Dear ASMS Community,
As Fall Term comes to a close, I want to take a moment to share some of the central events and accomplishments taking place on campus. First term brought with it many new initiatives, opportunities, and directions.
The school year began with welcoming new faculty and staff members to campus as we aimed to meet the needs of our growing community. Our
ASMS organizational chart
is available online as well as information about
who to contact
for various needs. To further enhance communication across our community, we publish a
weekly newsletter
that we hope is informative and enjoyable for you. Hopefully, you have noticed the variety of voices who have served as our feature writers each week. Be sure to check your inbox each Monday!
If you drive along Dauphin St. or Ann St., you may notice a few improvements. To increase student safety and vehicle security, the student parking lot moved over to the main campus. We also created a new recreation area behind the gym and added fence banners along the street to tell our story to neighbors and community members who drive by. Below ground, our facilities team just completed the installation of fiber cables, which will help us expand services to West Campus.
We also want to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of students both inside and outside the classroom. We held a
research symposium
on campus where students showcased their summer work, and we launched the inaugural cohort of
Research Fellows
. For the first time in the school’s history, 12 current juniors are hard at work researching environmental issues that impact our state. One of those juniors, May Jung, is the founder of the newly established
Alabama Environmental Youth Council
, and another, Carson Lott, introduced the school’s first-ever
Mandarin Chinese
class
by writing a grant.
Speaking of student success, the ASMS Academic Affairs department offered
standardized test prep sessions
to help students prepare for the PSAT, NMSQT, ACT, and SAT. There are plans to provide additional courses in the spring. The department also updated and printed a new
school profile
for the 2019-2020 cycle of college applications.
Students, I hope you enjoyed our annual
Spirit Week
and
Goofy Olympics
! The campus came alive with costumes throughout the week and blue, green, red, and yellow on Spirit Day. The energy at Goofy Olympics was electric, and I know we all enjoyed seeing the smiles and laughter amidst the competition. Congratulations to Einstein on their victory!
We were also thrilled to welcome our parents, guardians, and family members to
ASMS Family Day
. I am pleased to share the ASMS Parent Association raised just over $10,000, which will go entirely towards student opportunities. One initiative the money will help fund is new audio-visual equipment in our Auditorium.
Finally, as we look toward the future of the school, we are busy recruiting the next generation of leaders, scholars, citizens, and innovators. Our Admissions department hosted
22 information sessions
throughout the state with our last one occurring this evening. We also surpassed our fundraising goal for the year. Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to fund initiatives such as an outdoor recreational complex, books, and subscriptions for the library, chemistry floor updates, and more. Last but not least, the school is in the process of developing a strategic plan that will guide us through the next five years.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to another great term.
Enjoy the break and Go Dragons!
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John Hoyle, Ph.D.
President
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