Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) is a selective public magnet high school in Austin, Texas, United States.
[3][4] Although LASA is open to all Austin residents and charges no tuition, competition for admission can be strong and is contingent on submission of an application, prior academic record, and the Cognitive Abilities Test.
Enrollment at LBJ steadily dropped in the years after its founding, as white parents took their kids out of public schools.
In 1985, to stem white flight and create more diverse public schools, and to address demands from the Austin business community for a more skilled workforce, the Science Academy (SA) of Austin was created as a magnet program embedded within LBJ.
Following the 1997 establishment of automatic admission to state-funded universities for the top 10 percent of every Texas high school's graduating class, non-magnet students at LBJ were placed at a unique disadvantage in terms of college admissions; the solution came in 2001, when a bill[7] sponsored by Rep. Dawnna Dukes separated SA and non-magnet students at LBJ into distinct ranked lists for the purpose of determining top 10 percent eligibility.
At this point, the school didn't have a distinct federal ID number, and thus was still considered a part of LBJ.
After the split, classes besides fine arts were no longer shared, and teachers taught at either LASA or LBJ, but typically not at both.
[8][6] LASA shared its campus with Lyndon B. Johnson Early College High School from its founding in 2007 to 2021.
[11] Admission is based on multiple criteria including grades, standardized test scores, essays, teacher recommendations, extracurricular activities, awards earned, a creative project, and an admissions exam (currently the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)).
[5] Niche's 2022-23 rankings placed LASA at #24 nationally, #12 among magnet schools, and #2 in the state of Texas.
Seniors would collect an entry fee, then chase each other in hallways during class breaks, trying to mark and "tag" each other with markers.
The game finally ended that year when a male student chased a female into the women's bathroom and she complained.
A parent alerted the media and the subsequent attention caused the district to order the principal to shut the game down.
The official LASA mascot is the Raptor (short for velociraptor), decided upon via school-wide and alumni voting in February 2020.
Early in the spring semesters, students spend a half-day of school engaging in activities dedicated to learning about other cultures.
[22] LASA hosts the University Interscholastic League and intramural sports, including ultimate frisbee, golf, lacrosse, swimming, cross-country, and tennis.
LASA has placed first in the State UIL 5A Computer Science contest a total of 7 times.
Club members have facilitated contacts with the International Space Station, made satellite contacts, received two rare Good Operator Report cards from official ARRL observers, experimented with every manner of communications modes, and built a wide assortment of antennas, radio interfaces, transmitters, receivers, and transceivers.
[45] Additionally, LASA high school offers specialized electives such as How To Be An Adult, Astronomy, Medical Microbiology, Amateur Radio, and Modern Physics.
[46] Electives for humanities include creative writing, women's literature, amateur radio, and constitutional law.
[47] LASA students are eligible to participate in the LBJ Fire Academy, a two year firefighting and EMT training course.
The Fire Academy later expanded to allow students from 7 AISD high schools; LASA, Anderson, Austin, McCallum, Navarro, and Northeast.
LBJ withdrew from the joint publication at the start of the 2016-17 school year, due in part to the inclusion of an offensive graphic in the newspaper's February 2016 issue.