ASMSA director finalists announced
HOT SPRINGS — After a nationwide search, three people have been selected as finalists for the director’s position at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts.
Janet Hugo, who has been director of the school in Hot Springs for six years, will retire after the end of the school year. She previously served five years as the school’s dean of academic affairs. School officials hope to have a new director for the public residential high school for the state’s gifted juniors and seniors by July 1.
The finalists are Corey Alderdice of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green, Ky.; Marcella Dalla Rosa of the Pulaski County Special School District in Little Rock; and Matthew Frederickson of the Rockwood School District in Missouri.
The finalists were selected by an advisory search committee chaired by University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt.
In the next four weeks, the candidates will visit the campus to meet faculty, staff, students and the campus community, according to a statement issued by the school. The candidates will each make a public presentation about their vision for ASMSA at 3:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church on Whittington Avenue on the following dates:
• Tuesday — Rosa has worked as dean of students for the Pulaski County Special School District since 2009.
She previously worked at the Arkansas School for the Deaf, having served in several positions, including superintendent, curriculum director, middle school principal, and state coordinator of educational services for the hearing impaired. She also spent several years working in the Pulaski County Special School District as facilitator for the hearing impaired, staff development instructor and homebound teacher. She was also a teacher for the hearing impaired for the Muldrow Public Schools in Oklahoma.
Rosa holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
• April 30 — Alderdice is the assistant director of admissions and public relations at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science. Prior to becoming assistant director in 2007, he was the school’s planning coordinator and assisted with recruitment and curriculum development as the academy was being established.
Prior to joining the Gatton Academy, Alderdice worked as director of residence life and as a residential counselor at Western Kentucky University’s Center for Gifted Studies. He is currently working on a doctoral degree in postsecondary education leadership through Western Kentucky University.
• May 18 — Frederickson has worked with the Rockwood School District in Eureka, Mo., since 2003, serving as director of curriculum, fine arts coordinator, band director and AP music theory teacher.
Prior to working at Rockwood, he spent two years as director of athletic bands and visiting instructor at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. He also has worked as head director of bands for the Union R-XI School District in Union, Mo., and band director for the Gasconade County Schools in Missouri.
Frederickson holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in music education and a specialist degree in music education, both from the University of Missouri at Columbia; a Master of Science degree in education administration from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.; and a Bachelor of Music Education from Missouri State University in Springfield.
Following the visits, Bobbitt will make a recommendation to the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, which will make the final hiring decision.
ASMSA has a current enrollment of 206 students from across the state. The school’s Office of Distance Education also provides a K-12 distance education program that serves nearly 3,500 students.