The Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing (Missouri Academy) is a two-year accelerated, early-entrance-to-college, residential school that matches the level, complexity and pace of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of high achieving high school students. The school is a part of Northwest Missouri State University and located on its campus in Maryville, Missouri. The school enrolls qualified high performing high school students (who have completed 10th grade from traditional high schools) into a curriculum consisting of college coursework taught by professors at the university. Missouri Academy students sit in the same classrooms with traditional university students, and professors have the same high expectations of them as they do for traditional university students. Students who complete this program receive a high school diploma and an Associate of Science degree. The school has two primary goals: (i) to increase the pool of high school students adequately prepared to succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and (ii) to provide a sanctuary for the gifted, talented and high performing high school students. The Missouri Academy has made significant progress towards achieving its goals since its inception in August 2000. This success is in large part due to the way the school defines quality. The school defines quality in terms of; (i) a rigorous academic curriculum that is demanding, engaging and yet flexible; the curriculum is tilted towards science and mathematics, but contains key courses of study to develop (oral and written) communication skills and the humanities, (ii) high student expectations both in academic performance as well as personal character, and (iii) a residential life program that is age-appropriate, complements the academic program, and is designed to develop and nurture critical thinking skills. This paper presents the philosophy, structure, organization and operation of the Missouri Academy, with the hope that this successful model may be replicated in other environments.