiative, which offers participants opportunities to connect directly with higher education institutions, search for scholarships and explore possible careers. 

Six students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts have been named Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. 

ASMSA students named Commended Students include: 

• Calen Long, a senior from Fort Smith;
• Sarah Pham, a senior from Hot Springs;
• Thor Seay, a senior from Hot Springs;
• Jonathan Tucker, a senior from Batesville;
• Alan Ye, a senior from Conway; and
• Charlotte Young, a senior from Paragould.

About 34,000 Commended Students were recognized across the nation. Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Competition but were not chosen among the finalists. Students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as a junior to qualify for the competition. 

Twelve Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy for the Fall 2024 semester.

The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is awarded each spring and fall to students in ninth through 12th grades who demonstrate a proficiency in English and at least one other language before graduating high school.

The program is sponsored by the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and the Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. The Arkansas Department of Education officially endorsed the seal in June 2018. The Seal of Biliteracy program is recognized in 49 states and Washington, D.C.

ASMSA students who earned the seal this fall include:

• Morgan Broadway, a senior from Mablevale, Spanish;
• Alice Dong, a senior from Arkadelphia, Chinese;
• Madeline Liachenko, a senior from Benton, Russian;
• Emily Lin, a junior from Little Rock, Chinese;
• Preston Lowe, a senior from Mayflower, Spanish;
• Kelvin Orduna, a senior from Huntsville, French;
• Yongjun Park, a junior from Maumelle, Korean;
• Meera Patel, a senior from Hot Springs, French;
• Sage Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, Spanish;
• Kris Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, Spanish;
• Jonathan Tucker, a senior from Batesville, Spanish; and
• Luis Vidal Jr., a junior from Fort Smith, Spanish.

Since the 2017 pilot year in Arkansas, a total of 6,017 students from 108 high schools around the state have attained this certification across 32 languages other than English, according to a release from the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Committee.

Six Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts seniors received full-ride scholarship offers in the 2024 QuestBridge National College Match Program.

The students who received matches include:

• Jaime Hernandez Perez of Decatur, Brown University;
• Hailey Judkins of Benton, College of the Holy Cross;
• Sarah Pham of Hot Springs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT);
• Katherine Quintanilla of Nashville, University of Pennsylvania;
• Ezekiel Summers of Paragould, Johns Hopkins University; and
• Plinio Tola of Little Rock, Wesleyan University.

QuestBridge is a nonprofit organization that connects exceptional low-income youth with leading institutions of higher education. QuestBridge works with top universities across the country to offer four-year, full scholarships to deserving students who may otherwise be unable to afford to attend those institutions. The organization partnered this year with 52 colleges and universities to offer scholarships at institutions such as Duke University, Columbia University, Yale and others.

CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs held a special ceremony Wednesday to open a time capsule that was placed in 1927 in the cornerstone of the former St. Joseph's Infirmary that is now a part of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts campus. The treasures inside included a letter written in Latin, several coins and medallions, a 1923 $1 Silver Certificate, a program from the cornerstone ceremony held in March 1927, a list of the Sister of Mercy nuns who were then serving at the hospital, a list of the hospital's student nurses, a 1927 Hot Springs telephone book, two newspapers with articles about the hospital, a copy of the deed and mortgage for the hospital, a bill for the air ventilation system, a postcard featuring the previous hospital, and other items.

The time capsule and the cornerstone in which it was held were recently removed from the former hospital in preparation for its demolition. ASMSA plans to return possession of the main hospital as well as the Pine Street and Cedar Street wings to the City of Hot Springs in early 2025. Once that process has been completed, the city will begin the demolition process. Once demolition is complete, the city will return the property to ASMSA for redevelopment.

What is now known as as CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs was formerly known as St. Joseph's Hospital, among other iterations. After St. Joseph's moved to its current location in 1991, the city purchased the former hospital to use as a proposed location as part of its bidding proposal to land what was then the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences, which was created by the State of Arkansas in 1991. The school used the main building as well as the Pine Street wing for student residential space until 2012, when students were relocated to the new ASMSA Student Center. The Pine Street wing continued to be used for faculty and staff offices as well as classroom space until May 2024.