Update: The Academy for Science and Design in 2023 will be moving from its current location a
486 Amherst Street
to a new location a
9 Townsend West
Director Jennifer Cava and Rick Bartle stated it on November 30, 2022, at 5:40 pm. The Academy for Science and Design (ASD) is a Blue-ribbon public

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

located in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. Along with Manchester, it is a seat of New Hampshire's most populous ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It has been consistently ranked as among the top high schools in the United States, as well as the #1 school in the state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. ASD concentrates on providing a

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushr ...

-based education. The academy is tuition-free for New Hampshire residents. However, the limited space available for new students makes a lottery system necessary. All applicants who are eligible for the lottery (who completed the application requirements by the deadline) are drawn and this order is used to create the waiting list each year. The school is physically located in Nashua, but is a New Hampshire public school and all New Hampshire students are eligible to apply for enrollment. Nashua students are not given priority over students from any other New Hampshire towns. ASD opened in September 2007 and is currently serving 525 students from over 40 New Hampshire communities in grades 6 through 12. The academy offers a science, technology, engineering and math oriented curriculum beginning with algebra, integrated biology and chemistry, and physics in grade 7.

History

The establishment of the school was approved in March 2006. Its establishment was sponsored by

Daniel Webster College Daniel Webster College (DWC) was a private college in Nashua, New Hampshire. It operated from 1965 through 2017 and had a strong aeronautics focus during much of its history. It was a nonprofit college until 2009, when ITT Educational Services, I ...

."DWC announces sponsorship of premier NH charter school"
, Daniel Webster College, January 21, 2006 The school opened for the 2007-08 academic year. During the 2011-12 year, grade 6 was added to the school. Prior to the 2012-13 school year, ASDNH moved from its original location in

Merrimack, New Hampshire Merrimack is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 26,632 as of the 2020 census. There are four villages in the town: Merrimack Village (formerly known as Souhegan Village), Thorntons Ferry, Reeds Ferr ...

, to its current location in Nashua, expanding the size of the student body. On October 3, 2014, Dr. Scott F. Bobbitt donated $30,000 for the construction of a full chemistry lab, now officially named the Bobbitt lab after its donator. In 2015, the Academy for Science and Design was ranked the 50th best high school in America by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''., and rose to 44th in 2016. It is currently ranked as the best high school in New Hampshire. On September 28, 2017, ten years after opening for their first year, the school won the National Blue Ribbon Schools award.

Curriculum

The academy's goal is to be internationally competitive. Algebra 1, Experimental Physics, and Integrated Biology and Chemistry are taught beginning in grade 7. Chemistry and biology are taught as a three-year course referred to as "Integrated Biology and Chemistry" or "IBC". Beginning in the 2018-2019 year, the course previously known as "IBC III" became known as "Chemistry Honors" to minimize confusion, and the course titled "IBC II" is now known as "Biology Honors" Starting in 2012, world history (now known as "Social Studies") and language arts are taught as a package course titled "Humanities". Technology and design are taught in dedicated courses as "Technology Design" and "Technology Applications in Society". Information technologies are integrated throughout the curriculum. In addition to the course load, the students are required to complete 150 community service hours as well as a junior internship comprising approximately 100 hours in the specialty that they have chosen. Student projects emphasize research skills and engineering. German, Latin, and Spanish are offered as the initial foreign languages.

Achievements

Mathcounts Mathcounts, stylized as MATHCOUNTS, is a nationwide middle school mathematics competition held in various places in the United States. Its current lead sponsors are Raytheon Technologies and the U.S. Department of Defense STEM. Topics covered ...

**First in 2014 Southern New Hampshire Regional Competition **First in 2015 Southern New Hampshire Regional Competition *

FIRST Tech Challenge FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other te ...

**First in The Wapack Northern New England FTC Championship, 2011 *Destination Imagination **2013 New Hampshire State champions *

Technology Student Association The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national student organization created to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as well as business education. TSA aims to develop leadership, academic, and busines ...

**2015 First Place New Hampshire Middle School * National Blue Ribbon Schools Award

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy For Science And Design Public high schools in New Hampshire Educational institutions established in 2007 Charter schools in New Hampshire Schools in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Public middle schools in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Nashua, New Hampshire 2007 establishments in New Hampshire

History

Curriculum

Achievements

See also

References

External links