The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science has selected its Class of 2016, and three students from the local area have been admitted into the highly selective school.

Area students chosen include: Adam Stewart, from Brookhaven High School; Boone Leetran, from Lawrence County High School; and Michael Kyzar, from Parklane Academy.

Stewart is the son of Jimmy Stewart and Lisa Stewart of Brookhaven. Leetran’s parents are Ben Leetran and Jennifer Leetran of Monticello, and Kyzar is the son of Kent Kyzar and Michele Monk of Ruth.

The local students vied with nearly 200 other Mississippi sophomores for the 135 slots available for the MSMS Class of 2016. Each student underwent a rigorous application process, which involved writing essays, submitting resumes, securing letters of recommendation, and submitting an original math or science project.

Students’ grades and ACT scores were also taken into consideration during the application phase. The Class of 2016 has an average incoming ACT score of 25.

For more than 25 years, the Mississippi School for Mathematics has existed as the state’s only public, residential high school specifically designed to meet the needs of the Magnolia State’s most academically gifted students.

Located on the Mississippi University for Women’s campus in Columbus, MSMS plays host to students during their junior and senior years of high school. MSMS students live and work on campus with other talented students from all corners of the state of Mississippi.

Currently, students from more than 50 different counties make up the population of MSMS. The newly selected class of 2016 alone represents 45 Mississippi counties.

On average, MSMS students are offered about $12.5 million each year in scholarship dollars from colleges and universities all over the world. In their last ranking, MSMS was named by Newsweek and The Daily Beast as one of the best high schools in America.

MSMS is a public, Mississippi school, and application is open to all sophomores in the state. For more information about the school or how to apply, please visit www.themsms.org.

MSMS will begin the application process for the Class of 2017 in the summer of 2014.