Constituent stops by to sing praises of ASMSA

A constituent from Genoa stopped by this morning to let me know that her son, a high school sophomore, took the ACT to assess where he was among his peers. He posted a perfect score on the math portion, a near perfect 35 on reading, and a 33 on the science portion. He's already maxed out all math classes offered at Genoa, so he's headed to the Arkansas School for Math, Sciences & the Arts next year to compete with other academically advanced high school students. If you can get in, it's a great education for little in the way of costs (a $305 assessment is all that is required). The student body is made up of 125 juniors and 125 seniors. Former chairmen of the board there include state Rep. Johnnie Roebuck and Skip Rutherford.

As with everything else, there are funding issues with the school. It has begun a capital campaign for expansion. Some look to the state for more funding, some rely on the City of Hot Springs as the successful bidder for the much-sought-after facility, and some rely solely on funds directed to the UofA, since the school is a campus of the UofA system. Unlike other high schools, it doesn't qualify for campus improvement funds and isn't funded like most other public schools. Regardless, it's a great campus that should be appreciated as one of the premier high schools in the nation.