2025 Strategic Plan

In 2020, ASMSA undertook a new strategic planning process in anticipation of the school’s 30th anniversary. Building on the success of our previous plans developed in 1994, 2004, and 2012, we weave together the past, present, and future to create an intentional and sustainable plan. This document provides a roadmap to align our daily activities to achieve set objectives while being mindful of decision-making that increases operational efficiency. The 2025 Plan is the result of the boundless passion, commitment, and insights of ASMSA’s faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and friends. Hundreds of advocates gave generously of their time through surveys, focus groups, discussions, and debates that have produced the objectives and strategies that will define ASMSA’s work over the next decade.

In addition to a broader exploration of the school's work, a sub-group created a revised Mission Statement that reflects our commitment to the dual responsibilities of residential education and statewide outreach.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, a campus of the University of Arkansas System, is a public residential high school serving academically and artistically motivated students of all backgrounds from throughout the state. ASMSA’s community of learning exemplifies excellence across disciplines while serving as a statewide center of academic equity and opportunity that ignites the full potential of Arkansas’ students and educators.

By 2025, ASMSA will create greater educational access, promote statewide equity, and expand academic vigor that benefits all Arkansans through our residential, out-of-school enrichment, digital learning, and educator development programs. Using novel curricula, meaningful student development experiences, expanded partnership networks, and stronger relationships with our most dedicated advocates, ASMSA will further affirm our state and national leadership in science, mathematics, arts, humanities, and entrepreneurship education.

A digital version of ASMSA's 2025 Strategic Plan is available at the following link.

Welcome and Introduction

On March 1, 1991, Governor Bill Clinton signed Act 305 establishing a public residential high school for students interested in advanced careers in mathematics, science, and technology. The idea wasn’t new, but it was revolutionary for Arkansas. State leaders in education, public policy, economic development, and industry recognized a changing landscape within the knowledge-based economy. They looked at the successful implementation of the concept of a specialized high school first in North Carolina in 1978 and in other states across the South and Midwest throughout the 1980s.

The school quickly found a sense of purpose and its contribution to education in Arkansas: initially as a community of peers for bright, capable, and even nerdy young people and later as a leader in outreach by promoting best practices through the state’s early efforts in distance education, online learning, and teacher professional development. Over time, ASMSA’s reach continued to grow. The school has impacted nearly 3,000 Arkansans who were the direct beneficiaries of the residential experience and hundreds of teachers who have been aided byASMSA’s expanded mission. Along the way, a variety of organizations and publications have recognized ASMSA for its national leadership in classroom innovation, lab-based learning, and educator development.

As ASMSA enters its fourth decade of educational excellence, we are excited to renew our commitment to achieving fully the vision for the school, first set in the early 1990s and refi ned further at the outset of the new century as it became a campus of the University of Arkansas System. We will continue our commitment to addressing local needs, maintaining national prominence, and aspiring to a global vision for what education can be. At the core of ASMSA’s 2025 Strategic Plan is the belief that both our academic and residential experiences will continue to evolve, innovate, and flourish under the care of our faculty, staff, and students. Further, we aim to expand both our reach and enrollment to ensure any student who would benefit from ASMSA’s dynamic opportunities will have access to our world-class programs. Finally, we recognize that growth can only be accomplished through expanded partnerships, vocal advocates, and committed stakeholders who continue to ensure the institution’s funding and facilities are equal in measure to our aspirations.

The members of ASMSA’s community of learning understand the special investment the people of Arkansas make in the state’s future by supporting and sustaining our school. We take exceptional pride and care in our role as stewards of ASMSA’s past, present, and future. Together, we will ensure that ASMSA continues to lead the state and nation in what is possible when students and educators are provided the opportunity to imagine, experiment, and learn to their fullest potential.

Sincerely,
Corey Alderdice
ASMSA Director

A Fourth Decade of Excellence

The Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences (ASMS) was established by Act 305 of 1991 and created a residential school for exceptional high school students. The initial purpose of the school was to educate students who demonstrated a gift for STEM disciplines and to develop curriculum that would improve instruction in mathematics and science for all students in Arkansas. The school was originally governed by the Arkansas Department of Education with the advice and counsel of a nine-member governing Board of Directors.

Effective January 1, 2004, the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences was consolidated and incorporated into the University of Arkansas System. Based on Act 1305 of 2003, oversight authority was transferred to the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas, and the name was changed to the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA). At that time, the Board of Directors was abolished as a separate institution and converted to the current Board of Visitors who serve in an advisory role.

As one of only 17 public residential STEM schools in the United States, ASMSA specializes in the education of students with interest in advanced careers in math and science as well as passion for and creativity within studio, language, and digital arts. All classes are taught at the college level, and nearly half of faculty hold doctoral or other terminal degrees. ASMSA offers more than 60 university level courses through our Concurrent Core program in partnership with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. On average, an ASMSA graduate acquires nearly 50 college credit hours by the time they finish high school.

Beyond the students in the residential experience, ASMSA collaborates with a variety of schools to provide quality digital instruction to fill gaps in human, technical, and instructional resources. ASMSA’s distance, digital, and partnership education efforts, which began through Act 1083 of 1999, have evolved substantially as the STEM Pathways initiative over the past decade while matching innovation with a changing technological landscape as well as statewide need for advanced coursework in science and math. Coding Arkansas’ Future, established in 2015, is ASMSA’s signature effort to assist districts across Arkansas in meeting Governor Asa Hutchinson’s challenge for increased access to computer science coursework. Since the creation of the governor’s initiative, forty percent of all licensed computer science teachers in the state have received some form of professional development from ASMSA.

Year One (2020-21) Progress Report

Read the full Year One Progress report (PDF).

When the campus leadership team held our first planning meeting for the 2025 Strategic Plan in January 2020, we were excited about taking the next steps in charting ASMSA’s future. Little did we know how much the events of the next few months would upend so much of the ASMSA experience as well as the lives of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.

Instead of setting aside this project against the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believed it was important to carry forward with these discussions. In several respects, our campus’ work on the strategic plan in spring 2020 was often a grounding influence by reminding us all about why ASMSA exists, how we contribute to the state, and where we wanted to see the institution grow over its fourth decade of excellence.

A strategic plan should always point to what is essential about an organization. Over the past year where so much about school in general and the residential experience had to be reimagined, returning to these core beliefs and our mission statement helped to provide clarity for our work. The Year One Progress Report represents campuswide dedication to the goals of the 2025 Strategic Plan.

I am proud of both our students and colleagues for the sense of shared commitment and the resiliency they demonstrated every day. How we pulled together collectively to keep each other safe and to preserve as much of the residential experience as possible demonstrates the special pride we hold in this community of learning. Moreover, the novel and innovative approaches to digital learning necessitated by the pandemic opened new avenues of exploration for how ASMSA can contribute to this space in the future. We’re ready to embrace the “new normal” in the year ahead.

ASMSA is positioned to move beyond the pandemic even stronger than before. We had the opportunity to visit this spring with several of the individuals who helped to establish ASMSA in 1991 by moving from an idea to a dream to legislation to a reality. To see the fulfillment of that vision decades later is a constant reminder of the precious opportunity that we steward and the tremendous responsibility we shoulder.

Sincerely,
Corey Alderdice
ASMSA Director

Year Two (2021-22) Progress Report

Read the full Year Two Progress report (PDF).

For the past two years, members of ASMSA’s community of learning have departed campus in late May with the hope that things will be closer to normal come August even as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers. And sure enough each summer, numbers begin to grow again as we prepare for the fall semester and welcome the arrival of new students to campus.

During a period of uncertainty like the one we currently face, a Strategic Plan can serve as an anchor that holds against the buffeting waves that crash and go. With that constant jostling, it’s hard not to feel a bit seasick—at least metaphorically speaking. I was once told that looking at the horizon can help give your brain a point of reference, allowing it to sense the motion of the ship and your body's movement with it. Even though the water feels unsure at the moment, keeping an eye on what is ahead in ASMSA’s fourth decade of educational excellence remains one of the most important ways that we’ve adapted over the past two years while at the same time rising to the challenges of the moment.

At the outset of the new year, we take stock of the progress made as part of the 2025 Strategic Plan. A strong, albeit unusual, economy has created opportunities to place the necessary resources alongside various commitments within the document. A new Faculty Advancement Plan that brings instructors’ compensation among the highest in the state, expanded opportunities within visual and performing arts, as well as the continued redevelopment of the physical campus with the renovation of Selig Hall are only a few of the many pieces of progress that we’ve achieved over the past year.

Navigating the pandemic has been a constant series of lessons in adaptability as well as the resilience of our students, faculty, and staff. It’s been an opportunity to take a fresh look at not only what we do as part of the academic, residential, and outreach programs but also to assess why each of these components is essential to our mission and success. And while the waves may not subside any time soon, we’ll continue to look toward the horizon.

Sincerely,
Corey Alderdice
ASMSA Director

Year Three (2022-23) Progress Report

Read the full Year Three Progress report (PDF).

I recently happened upon an excerpt of Morgan Harper Nichols’ 2019 poem “Let July be July”.

Amid the bustling chaos of our work as educators, it can often be challenging to pause and reflect on our combined personal and institutional journeys. However, the poem captures the significance of taking the time to appreciate ourselves, our accomplishments, and the sometimes imperceptible growth that we experience every day.

Nichols closes the poem with the refrain “Let July be July, / and let August be August, / And let yourself / just be / even in / the uncertainty, / You don’t have to fix everything. / You don’t have to solve everything. / And you can still find peace / and grow / in the wild / of changing things.”

Perhaps it was the timing of reading the poem at the outset of July and reflecting on the feelings that come along with reaching the midpoint of summer as an educator. Maybe it was a spirit of reflection as ASMSA embarks on a celebration of thirty years of accomplishments and a renewed commitment to what’s possible in our fourth decade of excellence. Even still, it resonated as I took time to assess with colleagues where we are in our aspirations as we pass the midpoint of ASMSA’s 2025 Strategic Plan.

The poem underscores the importance of recognizing the progress we have made, reminding us to take a step back from the relentless pursuit of goals and appreciate how far we have come. By acknowledging our accomplishments, we cultivate a sense of gratitude and satisfaction that fuels further growth and development. Nichols also issues a word of caution to resist the temptation of constant striving and instead embrace the present season of our lives. In doing so, we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and our achievements.

I am incredibly grateful for the work that our faculty, staff, and students have committed to throughout the pandemic and as we emerged this past year toward a state of normalcy that had been lost for some time. When our community of learning began work on this plan in early 2020, we didn’t fully appreciate how much it would anchor our actions and reinforce our values during a period of such significant disruption.

While Nichols’ poem advocates for taking time to reflect, it does not diminish the importance of action. However, by allowing ourselves moments of stillness, we can recharge our energies, gain clarity, and align our actions with our innermost desires, leading to more meaningful and purpose-driven work. That’s why we take time in the space between two academic years to reflect on this Strategic Plan. So let this be a note—most of all—of gratitude for the exceptional colleagues and students we have both the privilege and honor of working with each day and the mission of service we offer to the people of Arkansas to ignite its full potential.

Sincerely,
Corey Alderdice
ASMSA Director

Cultivate a culture of dynamic teaching and learning that empowers young people to identify their passions for research, inquiry, and creative expression, develop the self-discipline necessary for success, as well as grow in their identity as emerging practitioners and professionals.

Strategy 1.1: Continue to build on ASMSA’s faculty-supported model for student research, inquiry, and creative expression while seeking out expanded partnerships that engage talented young people with leading scholars, professionals, and organizations.

Strategy 1.2: Fully embrace ASMSA’s arts mission by expanding an institutional culture of visual and performing arts through encouraging student talents, abilities, and creativity.

Strategy 1.3: Foster inclusive and diverse learning environments through ASMSA’s hiring practices, instructional strategies, and student support systems that remove systemic barriers to equity within our community of learning.

Strategy 1.4: Focus on faculty growth and continuous improvement by offering expanded professional development, asserting leadership in instructional strategies, identifying contact points to interact with fellow educators, and sharing our best practices with national audiences.

Strategy 1.5: Provide valuable and engaging learning opportunities to students, educators, and districts across the state through a diverse portfolio of outreach, enrichment, digital learning, and educator development programs that involve all members of the ASMSA community.

Maximize the full potential of the on-campus experience by affirming the centrality of residential life in creating a living-learning community that connects students beyond the classroom, assists in developing them as whole people, and prepares these future leaders for successful and fulfilling lives through building sustainable skills and mindsets.

Strategy 2.1: Implement a Student Development Curriculum that focuses on social-emotional learning, leadership development, digital citizenship, healthy relationships, and other topics that recognize students’ needs as maturing young adults and engaged members of a community.

Strategy 2.2: Ensure that diversity, equity, inclusion, and mutual respect for all characterize our campus culture and climate.

Strategy 2.3: Emphasize healthy habits as important components of physical well-being through campus programming and activities that support play, physical development, and balanced nutrition.

Strategy 2.4: Create an atmosphere conducive to healthy conversations about mental and emotional well-being by providing student-centered services and programs that address the natural challenges of both adolescence and the rigors of the ASMSA experience.

Strategy 2.5: Invest in staffing models and resources that reinforce the professionalism of and essential role played by Student Life Staff who employ best practices in fostering an inclusive and engaging residential community.

Strategy 2.6: Continue to involve students as full stakeholders in discussions on institutional policy and campus planning so that decision making is student-centered.

Expand enrollment to serve more students statewide through targeted growth models that reflect our commitment to stewardship of the public investment in ASMSA.

Strategy 3.1: Work with members of the Arkansas General Assembly, University of Arkansas System, and other ASMSA stakeholders to develop and implement a sustainable funding formula that enables the school to increase enrollment.

Strategy 3.2: Strengthen curricular options, methods of engagement, and unique experiences for students in the arts while developing recruitment and admissions procedures directed toward students with specific arts interests.

Strategy 3.3: Explore alternative enrollment models such as commuter options and online programs that recognize students’ and families’ individual needs, thereby increasing access to ASMSA’s quality programs.

Strategy 3.4: Continue the sophomore early entrance pilot program to determine its overall effectiveness and potential for future expansion as a means of supporting students in need of academic acceleration and intellectual peers.

Strategy 3.5: Continue to ensure equity in access for geographically, economically, and racially diverse students who face opportunity gaps and do not share the same level of preparatory experiences and support as some of their peers.

Strengthen internal and external partnerships with local, state, and national stakeholders that create committed and vocal advocates for the essential leadership role that ASMSA plays within Arkansas education as well as economic and community development.

Strategy 4.1: Develop a framework for alumni to share perspective and experience that supports students’ personal and professional development in addition to institutional advancement.

Strategy 4.2: Reinforce to legislators and other leaders the value of the state’s commitment to talented young people so that the decision-makers understand their return on investment in ASMSA.

Strategy 4.3: Utilize the ASMSA Parents Association and Parents Advisory Council to promote direct communication, gain insights on family needs, and represent ASMSA daily in communities across the state.

Strategy 4.4: Expand ASMSA’s position in the Hot Springs community as a hub for educational discussions, cultural enhancement, intellectual debate, and economic development.

Strategy 4.5: Prioritize fundraising efforts to reflect the ASMSA Foundation’s commitment to direct student support, faculty innovation, programmatic development, and facilities needs.

Strategy 4.6: Explore methods to reach varied audiences by using traditional and evolving media to provide a snapshot of daily life and learning on campus, celebrate achievement, and articulate a full narrative of the unique opportunities and experiences available exclusively at ASMSA.

Grow facilities and implement long-range strategies to meet the needs of expanded enrollment, academic experiences, student life, recreation, and community engagement.

Strategy 5.1: Review and update the Campus Master Plan to redevelop a facilities growth pathway in accordance with institutional needs.

Strategy 5.2: Initiate efforts to expand ASMSA’s dedicated arts facilities in collaboration with community partners that lead to the full realization of the school’s legislated arts mission.

Strategy 5.3: Formalize steps that will lead to vacating the former hospital complex by creating a plan to transfer teacher offices, maintenance, and other programs to permanent locations using new or existing facilities.

Strategy 5.4: Expand and create student residences as well as shared and recreational spaces to fully support the emotional, social, physical, and academic needs of students.

Strategy 5.5: Advocate for the creation of a Public Residential Schools Facilities Fund by the Arkansas General Assembly that brings ASMSA into parity with other public high schools.