The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students. Enrollment is generally offered to incoming sophomores, although younger students who have had the equivalent of one year of Algebra and a 9th-grade science equivalent are eligible to apply. All applicants undergo a competitive admissions process involving the review of grades, teacher evaluations, student essays, and

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scores. Historically, approximately one-third of applicants in any given year are admitted. Due to its nature as a public institution, there are no charges related to tuition, room, and board; however, there is an annual student fee that may be reduced or waived based on family income. IMSA has been consistently ranked by Newsweek as one of the top ten high schools in the country for math and science, and some of its graduates have become leaders in a variety of fields. It is the top-rated public high school in Illinois on

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History

The school's founding president was former

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Superintendent Stephanie Pace Marshall, who was involved with the project from the start and helped write IMSA's original legislation. Marshall retired from the position on June 30, 2007, and was later named President Emerita by the Board of Trustees. She still has an office on campus and continues to position IMSA on the national and international stages. Marshall serves on the board of several non-profit and for-profit institutions, including nearby

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. Although the school received a budget cut in

financial year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many j ...

2002, its budget has since increased with the support of

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Minority Leader Tom Cross. IMSA's chairperson was Dr. Paula Olszewski-Kubilius.

Admission

Prospective students, who are usually freshmen in high school but in some cases may be eighth graders, must complete an application to be considered for admission to IMSA. The application process consists of an official transcript of the student's last 2½ years of school, scores from the

SAT I The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

, four student essays, three teacher evaluations in science, mathematics, and English, and a list of awards and extracurricular activities.

Historic admission statistics

In order to draw greater numbers of applications and "transform teaching and learning," IMSA has an outreach program run by the Center for Teaching and Learning (formerly known as The Center for Advancement and Renewal of Learning and Teaching (The Center@IMSA), then "Professional Field Services (PFS)"). Some students who are invited to attend IMSA are admitted on the condition that they successfully complete a three-week, intensive preparation course, known as EXCEL, over the summer. IMSA has a fairly low retention rate; the average retention rate per class is 85%. The reasons for this may include the difficulty of the IMSA curriculum, home-sickness, disciplinary expulsion, student's family moving out of state, and the inability for Illinois students to matriculate to IMSA after their sophomore year.

Academics

Students at IMSA take rigorous college preparatory courses, with all classes being taught at the honors level, though IMSA philosophically spurns the

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

curriculum. Each student must fulfill a set of specific credits in order to graduate. This set of credits is broken down by academic subject. Each semester-long class counts for 0.5 credits, unless it meets with greater-than-normal frequency. In addition to the academic program, IMSA also offers a large number clubs ranging from religious clubs to volunteer organizations. All these clubs are chartered by the Student Council, colloquially referred to as StudCo. Student Inquiry and Research Most Wednesdays are "I Days" (for "inquiry") and are usually reserved for juniors and seniors to research in the SIR program. SIR also runs during the summer of one's sophomore year and junior year, allowing a student to conduct four disparate investigations

External programs

Unlike many other secondary schools, IMSA runs extracurricular and summer programs for the teachers and students of the State of Illinois. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), is the division of the academy that directs and manages programs serving Illinois Educators and Students. CTL offerings enable students to develop and sustain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills. CTL Student offerings include the IMSA Fusion program, Summer@IMSA, Funshop student enrichment programs, an on-line research course (RISE) open to all Illinois students, ALLIES (selected High School students that lead and facilitate inquiry-based STEM programs) and a variety of online learning experiences. CTL Educator offerings include professional development to include IMSA Core Competencies, IMSA Fusion (Offering professional development for educators teaching the FUSION after school program) and the annual "IMSA Teacher Institute Day" for local Mathematics and Science educators. All CTL Programs place a special emphasis on students who are historically under-represented and under-served in math and science. Uniquely, The Center for Teaching and Learning, also operates a field office in the Metro-east area.

Student life

Publications

''The Acronym''
is IMSA's student-run general affairs newspaper. In the 2008–2009 school year ''The Acronym'' ceased paper publishing and transitioned to an online format. ''The Acronym'' also publishes yearly Back to School editions and Senior editions at the beginning and end of the school year, respectively. ''Hadron'' is IMSA's student-run math and science magazine, a periodical which focuses on science and its application to current events and popular culture.

Athletics

IMSA is a member of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...

(IHSA), the organization which governs most sports and competitive activities in the state of Illinois, and began competing in the Northeastern Athletic Conference (NAC), a subdivision of the IHSA, during the 2009–2010 school year. IMSA's sports teams are stylized as the Titans. The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Young men may compete in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, while young women may compete in

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a

dance team A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team of participants that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads ...

for young men and women.

Competitive activities

The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament: *

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: 4th place (1997–98, 1998–99, 2009–1); 3rd place (1990–91, 1994–95, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2015–16); 2nd place (1989–90); State Champions (1986–87, 1987–88, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2016–17, 2017–18) * Scholastic Bowl: 4th place (1991–92, 2014–15); 3rd place (2009–10, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19); 2nd place (1992–93); State Champions (1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2021-2022)

Student Leadership and Development (SLD) Programs

Student Council

In addition to its primary role as the mediator between administrators and students, Student Council works with administrators to change aspects of the Academy. The Student Council website provides the student body relevant information about projects that the council is working on. Student Council also charters clubs at the beginning of each academic year and provides them with the necessary funds to hold various events. Student Council works throughout the year to collect student feedback and use that information to make changes that reflect the intentions of the student body.

Awards

IMSA consistently ranks at the top of the nation in standardized test scores (of roughly 200 students in the senior class, about 50 are National Merit Semifinalists), as well as in the prestigious

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and Intel Science competitions. In the class of 2009, five students were named Siemens Regional Finalists and ten others as semifinalists. Six mathematics teachers have been honored with the

Edyth May Sliffe Award {{no refs, date=March 2017 The Edyth May Sliffe Award is given annually to (roughly) 20 teachers in the United States by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The awards are funded by a bequest from a retired high school mathematics teache ...

: Titu Andreescu (1994), Ronald Vavrinek (1995), Micah Fogel (2001), Steven Condie (2002), Michael Keyton (2003), Don Porzio (2004), and Steven Condie (2nd award) (2007). Asteroid ''21441 Stevencondie'' is named after Dr. Condie.

Notable alumni

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(1990) - software developer and author. He helped develop

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and

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. * Steven Johnson (1991) - Professor of Applied Mathematics and Physics at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. * Scott Gaudi (1991) - Exoplanet hunter and Professor of Astronomy at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. *

Yu Pan Yu Pan is an engineer and entrepreneur mentioned in one source as one of the original six people who started PayPal and the first employee at YouTube, as an early software engineer. He is a former Google employee and also a co-founder of Kiwi Cra ...

(1995) - one of the six co-creators of

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and was the first employee at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. *

Sam Yagan Sam Yagan (born April 10, 1977) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of OkCupid. In 2013, he was named to ''TIME'' Magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World' list. He is the Vice-Chairman of the e-dating ...

(1995) - one of the co-founders of SparkNotes and has also co-founded OkCupid, one of the largest (free) web-based online dating sites in the world. *

Steve Chen Steve Chen (; born August 25, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American Internet entrepreneur who is one of the co-founders and previous chief technology officer of the video-sharing website YouTube. After having co-founded the company AVOS Systems, Inc. a ...

(Technically an alumni since he attended IMSA, but left before he graduated)(1996) - co-founder/Chief Technology Officer of

, and an early engineer at

. *

Clara Shih Clara Chung-wai Shih (born January 11, 1982) is an American businesswoman. She is the CEO and co-founder of Hearsay Social. Early life and education Shih was born in Hong Kong. Her father, a math professor in Hong Kong, later became an elect ...

(2000) - bestselling author of The Facebook Era, co-founder of Hearsay Social, and member of Starbucks' Board of Directors. * Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski (2010) - prominent theoretical physicist who studies high energy physics at Harvard University.

External links

IMSA's website

IMSA's School Profile (2014)
School newspaper ''The Acronym''

IMSA Cross Country

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy Gifted education Public high schools in Illinois NCSSS schools Magnet schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1985 Education in Aurora, Illinois Schools in Kane County, Illinois 1985 establishments in Illinois Public boarding schools in the United States Boarding schools in Illinois