U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Principal Liesa Smith said, "I am very proud of the hard work of our teachers and students that culminated in this award. TSAS is a very special school and I am glad to see this recognition, especially as we are moving and expanding our program next year.” Representatives from TSAS will travel to Washington DC for the awards ceremony on November 10th.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program "recognizes outstanding public and nonpublic schools. In identifying several hundred outstanding schools annually, the program celebrates some of the most skilled and effective educators in the country. The Award is both a high aspiration and a potent resource of practitioner knowledge."
In June, TSAS and Tulsa Public Schools announced that the charter school would move to the Roosevelt building in Owen Park and add a 7th grade at the beginning of the 2016/2017 school year, increasing to 450 students in grades 712 by 20172018.
TSAS is a tuition-free, liberal arts based, public charter school, founded in 2001 as the city's first charter high school. The school has the lowest college remediation rate of any public school in Tulsa County and one of the highest ACT averages for its 2015 graduates with 22.5.