Magnet Schools Archives - WakeEd

Public School Choice Can Be Found in WCPSS Magnet Schools

WakeEd — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 15:25:09 +0000

Parents in Wake County have a wealth of options for public school choice within the Wake County Public School System through the magnet school program that has been a cornerstone of the school system for more than 35 years.

WCPSS has over 50 magnet schools across its K-12 continuum, and they are designed to achieve multiple important objectives; the most important being advancing academic achievement. Wake’s magnet schools do well on that score, and they are routinely recognized nationally for individual excellence and regularly serve as a model for other school systems to improve their public school performance and school choice options for parents.

The use of magnet schools within WCPSS has evolved over the past four decades. Magnets were initially conceived to fill under-enrolled school buildings with students from full or overcrowded schools. The specific themes were a draw for students of varying economic and ethnic backgrounds which led to a voluntary and gradual racial integration at a time when many major urban school systems around the nation were implementing wildly unpopular forced busing programs.

Wake’s use of magnet schools was unique back then because the program was used so prominently. While some school systems added magnet programs sparingly in exceptional cases, Wake County Public Schools embraced the concept and gave it room to grow and become a viable pathway for students from their first day of kindergarten through their high school graduation. Today, magnets provide a variety of public school choice options for parents in Wake County.

Wake’s Pathway to Integration

Following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which ended the “separate, but equal” standard, school systems throughout the country were required to racially balance the schools. North Carolina adopted a choice program in the late 1950s, but it wasn’t until 1960 that the first African American student attended an all-white school. That student, William Campbell of Raleigh, was admitted to the Murphey School in 1960. The choice program wasn’t widely used, and court cases elsewhere in the state forced school districts to more purposefully desegregate their schools.

Historically, there were two school systems here, the Wake County Schools and the Raleigh City Schools. By the early 1970s, the city and county schools were imbalanced after the schools had desegregated. The city school district and the city limits were not the same, meaning some people lived in the city of Raleigh, but their kids went to Wake County Schools. The Raleigh City Schools were losing enrollment to the county schools which were simultaneously becoming overcrowded.

The voters were asked in 1973 to approve a merger of the two systems by referendum, but it was rejected by a landslide. The county commissioners at the time were left with one option, and with the support of the business community the commissioners asked the General Assembly to merge the two school districts by state law. Despite the opposition from families in both school districts, the law passed and WCPSS was created in 1976.

The new unified system gave school leaders the ability to utilize all schools to their capacity, but since the voters in the previous referendum made it clear that they did not want a unified school system, a complete student assignment overhaul would not be received well. Wake also had the benefit of seeing the negative effects of forced integration in other urban school systems including Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s federal court-ordered crosstown busing plan. Wake hoped to avoid similar backlash. That led to the idea of using themed programs which would attract families to schools which were outside of their own neighborhoods. This was working in other cities. Schools with specific themes and an open enrollment model seemed to be working as a natural means to desegregate public schools.

Magnets Are Born and Raised

When the first magnet schools in the U.S. were opened in Tacoma, Wash. and Boston, Mass., they weren’t called magnets. They were referred to as schools of choice. The concept was simple enough. The school district would designate a school as a learning community with a special theme such as creative arts, engineering, or advanced mathematics. The high-quality programming would be enticing to people from all over the school district such that they would choose to attend the school regardless of its previous demographics.

Other cities followed, and eventually the federal government saw the value in “choice” schools. Federal money was sent to districts which implemented the themed choices that became known as magnets to support their themes. Foundations also focused on supporting magnet schools.

Putting the power into the hands of parents to choose the best school for their child was groundbreaking. It also meant that the school communities were strong because the families sending their kids made a deliberate decision to send their children to the school. They were invested in positive outcomes.

When WCPSS opened its first magnet schools in the early 1980s, they were chosen based on several criteria. Schools within the Beltline were most likely to become magnets because they had previously been part of the Raleigh City Schools district, and they needed to increase their enrollment.

Today, the magnet schools are spread throughout the county and they serve as a national model. Each year two dozen or more WCPSS magnets are honored as Schools of Excellence or Schools of Distinction by the Magnet Schools of America. Last year Douglas Creative Arts and Sciences Magnet Elementary was named Best Magnet School in the Nation among all grade levels, and Wiley International Studies Magnet Elementary was named Best Elementary Magnet School in the nation.

In addition to being honored as national models, WCPSS magnets annually are awarded major grant funding. This school year the WCPSS magnet programs received a $14.9 million grant, the largest ever awarded to the system.

These recognitions and investments prove that the WCPSS Magnet Schools are a tremendous value to the school system.

A System Within a System

The way WCPSS uses magnet schools has evolved since it was first implemented. What originally was conceived as a plan to fill schools with low enrollment has become a robust network of themed pathways through the K-12 continuum. It is truly a system within a system. With more than 50 magnet schools and a variety of themes, WCPSS has a school choice for almost every parent. Parents can choose a school for their child’s learning style, and their family will have a stable pathway through the school system regardless of residential growth and assignment zone changes.

Students can enter the magnet ecosystem at any point along their journey through WCPSS. The school system hosts an annual application period each January. Parents can view the options on the WCPSS Magnet Schools website, and they can assess through a new tool their likelihood of being assigned to their first-choice schools. Magnet applications are based on a number of factors which are explained on the magnet application page on the WCPSS website under the “View Application Policies” section.

Perhaps the hardest part of the process for parents is choosing from the many magnet options for their child. There’s too many school choices to make a properly comprehensive list here, but they include the arts, STEM, gifted and talented, engineering and industrial design, language immersion, Montessori, leadership, and International Baccalaureate programs, among others.

The real genius of the magnet programs is that the themes are woven throughout instruction and not just there as mere add-ons the curriculum. The electives are designed to give students the deeper understanding of the theme, and all faculty receive additional professional development to adapt their curriculum and lessons to include the theme’s objectives on a daily basis. This means that teachers at a gifted and talented magnet, for example, offer all students advanced academic opportunities and multiple ways to demonstrate understanding. Students at a creative arts magnet have opportunities to use visual or performing arts in their work products which reinforces the use of creativity in work and life.

Magnet schools truly are a competitive alternative for public school choice in Wake County. They offer unique themes designed to attract students based on their learning styles, can be a stable pathway through the school system in high-growth areas, and these tailored learning communities serve as an option for families who are looking for a school that has different opportunities than their base school assignment.

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WakeEd Engages Students and Teachers at Brentwood Elementary

WakeEd — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:43:23 +0000

By Robert Epler | Principal, Brentwood Magnet Elementary School of Engineering

WakeEd Partnership has provided Brentwood Magnet Elementary School of Engineering with invaluable support in the school’s mission to engage and empower every student engineer to achieve his or her potential. Two highlights of this partnership have been involvement with the SummerSTEM and Partners Read programs.

The SummerSTEM program allowed two Brentwood Magnet Elementary School teachers, Mr. Greg Eyman and Ms. Kimberly Ratliff, to immerse themselves in the work of STEM-focused businesses and organizations. This experience informed their work as they collaboratively crafted a Project Based Learning unit that successfully engaged students in innovative and relevant learning. The unit, titled “Brentwood’s Backyard,” enabled fourth grade student engineers to explore an area ecosystem, research an animal and its habitat, and create a 3D-printed product based on the animal; it culminated in raising awareness and funding for a charity that could benefit that animal. During the unit, students used a camera trap to collect visual data of animals on school grounds. Through a STEM Expo the school connected with eMammal, which provided the school with access to both the camera trap and a guest-speaker visit from a scientist working at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Students created their animal-themed products (such as a deer ring and raccoon necklace) on a 3D printer that was purchased through an Idea Crucible grant, also courtesy of WakeEd Partnership. To aid in considering marketing for their products, students took a field trip to CW22’s TV studio, to watch how professionals engage in planning, writing, shooting, and editing a commercial for products or services; this field trip was made possible through a connection established at another WakeEd Partnership event, the STEM and Global Studies World Café.

In addition to support for Project Based Learning, WakeEd Partnership’s Partners Read program enabled Brentwood Magnet Elementary School to benefit from community involvement in reading; the school hosted volunteers from Sinclair Broadcasting who read with first grade students on a weekly basis. The volunteers enthusiastically encouraged a love of reading and built reading confidence with their partner students. The enjoyment students experienced in reading with their mentors was clearly evident, and students simply could not wait for their Partners Read time each week.

Because of WakeEd Partnership’s support with resources and community connections, students at Brentwood Magnet Elementary School have been able to fully engage in innovative and relevant learning opportunities that help them become collaborative, creative, effective communicators and critical thinkers.

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WCPSS Seeking to Add More ‘Charter-Like’ Schools

WakeEd — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:13:16 +0000

The “restart” model for high-needs schools will expand to 10 more WCPSS schools next year.

Last week, the state Board of Education approved the application submitted by WCPSS to restart five more elementary schools and five middle schools. All of which are schools that need to improve their test scores.

The school system “relaunched” Walnut Creek and Barwell Road elementary schools last year under the state’s restart program, bringing “charter-like” flexibility in school start and end times, calendar, budgeting and hiring. WCPSS retains full control of the schools, however, and all teachers must still be actively certified to teach.

The restart model was so well received at those two schools, the WCPSS staff decided to add 10 more schools for next school year.

This is different than the Renaissance School Program implemented under former Superintendent Tony Tata. That model focused on human resource incentives such as offering signing and performance bonuses, hiring additional teachers, and adding more professional development all funded partly by federal Race Top The Top grant money. WCPSS ended that program two years ago when the grant money ran out.

The restart model gives principals, teachers, and parents the room to develop creative, data-driven solutions to the issues raised by the data at each school. The school system also gains flexibility for converting funds to pay for additional staff, and the schools offer and extended school day one day a week, parent academies, and additional family services that aren’t typically offered in schools.

To qualify, a school must be designated as “recurring, low performing” by the state based on its test scores in two of the last three years on a rolling basis.

Walnut Creek and Barwell are part of the 12-school Elementary Support Model group overseen by Area Superintendent James Overman. All 12 schools would qualify for restart status, but not all ESM schools are part of Wake’s application this time.

The school system submitted requests for a combination of elementary and middle schools, many of them magnet schools.

Bugg Elementary School
Carroll Magnet Middle School
East Garner Elementary School
East Garner Magnet Middle School
East Millbrook Middle School
East Wake Middle School
Fox Road Magnet Elementary School
Millbrook Elementary School
Poe GT/AIG Basics Magnet Elementary School
Wendell Middle School

Now that the State Board of Education approved the application for all 10 schools, each school will develop plans which may include extending the school day, extending the school year, changing the school calendar, adding family support services. Many changes will need to be approved by the WCPSS School Board.

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New Strategies for Magnet Schools

WakeEd — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 20:48:04 +0000

Changes continue for the WCPSS magnet program. Recently three schools were added to the slate and several others were identified for a refresh of their magnet themes.

Now, changes are being made to the way magnet schools select students to attend. These are known as selection priorities, and until now, all magnet schools have used the same ones.

The notable difference is found in the selection priorities for five magnet schools with below district average percentages of poor and low-performing students. Those five are described as able to, “benefit from some different magnet selection priorities to help them meet the magnet objectives.” All five are elementary schools: Brooks, Joyner, Martin, Underwood, and Wiley.Staff shared a set of differentiated selection priorities based on grouping all magnet schools (and early colleges) into five groups. The groups are based on the degree to which magnet schools are meeting magnet principles.

Staff recommends the selection priorities for these schools, known as Group 2A Magnets, fill 30 percent of seats from “medium and low-performing areas.” Typically magnet schools draw from high-performing and overcrowded areas of the county. And those more typical selection priorities will hold for Groups 1, 2, 3, and 5. (Group 4 contains early colleges with different application and selection priorities.)

Also of interest is the conversation Cathy Moore, Deputy Superintendent for Academic Advancement, had with board members about transportation. She noted that transportation could provide “strategic and intentional” support to the magnet program by offering higher levels of transportation service for those students being sought for Group 2A Magnets. Any changes discussed would not be in place until the 2017-2018 school year.

It should be noted that all magnet schools do not offer the same level of transportation service. Most have a mix of neighborhood routes, express busing, and parent-provided transportation.

Here is the bottom line: staff and school board members are going to be more strategic and intentional in the operation of the magnet program. Board chair Christine Kushner was pleased with “greater intention in our magnet programs going forward.”

Magnet schools operate under and within a set of principles; it is clear that staff and school board members alike are committed to them.

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Capping Plan in Place for Enloe High

WakeEd — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:33:07 +0000

The WCPSS Board of Education voted to approve a capping plan for Enloe High for the 2015-2016 school year.

The cap is for the number of base assigned students to Enloe High, and will not impact the number of magnet seats.

Base students capped out of Enloe High will attend either Broughton High or Athens Drive High. Those who move into the base area located north of MLK Blvd. will attend Broughton High. Those who move into the base area located south of MLK Blvd. will attend Athens Drive High.

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Magnet School Expansion

WakeEd — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 00:58:35 +0000

Five new schools will get magnet school status and will join slate of thirty-four that WCPSS currently offers.

Broughton High and Daniels Middle will return to magnet status. These two schools had magnet designation in the past, but both lost magnet programs in 2008. They will now be Global Studies magnets. Together they will provide a complete immersion pathway (elementary, middle, and high school) for students in two elementary schools with language immersion programs. (Broughton High maintained its International Baccalaureate Programme after magnet status was lost.)

Those two elementary schools are Jeffreys Grove Elementary and Stough Elementary. They, along with Hodge Road Elementary, will also become magnet schools during the 2015-2016 school year.

The decision to confer magnet status on these schools came just two weeks before the upcoming WCPSS Magnet Schools Fair on November 1. This was noted by the Board of Education, and one member shared a concern that the decision came without a typical full review of the magnet program.

Of additional concern to the Board of Education was the lack of a language immersion pathway available to the students of Hodge Road Elementary in East Wake. In response, Deputy Superintendent Cathy Moore shared the district’s intention to develop a K-12 immersion pathway in the East Wake area.

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