Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences - Tulsa, OK

Founded in 2001 as Tulsa’s first charter high school, Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences (TSAS) serves 300 9th-12th grade students. TSAS provides a college preparatory, liberal arts curriculum that focuses on developing students as considerate academics. Our students are challenged from the beginning of their high school careers with courses in philosophy, applied physics, and historical literature among others. Because we have no entrance requirements and students are selected by lottery, our students must meet our high expectations early on, finding joy in the rigor and forming close friendships within our diverse student body and teacher community. Our vision prioritizes the meaningful accomplishments that are possible when teachers and students work together to explore, discover, and learn in a context of mutual respect and care. TSAS teachers develop our curriculum, integrating specialized exploratory academic classes and electives in the arts to provide students with a framework that guides and supports their learning and development as unique individuals.

In 2012, to promote economic sustainability, TSAS partnered with the local school district to lease an empty elementary school and $300,000 was raised for the renovations. Tragically just 14 days into the school year, a construction accident caused a fire which destroyed the entire school building and its contents. In a symbol of our grit and resolve, TSAS reopened the day after the fire in another empty elementary building. Through this tragedy, we never wavered from our core principles of rigorous academic classes in a relational community.