Magnet Schools F.A.Q.
What is a magnet school program?
A specialized educational program that enables students to take advantage of additional resources and innovative teaching techniques directed at particular student interests.
What Are Magnet Schools?
Magnet schools have their roots in the concept of district-wide specialty schools. Magnets offer special curricula, such as medical -science, pre-law or performing arts programs, or special instructional approaches, such as academic achievement through application of Gardner's learning styles or International Baccalaureate.
During the late 1970's, school districts began to employ magnet schools as a means of desegregating school systems. Magnets were intended to provide incentives for parents to remain in the public school system and to send their children to integrated schools. Often, magnet programs were placed in racially isolated schools or neighborhoods to encourage students of other races to enroll in those schools. If sufficient numbers of white and minority students enrolled in schools outside of their neighborhoods, districts could promote school desegregation without resorting to mandatory measures. At the same time, by introducing innovative curricula and instructional approaches, magnets could strengthen the educational program in those schools, contributing to overall improvements in educational quality. Magnet schools today have three distinguishing characteristics 1.)They provide a distinctive, theme-related curriculum or instructional approach 2.)They attract students from outside an assigned neighborhood attendance zone 3.)They have diversity as an explicit purpose
Will a student's traditional educational requirements suffer if accepted into a magnet program?
Absolutely not! The magnet program only enhances and adds to the educational experience. Every student receives instruction in those subject areas required for promotion and/or graduation.
How do students apply for magnet programs?
Students who wish to attand a magnet school must submit a transfer request with the Child Welfare and Attendance Department at Desert Sands Unified School District. For more information on the transfer request process, click here.
What is an International Baccalaureate World School?
An International Baccalaureate (IB) World School offers specialized curriculum and programs geared toward developing the individual talents of young people and teaching them to relate the experience of the classroom to the realities of the world outside. Beyond intellectual rigour and high academic standards, an IB school places strong emphasis on the ideals of international understanding and responsible citizenship, to the end that IB students may become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners and informed participants in local and world affairs.