Maya Rhodan grew up in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. She began her magnet school career in elementary school at Murray Language Academy, a K-8 magnet school offering French, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish Language studies to its students.Immediately following her time at Murray Language Academy, Maya attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Maya shares her alma mater with another esteemed alumna, First Lady Michelle Obama.
For the past four years, the Marine Science Magnet High School (MSMHS) of Southeastern Connecticut received an average of 400 applications for its incoming freshman class. Like every magnet school in Connecticut, it used a lottery process to randomly select the 73 students who get in.
District Five Magnet School Program Director Sara Wheeler has always had a passion for building relationships and for making a positive difference for teachers and students. Her latest opportunity gives her a chance to expand her influence on a national level as she embraces her new role as President of Magnet Schools of America (MSA).
Magnet Schools of America, representing approximately 3,800 magnet schools and 2.6 million students nationwide, expresses its strong opposition to the House FY 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill that would entirely eliminate funding for the Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP), despite being reauthorized in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Magnet Schools of America is collaborating with National University to expand a nationwide initiative to introduce schools to Sanford Harmony, an innovative social emotional learning program that helps reinforce positive peer interactions among children.
In 1968, the United States launched Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon and return safely. In that same year but with much less publicity, Tacoma Public Schools launched the nation’s first magnet school, McCarver Elementary School, in an attempt to diversify its segregated school system.
Magnet Schools of America (MSA), representing more than 3,800 magnet and theme-based schools and 2.6 million students nationwide, would like to express its strong opposition to the Secretary’s proposal to reduce the number of Equity Assistance Centers (EACs) by 60% from 10 to 4.
LA Unified’s former and current superintendents and several school board members have all recently made laudatory statements about the district’s magnet schools, touting their performance and highlighting their importance to the future of the district.
Based on the spring results of the California Smarter Balanced assessments, the Los Angeles Unified School District recently announced that 55 percent of the district's magnet students met or exceeded state standards in English/language arts, compared with 39 percent in charters, 33 percent in the LAUSD overall, and 44 percent in traditional schools statewide. The breakdown of math results followed a similar pattern.
"What Would It Take to Integrate Our Schools?," The answer should include more magnet schools, the original form of public school choice. By offering theme-based curriculums - science, math, performing arts, world languages and more - these elementary and secondary schools promote school diversity and innovation.
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