The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (GSMST) is a special
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, United States, and a part of
Gwinnett County Public Schools
The Gwinnett County Public School District is a school district operating in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. GCPS is the largest school system in Georgia,project-based
STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
education. Its rigorous course offerings and high student graduation rate make it one of the most prestigious high schools in the state.
GSMST is notable for its focus on technology. Through contracts with
Lenovo
Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, Personal computer, personal computers, ...
and
HP Inc.
HP Inc. is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D printing solutions.
It was formed on November ...
, every student is issued a laptop with pre-installed software such as
AutoCAD
AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...
,
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
, and
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based and non-linear video editing software application (NLE) developed by Adobe Inc. and published as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. First launched in 2003, Adobe Premiere Pro is a succes ...
. Teachers and students have access to school-wide
SMART boards
Smart Technologies (stylized as SMART Technologies) also known as Smart, is a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and wholly owned by Foxconn. Founded in 1987, Smart is best known as the developer of interactive whiteboa ...
and overhead LCD projectors.
History
The school was chartered in March 2006 by the Gwinnett County Board of Education through
SPLOST
A special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) is a financing method for funding capital outlay projects in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an optional 1% sales tax levied by any county for the purpose of funding the building of parks, school ...
and opened in the fall of 2007. It was temporarily housed on the
Duluth High School
Duluth High School is a public secondary school in Duluth, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It provides education for grades 9-12 and is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools.
The school was built in 1958 and serves Duluth, Ber ...
campus, but building 100 began in 2007 as a separate school from Duluth High School. Renovations updated and modernized 18 classrooms and offices, and GSMST moved to its permanent location in 2010 at the geographic center of
Gwinnett County
Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton C ...
, near Sugarloaf Parkway and Old Norcross Road, the former site of Benefield Elementary School. The new building is designed for a maximum of 1,200 students. The school is adjacent to the Maxwell High School of Technology.
In 2016, GSMST was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award.
Courses
The school offers high-level courses that challenge students, including numerous Advanced Placement courses. Freshman coursework includes Honors and Gifted Chemistry, Honors and Gifted Physics, Accelerated Integrated Algebra, Accelerated Integrated Geometry, Accelerated Integrated Precalculus, Honors and Gifted Language Arts, Fundamentals of Engineering I, Foreign Language (Chinese I, German I, Spanish I, and Spanish II), and one elective class. Some of these courses are taught on a block schedule, allowing students to earn up to nine Carnegie units in ninth grade. The main focus of the school is mathematics, science, and technology, but other subjects are also taught at the highest levels available. Each course is designed to integrate content from other courses into its own lessons to demonstrate the history and practical applications of each course. Notably, there are no Title 1 Sports at GSMST.
Extracurricular Groups and Clubs
* Academic World Quest
* Art and Design Club
* Chinese Club
* Computer Science Club
* Debate
* Digital Media Club (DMC)
* Environmental Club (ECOS)
* German Club
* Gwinnett Student Leadership Team (GSLT)
* Infinitas Literary Magazine
* Math Team
* Medfinity
* Model United Nations (MUN)
* Readers Rally
* Relay for Life
* Robotics
* Scholar's Bowl Team
* Science Bowl
* Science Olympiad
* Spanish Club
* Student Council
* Technology Student Association (TSA)
''Updated August 27th, 2021''
Academic World Quest
GSMST Team "A" placed first in the Georgia Academic World Quest Competition and placed in the top 10 out of 39 teams in the national competition in Washington D.C.
Chinese Club
GSMST Chinese Club explores Chinese culture through activities such as crafts and food. Members can also participate a variety of games on "Game Days" such as ping pong, Mahjong, and Chinese Checkers. Food meetings are popular as members can create their own portions. Everything from
scallion pancakes A scallion pancake, also known as a green onion pancake or spring onion pancake is a kind of pancake made with scallions. It is usually chewy, flaky, and savory.
Examples include:
* '' Cōng yóu bǐng'', a Chinese pancake made with scallions
* '' ...
to tangyuan can be made throughout the academic year. GSMST Chinese Club bubble tea sales are also popular as many students outside Chinese Club can enjoy the many different tea flavors offered. The profit from these sales goes to organizations and charities in Taiwan and China.
Debate Team
The following is a list of awards received by members of the debate team.
''GSMST News''
''GSMST News'' is a morning show which is created and managed by the GSMST Digital Media Club. The show announces upcoming events and notices and contains occasional messages from the principal and other administrators.
Math Team
GSMST placed first in the sophomore division, second in the junior division, third in the freshman division, and second overall in the GAME competition.
Five GSMST students made it to the semi-final round of the
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
Math Competition.
Model United Nations
GSMST won the overall conference award for Best Foreign Policy at the Southern US Model UN conference at Emory University. Three GSMST students received individual recognition as Best Delegates for their individual committees.
GSMST students won 12 of 28 possible awards at the UGA MUN competition.
At the 2013 KSUMUN Conference, GSMST students won the Best Outstanding Delegate Award representing Qatar in the Economics and Social Council committee and a Best Position Paper award representing Qatar in the World Health Organization committee.
The GSMST Model United Nations team relies on their official website to display announcements and achievements. The team also uses the website to educate fellow delegates and peers about international relations and foreign policy.
Robotics Club
VEX
FTC
FRC (Disbanded)
ROV (Disbanded)
Science Olympiad
GSMST has finished in first place at their regional tournament every year since 2011, and finished second at the State Tournament (thus qualifying for the National Tournament) every year from 2011 through 2014.
Honor Societies
* Engineering Honor Society
*
Mu Alpha Theta
Mu Alpha Theta () is the United States mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. In June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and in 20 foreign countries. Its main ...
* National Art Honor Society
* National German Honor Society
*
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
* National Spanish Honor Society
* Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society
*
Tri-M
Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly known as Modern Music Masters, is an American high school and middle school music honor society. A program of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), it is designed to recognize students for their ...
Music Honor Society
''Updated August 27th, 2021''
Press
The school was featured in the ''Atlanta Journal Constitution'' on October 2, 2007.
Six years after their debut in the ''AJC'', the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology students and administration brought the school to a remarkable position as one of the top three best high schools in the United States, reported by ''US News'',
along with the School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas, Texas, and BASIS Tucson in Tucson, Arizona. Aside from an outstanding national ranking, GSMST is also recognized as the top high school in Georgia. The ''US News'' article was also referenced in an article on the Huffington Post webpage.
In ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2014 Best High Schools in the US, GSMST maintained its 3rd-place position for the second consecutive year.
The school also rose from its #198 position in the top STEM schools of America to #20. The school is still recognized as the top high school in Georgia, with a college-readiness index of 100, as reported by ''US News''. Shortly before ''US News'' annual high school ranking publication, the ''Washington Post'' listed GSMST as the 17th most challenging high school in the US.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked GSMST as the fourth best public high school in the United States in 2015.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked GSMST as the thirty-fifth best public high school in the United States in 2017.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked GSMST as the thirty-third best public high school in the United States in 2018.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranked GSMST as the sixth best public high school in the United States in 2019.
In 2016, GSMST was also rewarded with a Blue Ribbon Award.