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Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

organization in Aurora, United States

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History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ5999555
Source-derived summary

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students.

Enrollment is generally offered to incoming sophomores, although younger students who have had the equivalent of one year of algebra and a 9th-grade science equivalent are eligible to apply. All applicants undergo a competitive admissions process involving the review of transcripts, teacher and counselor evaluations, student essays, and SAT or ACT scores. Historically, approximately one-third of applicants in any given year are admitted. Due to its nature as a public institution, there are no charges related to tuition, room, and board; however, there is an annual student fee that may be reduced or waived based on family income.

Most people accepted to IMSA live in the state of Illinois; however, a limited number of out-of-staters are accepted each year. They are primarily from neighboring states, such as Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kentucky.

History

The school's founding president was former Batavia Superintendent Stephanie Pace Marshall, who was involved with the project from the start and, with the school's first legal counsel Richard L. Horwitz, helped form IMSA's original legislation, governing bylaws, and slogan. Marshall retired from the position on June 30, 2007, and was later named President Emerita by the Board of Trustees.

Although the school received a budget cut in financial year 2002, its budget has since increased with the support of House Minority Leader Tom Cross.

Editorial summary

“Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy” enters the record as organization in Aurora, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Illinois, Mathematics and Science can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2007, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1985. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Illinois, Mathematics and Science.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Illinois, Mathematics and Science provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5999555. VIAF identifies the subject as 128196288. The Library of Congress control number is no2004096965. Authority coordinates are 41.786, -88.355. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2007 and 2002.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
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Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy primary sources, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy archive and Illinois research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.