University Calculus Haas
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
www.imsa.edu/
The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public high school located in Aurora, Illinois, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students. Enrollment is generally offered to rising sophomores, although rising freshmen who have had the equivalent of 9 years of education may be invited to skip ninth grade and enroll as sophomores. All applicants must undergo a competitive admissions process involving grades, recommendations, essays, and the SAT. Rising sophomores are usually chosen over rising freshmen if IMSA has to decide between two applicants. Historically, nearly one third to one fifth of all applicants in any given year are admitted. Due to its nature as a public institution, there are no charges related to tuition or housing; however, there is an annual student fee which may be reduced or waived based on income.
Contents
1 History
2 Admission
2.1 Historic admission statistics
3 Academics
3.1 School day
3.2 Course requirements
3.3 Course offerings
3.3.1 Math
3.3.2 Science
3.3.3 History
3.3.4 Fine arts
3.3.5 English
3.3.6 Foreign language
3.4 Other academic programs
4 External programs
5 Student life
5.1 Residence halls
5.2 Study hours and work service
5.3 Publications
5.4 Athletics
5.5 Competitive activities
6 Student Leadership and Development (SLD) Programs
6.1 Student council
6.2 Peer Multicultural Educators (PME)
6.3 Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)
7 Awards
8 Notable alumni
9 See also
10 External links
11 References
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History
Nobel laureate Leon Lederman, director emeritus of nearby Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, was among the first to propose the school in 1982, and together with Governor Jim Thompson led the effort for its creation. (Thompson has noted with pride that he chose to build IMSA instead of competing for the ill-fated supercollider project.) The school was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1985, and first opened to students in 1986. The Academy is housed in a building originally constructed in 1978 as the north campus of West Aurora High School, with seven outlying dormitories built after IMSA took over the campus. IMSA’s first class graduated in 1989, with the commencement speech delivered by Lederman. IMSA is one of the few high schools to possess a .edu second-level domain.
The founding president of the school is former Batavia Superintendent Stephanie Pace Marshall, winner of the Lincoln Laureate Award, 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 Tellabs.
Although the school received a significant budget cut in financial year 2002, its budget has since increased, with the support of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and House Minority Leader Tom Cross.
Admission
Front entrance
View of campus from southwest
Prospective students, who are usually freshmen in high school but in some cases can be students in eighth grade, must fill out an extensive application to gain admission to IMSA. This application can now be completed online and can be found here.
The applications consists of an official transcript from the student’s last 2 1/2 years of school, scores on the SAT I, several long and short essays totaling roughly four to five pages, three teacher recommendations in science, mathematics, and English, and a list of awards and extracurricular activities. Since it draws students from across the state, it is sometimes considered a magnet school.
Historic admission statistics
Class
Number of Students Invited
Average Incoming SAT CR Score
Average Incoming SAT Math Score
2012
252
590
665
2011
253
577
637
2010
231
587
652
2009
242
594
634
The invited Class of 2012 consists of 252 students, and is as of June 2010, the second-largest invited sophomore class in IMSA history. “The average SAT mathematics and critical reading scores for the students, most of whom are high school freshmen, are 665 and 590 respectively.” The largest class invited was the Class of 2011, which consisted of 253 students. “The average SAT for the in-coming class of 2011 was Critical Reading – 591 and Math – 651. The average GPA was 3.88/4.0.” However, due to dropouts, there are now there are fewer than 200 members of the Class of 2010, which originally admitted 231, and only 213 students from the Class of 2011.
In order to draw greater numbers of applications and “transform teaching and learning,” IMSA has an extensive outreach network run by The Center for Advancement and Renewal of Learning and Teaching (The Center@IMSA). 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; incoming sophomore classes number roughly 240, but graduating classes are only about 200 (Class of 2006 had a graduating class of 185). 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 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 over 50 clubs ranging from political groups and religious clubs to volunteer organizations . All these clubs are chartered by the Student Council, colloquially referred to as StudCo.
IMSA bills itself as an “educational laboratory”, and as such is frequently trying out new and experimental pedagogical techniques. These range from how classes are laid out to what is taught and even to who takes them; in the early 1990s IMSA received national attention for an exploratory study on whether girls learned physics better in single-sex or co-ed environments, as conducted by charter physics faculty, Dr. David Workman. IMSA’s main math sequence, entitled “Mathematical Investigations” and in development by IMSA faculty since 1991, was published in handbook form in 2005 and is beginning to be adopted by other school districts in the state of Illinois, such as Community Unit School District 303 in St. Charles (at St. Charles East & St. Charles North). IMSA’s core science curriculum has been through a number of ground-up restructurings. Its current implementation divided the old scientific inquiry curriculum into four classes: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Methods of Scientific Inquiry.
IMSA does not use report cards, but instead uses an online “student information service”, PowerSchool. All grades and attendance are recorded in PowerSchool, where both the student and the parents can view these at any time.
School day
The school day at IMSA runs between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm; however, most students do not have classes for all of the school day. Every school day is divided into 20 mods of equal length. They are 20 minutes long with a 5 minute break between mods. Therefore, 2-mod classes are 45 minutes long, 3-mod classes are 70 minutes long, and 4-mod classes are 95 minutes long. Currently, there are no 5-mod classes, although there have been in years past. Between mods 10 and 11, there is a 35 minute break, the midday break, usually utilized for eating lunch.
Unlike conventional public high schools, a student does not have the same class schedule for every day. The days are instead divided into A, B, C, D, and Inquiry (I) days, each with their own class schedule. For the most part, A days are Mondays, B days are Tuesdays, C days are Thursdays, and D days are Fridays. IMSA students usually only attend class for four days per week, with most Wednesdays considered I days, days reserved for research and co-curricular activities. A given class may meet all four days, but need not meet for the same amount of time nor even begin at the same time each day. However, some classes may meet three, two, or in some special cases, only one day per week. Generally, A & C days have the same schedules and B & D days have the same schedules, although for students, usually sophomores, this is not the case. The pattern for each class is usually reduced to a pair of numbers: a 3-2 class meets for 3 mods on A and C days, and only 2 on B and D days, while a 0-4 meets only on B and D days, for 4 mods each day. As a result, there is considerable variation as to how many classroom minutes each course has per week:
Class schedules
Configuration
Minutes per week
3-0 class (or 0-3)
140 (2h20m)
2-2 class
180 (3h)
4-0 class (or 0-4)
190 (3h10m)
3-2 class (or 2-3)
230 (3h50m)
There are a small but growing number of courses which vary even from this structure.
Course requirements
IMSA students have a fairly rigid set of requirements at a departmental level, but within each department (especially in math and the sciences), they have many options for meeting each requirement. The class requirements are as follows, along with the typical meetings times of courses in that department (for clarity the symmetric alternatives are omitted—e.g. “3-2″ below means “either 3-2 or 2-3″):
Math: 3-2 for six semesters, though a small number of upperclass math electives are 3-0.
Science: two 4-0 classes for two (sophomore) semesters, but some classes can be tested out of, then four semesters of electives. Most electives are 4-0, but some are 5-0, and some are 3-2.
Foreign language: 3-2 for four semesters.
English: 3-3-2 for two (sophomore) semesters(new as of the 2006-2007 school year one day a week without English), then 3-0 for four semesters.
History and social science: 3-3-2 for two (sophomore) semesters (same as sophomore English), then 3-0 for three semesters.
Wellness: 3-2 for one (sophomore) semester, then 3-0 for one semester.
Fine arts: 3-2 or 4-0 for one semester.
There is also a two semester additional requirement that can be filled by either math or science electives. Once these requirements are complete, students are free to take electives in any area. Most students take a full six semesters of foreign language, for instance, and despite its nominal status as a “math and science academy”, IMSA offers a variety of electives in English and History as well.
Course offerings
IMSA offers a wide variety of rigorous courses spanning a number of academic fields. For all core academic disciplines (math, science, history, and English), there are core academic requirements. Once these are met students are free to take electives in that subject. Some electives may be taken concurrently with core classes.
Math
Core curriculum includes the Mathematical Investigations (MI) series, from MI I to MI IV, covering topics from Algebra I to Precalculus, and the AB and BC Calculus series. Students may be placed into either the AB or the BC Calculus tracks depending on performance in the MI courses or based on a placement test. Many elective options are offered including popular ones such as Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Discrete Mathematics, Number Theory, and Statistics. However, there are also various others on a which cover a variety of mathematical topics including Advanced Geometry, Graph Theory, Polyhedra and Geodesics, Mathematica, Problem Solving, and Mathematica.
The computer science courses are considered math electives. Courses on Web Technologies, Object-Oriented Programming, Assembly Language Programming, as well as various others are offered.
Students who exhaust a significant portion of the elective curriculum are eligible to take advanced courses that are offered on a by-need basis. Examples include Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, and Group Theory, among others. If a student wants, he/she may also conduct an independent study of his or her choice under a member of the math faculty. Popular independent studies include Group Theory, Game Theory, Set Theory, in addition to various others.
Science
Core curriculum includes the Scientific Investigations (SI) series, which are a series of four semester-long courses taken during a student’s sophomore year. They include SI Physics, SI Biology, and SI Chemistry, classes which introduce students to the respective courses subject matter, and Methods in Scientific Inquiry, a course which teaches scientific writing, basic experimental methodology, and basic statistical analysis. After a student’s sophomore year, they are free to take science class so long as they meet the prerequisites and graduation requirements.
Electives include Advanced Chemistry, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Advanced Physics, Calculus-Based Physics, Modern Physics, Planetary Science, Electronics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Microbes and Disease, Physiology and Disease, and Bioinformatics.
History
Core curriculum includes American Studies and World Studies, year-long courses taken during a student’s sophomore and junior years respectively. These courses cover various aspects of American and World history and focus on using primary source documents in analysis.
Students may take elective courses after completing the core requirements, although this is not required. Electives offered include International Relations, European History, Political Theory, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, History of Philosophy, History of Biology, History of Astronomy, as well as various others.
Fine arts
There is no core fine arts curriculum. Electives include Band, Orchestra, and Choir, as well as Photography and Ceramics.
There are multiple bands, choirs, and orchestras in which a student can be placed depending on playing ability.
English
English core curriculum includes the Literary Explorations (LE) series, a series of courses spanning three semesters covering topics in American and British literature. Electives students may take include Romantic Poetry and Prose, Idea of the Individual, Portraits of Creativity, IMSATube: Film, Graphic Novels, Film Studies, as well as others.
Foreign language
Foreign language courses are year-long courses in which students are “immersed” in the language. Languages offered include Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese. Spanish, French and German are offered up to level 5 while Russian, Chinese, and Japanese are only offered to level 3. Students who are native speakers of any language are not eligible to take that language. Additionally, a linguistics course is offered to interested students.
A complete list of IMSA course offerings can be viewed on the IMSA website, in a document titled Learning Opportunities.
Other academic programs
Intersession
During the week before the second semester students are required to participate in Intersession, a week they choose from among dozens of enrichment sessions and off-campus trips. Most students choose to participate in two half-day or one full-day on-campus course(s), while a relatively small number travel abroad on faculty-sponsored trips to countries including France, Spain, and Russia, and others perform a week of mentorship. Classes range from “Build Your Own Computer” to studying lighthouse keeping at Washington State. Alumni often teach Intersession courses and lead overseas trips along with faculty members. Clubs are also allowed to take trips and do activities during this time. The scuba club takes a trip to the Caribbean, while the FIRST Robotics team 2022 spends the entire week building the current robot.
Student Inquiry and Research
Most Wednesdays are “I Days” (for “inquiry”) and are usually reserved for research in the SIR programs. These programs give students the opportunity to develop their own scientific research and/or to work with scientists, primarily from around the Chicago area. All IMSA students are encouraged to participate in this program, and several every year publish their research results in academic conferences and journals.
Usually, only students in grades 11-12 participate in these programs. Sophomores go to Navigation (first semester) or other required activities, usually seminars, (second semester) from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, where they are helped with adjusting to residential life and other affective issues; they then have the rest of the day off to work on assignments from their classes.
External programs
Unlike many other secondary schools, IMSA boasts a broad array of extracurricular and summer programs for the teachers and students of the state of Illinois. The Center @ IMSA, the branch of the academy that coordinates these programs, is composed of the Kids Institute (KI), the Problem Based Learning Network (PBLN), and Excellence 2000+ (E2k), the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS), and, until recently, 21st Century Information Fluency . KI runs several summer experiences dealing with science, math, and/or technology, including some residential programs. PBLN is largely the professional development arm of The Center that aims to certify teachers in Problem Based Learning, a philosophy deeply rooted in many of IMSA’s cirricula. They do run one summer program for middle school students called Summer Sleuths, in which students are challenged to solve a serious problem affecting the state of Illinois; to formulate a solution with the assistance of newly certified PBL teachers, the Sleuths must develop research and analytical skills as well as scientific and mathematical knowledge. E2k is an after-school enrichment program that aims to stimulate schools and students in the instruction of math and science. They also “place a special emphasis on students who are historically under-represented and under-served in math and science.”
Many IMSA students help out with these external programs. Kevin Bock ’04, and Katie Linder ’04, were crucial to the development of IMSA on Wheels, a KI program that brings science demonstrations to schools and films videos for distribution across the state. The Summer Sleuths are also guided by “Watsons”, IMSA students whose charge is to help develop the students research and analytical skills on a more interpersonal level.
The Center is also partly responsible for the export and implementation of IMSA curricula in other institutions, the most notable of which is Mathematical Investigations (see above).
Student life
Residence halls
Residence halls on campus
There are seven residence halls on campus. Each hall is composed of four wings housing up to 24 students each. Three halls are all-male, three are all-female, and a seventh contains two all-male wings and two all-female wings. All rooms have their own attached bathroom and standard residence hall furniture for two students. Furniture includes a desk, wardrobe, bed frame, mattress, and desk lamps for each student. Two pairs of rooms in each wing (“quads”) have connecting doors that the residents can petition to have opened. One room per wing is built to be more accessible to disabled students, with a different room layout and a larger bathroom. One room per hall has a hypoallergenic room, with tile flooring instead of carpet.
Each wing also has a lounge area with a kitchenette and a television. Many wings have accumulated a variety of other furniture, including chairs, couches, and entertainment centers.
Study hours and work service
Study hours are a two-hour block set aside from 7 pm to 9 pm on Monday through Thursday for all sophomores. Study hours are almost always waived by the second semester of sophomore year.
In addition, as a graduation requirement, each student at IMSA is expected to complete a mandatory amount of service work for the school (60 hours per year for juniors and seniors and 20 hours per year for sophomores). Like the federally-funded college work-study program, a variety of jobs are available, both skilled and unskilled. The program serves two purposes: to expose the residential students to work experience and to assist the school’s state-controlled budget by providing free laborers.
Publications
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.
IMSA students also produce the Heliotrope, an art and literature magazine that produces an annual edition.
The Acronym is IMSA’s newspaper. In 2008, the publication began publishing online, ceasing paper publishing in the 2008-2009 school year and turning the newspaper into more of a blog format.
IMSA’s Yearbook, The Gallimaufry, was featured in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 “Yearbook Yearbook”, Taylor Publishing’s books of exemplary work.[citation needed]
Athletics
IMSA competes independent of conference affiliation, and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), the organization which governs most sports and competitive activities in the state of Illinois. Teams are stylized as the Titans.
The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Young men may compete in baseball, while young women may compete in bowling, cheerleading, and softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a dance team for young women.
Competitive activities
The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament:
Chess: 4th place (199798, 9899); 3rd place (199091, 9495, 200304, 0405); 2nd place (198990); State Champions (198687, 8788, 9596, 9697)
Scholastic Bowl: 4th place (199192); 2nd place (199293); State Champions (198889, 8990, 9394, 9596, 9697, 9798, 9899, 200001)
Student Leadership and Development (SLD) Programs
Student council
In addition to its primary role as the mediator between administrators and students, the Student Council controls large aspects of the residential life. The Student Council Website maintains a trip wiki, which lists trips to local restaurants, stores, and venues that are taken by residential conselors. The website is also used by all student council chartered clubs as a means of communication. Campus-wide events are displayed here and students have personalized calendars listing all their club meetings.
Peer Multicultural Educators (PME)
As an institution with competitive admissions, IMSA has taken initiatives to improve diversity within the community. PME represents the student body’s initiative to improve the condition of living at IMSA by combating racism, sexism, residence hall stereotyping, segregation, and more. PME conducts research on student perspectives, manages funds for cultural clubs chartered by Student Council, and conducts diversity work including various workshops and programs.
Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)
IMSA is unique in that it is one of few high schools that has a program whose main purpose is to educate students about leadership. The LEAD program, which is mandatory to incoming sophomores, teaches essential skills and concepts that serve as an integral part of leadership. The first semester of the program consists of teaching concepts; the second semester of the program focuses on applying concepts learned in the first semester to the real-world. The 2007-2008 LEAD program introduced an organization simulation as the real-world integration. The LEAD program is almost entirely student-run, with two student co-coordinators and approximately 20 facilitators each year, in addition to a faculty member that simply oversees the program.
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 Siemens and Intel Science competitions. The class of 2005 produced six semifinalists each for Siemens and Intel. There was also one finalist for the Siemens competition (Rohan Bhobe c/o 2005), and three finalists in the Intel competition (Timothy Credo, Lyra Haas, and Abhi Gulati, all c/o 2005). In addition, two of the finalists in the Intel placed in the top ten; one student stood second overall, while another won sixth place. The class of 2006 continued the success, with five students being named semifinalists in both the Intel and Siemens 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: 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.
IMSA has repeatedly been included on Newsweek’s annual list of “Best High Schools in America”, along with approximately 20 other schools, due to the above-average SAT and ACT scores of exiting students.[citation needed]
IMSA was also one of the top four High Schools in the Mandelbrot Competition in the 2003-2004 school year.
Notable alumni
Dominic Armato (1993), voice actor[citation needed]
Steve Chen (1996) is the co-founder/Chief Technology Officer of YouTube, and an early engineer at PayPal.
Rob McCool (1991) is the author of NCSA HTTPd web server and an early Netscape employee who was a member of the team which invented the early web browser, Mosaic. He also invented the forerunner of the Apache HTTP Server.
Ramez Naam (1990) is a software developer and author. He helped develop Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Outlook.
Yu Pan (1995) was one of the six co-creators of PayPal and was the first employee at YouTube.
Tay Zonday ’00, YouTube Celebrity (“Chocolate Rain”) attended but did not graduate from IMSA[citation needed]
Sam Yagan ’95, is one of the original co-founders of SparkNotes and has also co-founded OkCupid, one of the largest (free) web-based online dating sites in the world.[citation needed]
See also
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities
University Laboratory High School
Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky
External links
IMSA’s website
IMSA’s School Profile (2008)
IMSA Student Council Website
School newspaper The Acronym
IMSA Cross Country
References
^ “IMSA President Dr. Max McGee – President’s Bio”. biography. IMSA. https://www3.imsa.edu/president/bio. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ “Trustees”. IMSA. https://www3.imsa.edu/board/trustees. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ “Message from the Principal”. IMSA. https://www3.imsa.edu/learning/principal. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ a b “Aurora (Illinois Math and Science Academy)”. Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 16 December 2009. http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/0131.htm. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^
^ a b c “Clubs and Organizations”. directory. IMSA. 2009-10. https://www3.imsa.edu/living/activities/clubs. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ https://www3.imsa.edu/news/releases/2009/06/24/imsa-announces-invited-class-2012
^ https://www3.imsa.edu/news/releases/2009/06/24/imsa-announces-invited-class-2012
^ https://www3.imsa.edu/admissions/FAQ
^ http://www.imsa.edu/news/releases/2007_2008/classof2010.php
^ Hadron Website
^ a b c “Athletics”. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. https://www3.imsa.edu/living/athletics. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ “IHSA Season Summaries”. Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 16 November 2009. http://www.ihsa.org/school/records/sum0131.htm. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
^ Siemens Foundation. November 2008. “MATHEMATICAL SUPERSTARS FROM MISSOURI, INDIANA AND TEXAS HONORED FOR RESEARCH IN NATION PREMIER HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE COMPETITION”
^ IMSANews. (December 2004).”IMSA Math Teacher is Sixth to Receive Prestigious Award”
^ Ceres Connection. Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “2005 Award Honorees”
^ JPL Small-Body Database Browser. “21441 Stevencondie (1998 FC144)”
^ “2008 Alumni Award Recipients”. IMSA. https://www3.imsa.edu/alumni/awards/recipients08. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
^ a b c “2007 Alumni Award Recipients”. IMSA. https://www3.imsa.edu/alumni/awards/recipients07. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
Categories: Gifted education | High schools in Illinois | National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology schools | Magnet schools in Illinois | Educational institutions established in 1985 | Education in Aurora, IllinoisHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from July 2009 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from August 2009 | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2009
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