The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts was one of only six high schools statewide recognized by the Arkansas Department of Education Office of Computer Science for its computer science program.
ASMSA received Bronze level recognition for the first year of the Computer Science Gold Medal School Program which included the 2020-21 academic year. The initiative, announced in the fall of 2020, is designed to recognize Arkansas high schools for outstanding work in supporting and implementing the Arkansas Computer Science and Computing Initiative. Schools were ranked on rubrics centered on criteria from Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s five-year computer science education goals and the recommendations of the 2020 Arkansas Computer Science and Cybersecurity Task Force.
“It’s an honor for ASMSA to continue to be recognized among the state’s leading hubs for computer science education,” ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice said. “This award celebrates not only the work we do to prepare our residential students for advanced careers in computer science but also our commitment to ensuring schools and educators across the state are able to do the same for aspirational young Arkansans.”
In addition to ASMSA, Bentonville High School and Bentonville West High School received Bronze recognition. Three schools — Arkansas High School in Texarkana, Russellville High School and Springdale High School — received Honorable Mention recognition. Schools may attain a Gold or Silver ranking, but no school received higher than Bronze recognition. Six other schools that applied received no ranking.
“For nearly three decades advanced opportunities in computer science education have been at the forefront of ASMSA’s work,” Alderdice said. “While there are aspects of the rubric such as Advanced Placement coursework that are not part of the ASMSA experience, we believe the framework is intended to remind all schools that continued growth and commitment over time is the goal.”
ASMSA offers a wide range of computer science courses and out-of-school enrichment programs that are not available at any other Arkansas high school. Since ASMSA’s opening in 1993, all students have been required to take computer programming but have also had the opportunity to take game creation, modern manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics, web applications and other college-level computer programming courses.
ASMSA students have consistently finished highly ranked in various computer science competitions, including the Governor’s All-State Coding Competition, the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot cybersecurity competition, the Congressional App Challenge and various robotics competitions, including BEST Robotics state and regional competitions.
ASMSA’s Coding Arkansas’ Future initiative has provided opportunities for school districts across the state to meet Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s challenge for increased access to computer science coursework since its creation in 2015. The initiative has provided educators professional development sessions that prepare them to teach computer science in their own districts as well as seek state licensure while also conducting interactive sessions with educators and students throughout the school year. Since the creation of the governor’s initiative, nearly half of all licensed computer science teachers in the state have received some form of professional development from ASMSA.
The ADE Office of Computer Science announced the competition will be held for the 2021-22 school year with rankings to be announced in the summer of 2022.