Magnet school
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAG : Magnet school
In the U.S. system of education, a magnet school is a public school that draws students interested in specific subjects such as academics or the arts, from the surrounding region (typically a school district or a county or region-wide group of school districts).
Enrollment
Some magnet schools have a competitive entrance process, requiring students to take an exam or submit an application in order to enter so admission requires a desire to enter the school. Some simply require an application to enter a lottery system. Magnet schools were originally started in the hope that their geographically open admissions would end racial segregation in "good" schools, and decrease de facto segregation of schools in poorer areas by offering a more enticing educational program. This continues to some extent today. Most magnet schools concentrate on a particular discipline or area of study, such as science and engineering, the humanities, or the fine arts or performing arts.
Purpose
In some communities, past racial segregation issues resulted in court-ordered attendance plans and forced busing of children far from their homes and closer schools to achieve the required balance. Within a few years, in locations such as Richmond, Virginia additional magnet school programs for children of many different special talents were developed at facilities in locations which parents would have otherwise found undesirable. This effort to both attract voluntary enrollment and achieve the desired racial balance met with considerable success, and helped improve acceptance of the longer rides, hardships with transportation for extra-curricular activities, and the separation of siblings which may result when schools other than strictly neighborhood school plans are utilized. Even as districts such as Richmond were released from desegregation court-orders, the parental selection of magnet school programs has continued to contribute to more racially balanced schools than would have otherwise occurred. With a wide range of magnet school types, a suitable program could be found for many more children than only for the exceptionally bright ones for whom the earliest efforts were directed.
There are magnet schools at the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels, and they occasionally combine grades in certain classes. Some magnet programs are within comprehensive schools, as is the case with several "schools within a school" found in Virginia Beach, VA.
See also
Further readings
- Bailey, Jerry D. RESEARCH NEEDED TO ASSESS THE PERFORMANCE OF MAGNET SCHOOLS. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1987. ED 284 952.
- Blank, Rolf K. "Comparative Analysis of Local Planning and Development of Magnet Schools." In Rolf K. Blank and Paul R. Messier, (Eds.), PLANNING AND DEVELOPING MAGNET SCHOOLS: EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS. Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1987. ED 284 946 (individual paper, ED 284 954).
- Clinchy, Evans. "Let Magnet Schools Guide the Way to Education Reform--And Diversity." AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL 172 (1985): 43.
- Doyle, Denis P., and Marsha Levine. "Magnet Schools: Choice and Quality in Public Education." PHI DELTA KAPPAN 66 (1984): 265-70.
- Tsapatsaris, George. "How We Magnetized a City School System. A Special Report on Magnet Schools." PRINCIPAL 64 (1985): 8-10.
- Turner, Benjamin F. MAGNET SCHOOLS: A PLANNING GUIDE FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. Kent, OH: Ohio Center for Educational Development and Strategic Services, Kent State University, June 1984. ED 244 043.
Examples of magnet schools
Note: A more detailed list can be found through the .
- Advanced Technologies Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Alief Kerr High School in Houston, Texas
- School of the Arts High School in San Francisco, California
- Baltimore City College in Baltimore, Maryland
- Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore, Maryland
- Baltimore School for the Arts in Baltimore, Maryland
- Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas
- Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey
- Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts
- Brooklyn Latin in Brooklyn, New York
- Bronx High School of Science in New York City, New York
- The Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts in Buffalo, New York
- Digital Harbor High School in Baltimore, Maryland
- Central Fine Arts and International Baccalaureate Magnet High School in Macon, Georgia
- Central High School of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Chamblee Charter High School in Chamblee, Georgia
- Columbus High School Liberal Arts Magnet in Columbus, Georgia
- Coral Reef High School in Miami, Florida
- Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida
- DuPont Manual Magnet High School in Louisville, Kentucky
- English High School of Boston in Boston, Massachusetts
- School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, Minnesota
- Faria Elementary School in Cupertino, California
- John A. Ferguson High School in Miami, Florida
- Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia
- High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey
- John R. Hirschi Math/Science International Baccalaureate Magnet High School in Wichita Falls, Texas
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia
- Lyndon Baines Johnson High School in Austin, Texas
- Dr. Michael M. Krop High School in Miami, Florida
- Kemps Landing Magnet School in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Kittredge Magnet School in Atlanta, Georgia
- Lowell High School in San Francisco, California
- Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, Maine
- John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California
- Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science at WPI in Worcester, Massachusetts
- Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Mississippi
- Montgomery Blair High School math, science, and computer science magnet program in Silver Spring, Maryland
- Morris County Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering in Rockaway, New Jersey
- Murdock-Portal Elementary School in San Jose, California
- New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida
- North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, California
- North Springs High School in Atlanta, Georgia
- Oxford Academy in Cypress, California
- Theodore Roosevelt High School in San Antonio, Texas
- Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in Tarzana, California
- Stuyvesant High School in New York City, New York
- Suncoast Community High School in Riviera Beach, Florida
- Troy High School in Fullerton, California
- Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies in Richmond, Virginia
- Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago, Illinois
External links
- [Magnet Schools]
- [Improving Urban Education with Magnet Schools]
- [Choice in the Public Schools]
- [Law Magnet Programs]
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