The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering

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Academy for Math, Science, and Engineering
Location
520 West Main Street
Rockaway, NJ 07866
Information
Type Magnet Public high school
School district Morris County Vocational School District
Faculty 3.0 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 9 - 12
Enrollment 71 (as of 2005-06)[1]
Student:teacher ratio 23.7[1]
Information 973-664-2301
Website School website

The Academy for Math, Science, and Engineering is a four-year magnet public high school program meant to prepare students in Morris County for careers in Math, Science, and Engineering, as part of the Morris County Vocational School District. The Academy is a joint endeavor between the Morris County School of Technology and the Morris Hills Regional High School District. Admission to the Academy to the Acadfemy is extremely competitive. The school is located in Morris Hills High School in Rockaway, New Jersey. Organizations involved with the Academy include New Jersey Institute of Technology, County College of Morris, The Research & Development Council of New Jersey, Verizon, and the Morris / Sussex / Warren Workforce Investment Board.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 71 students and 3.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 23.7.[1]

In 2005-06, the Academy averaged a 1982 combined SAT score, third highest of all public high schools statewide. The Academy was also tied for highest in SAT Mathematics (695).[2] Currently, the class of 2008 has an average Math SAT of 765, with a mean Composite score of 2145, and a mean 2-section Critical Reading + Math composite of 1455.

Contents

[edit] History

The Academy for Math, Science, and Engineering was created along with three other Academies by the Morris County School of Technology. 2009-10 marks the tenth year of the school's existence.

[edit] Campus

The Academy is held on the campus of Morris Hills High School, for reasons of space efficiency and to allow students to have some normal high-school interaction. However, multiple Academy classes are held in the Dr. James J. McNasby Technology Center, a small, modern building on the Morris Hills campus that is separate from the main Morris Hills facility. Students enrolled in the Academy attend classes in both buildings.

[edit] Admissions

As part of the selection process, students must pass a rigorous examination and interview process to be accepted. All potential applicants take an entrance exam in either November-January. If they pass the first round of admissions, the applicant is called in for a personal interview. Admissions is based on entrance exam scores, standardized test results (seventh grade NJ ASK results), teacher reccommendations, and the interview. Once admitted, the student is required to attend a two week summer program. The program runs from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm and transportation is not provided. Students spend time in CAD, Analysis I, Physics, and Humanities classes.

Because of the workload and challenge of the curriculum, no graduating class has had the full 23 members due to several drop-outs (who voluntarily leave the Academy) and fail-outs (who are forced to leave if they do not maintain at least a "C" average in all classes or fail two classes). The first graduating class in 2004 began with 24 students but only graduated 12. The second graduating class began with 21 students and graduated 14 students. The class of 2005 only graduated 14 students, having started with 21. The 2009 graduating class had lost 8 members in the first 2 quarters of their freshman school year, another at the end of their sophomore year, and another before the start of their senior year leaving it as the second-smallest class with 13 students. Meanwhile the 2010 class has only 15 students in their graduating class. The 2011 graduating class has a full class size, making it perhaps the first full graduating class. Additionally, the 2012 and 2013 graduating classes currently have 22 students each.

Multiples of 22/23 will be accepted if, and only if, 44/46 people meet the qualifications demanded. All eighth grade students in Morris County are eligible to take the admission test only after getting specific teacher recommendations. The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering is typically the most popular academy in terms of student interest, thus the selection process is particularly competitive. For example, the class of 2013 had a 7% acceptance rate.

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

Although it is not allowed for there to be an activity that only Academy students can participate in, Academy Students are responsible for founding many of Morris Hills High School's activities, such as the Astronomy Club which was formed in 2006 by the members of the class of 2009. There is also an Academy Physics club which consists of the five Freshman academy students with the highest first marking period average. Since some clubs meetings from 7:30 to 8:00, there tend to problems in attending the meetings due to the extended school day for Academy students (which begins at 7:18 versus the 8:00 time for Morris Hills Students).

Students, if they wish, can play sports with other students in Morris Hills High School.

[edit] Curriculum

Academy students must accumulate 30 credits to graduate. Students must also abide by multiple requirements of the Morris Hills curriculum. For example, students must take 1.5 quarters of physical education and 1 quarter of health (worth .25 credits). In addition, students must take at least 3 years of a foreign language, 1 and a half year of fine arts class, 2 practical arts classes, and 1 class that involves computer proficiency.

Freshman Year:

Sophomore Year:

Junior Year:

Senior Year:

  • Macroeconomics
  • Biotechnology
  • Science Inquiry and Technology III (Half of this course is fulfilled by a mandatory internship in the student's field of interest)
  • Technical Writing
  • Math electives at the County College of Morris (Recently, Calculus 3 was made available to the students on the Morris Hills Campus)
  • and other advanced English, Social Studies etc.

Senior Year internships have been done with: Picatinny Arsenal, Novartis, Smith Aero-Space, Century Flight School, Telcordia, Mount Olive Soccer Club, Granite Financial Corporation, Lucent Technologies, St. Claire’s Hospital, Pfizer, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (jointly administered by Rutgers University and UMDNJ), Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Cisco Systems, Morris County Parks Commission, Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Parsippany Volunteer Ambulance Squad,and the Research and Development Council of New Jersey

As a result of the high level courses, students earn college credits while in high school. There is a range of 3-53 college credits earned by graduating seniors. Most of these credits are earned through courses approved by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (all graduates are awarded an official college transcript) and/or by achieving high scores on Advanced Placement exams.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 27, 2008.
  2. ^ 2005-06 School Test Score Rankings, The Star-Ledger. Accessed June 19, 2007.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Academy_for_Mathematics,_Science,_and_Engineering"