TSAS was founded in 2001 as the city's first charter high school by Darla Coghill, Suzanne Lee, Linda Joyce Stromblad, and J. Evelyn Williamson.

The group of educators primarily from Tulsa's Memorial High School, wanted to provide a college preparatory curriculum mixing liberal arts with sciences and mathematics.

In the spring of 2022, McCoy announced she would be relocating to Washington D.C. and the TSAS board replaced her with Jonathan Townsend as the new Executive Director for the 2022-2023 school year.

This shift also saw the establishment of a Faculty Council of democratically elected teachers and support staff to serve as a reporting, sense-making, and decision-making entity.

In addition to the core curriculum in houses, TSAS offers an extensive catalog of elective courses such as visual art, printmaking, gardening, modern band, rock band, women and gender studies, culinary arts, quiz bowl, yoga, cycling, musical theatre, speech, debate, drama, film studies, zine journalism, cross country, darkroom photography, and extensive social/emotional support as well as an emphasis on innovation and disruption of educational inequity.

TSAS was traditionally highly competitive in Jazz Band across the state under the director of program founder Eric Doss which was carried on by Zachary Roddy.

The fall of 2024 saw the first ever TSAS volleyball team form and begin practicing and competing under coaches Felix Blesch and Cricket Moore.

In August 2016, Eric Doss remained executive director of the school with Dan Hahn stepping into the role of Middle Grades Principal.