This month, we had the opportunity to talk with Jillian Schulte, Magnet Coordinator and 21st Century Learning Specialist for the Kenwood Leadership Academy, which is part of the Cedar Rapids Community School District in Iowa. The purpose of the conversation was to learn about the district’s new leadership magnet school that is based on Steven Covey’s Leader in Me program.
"It's a hidden treasure," said the school's principal, Bradford Mattair, in full agreement with our assessment. The school sits in the heart of Broward County, but it's in a quiet residential neighborhood, a bit off the beaten path. The performing arts community, however, knows all about Parkway Middle.
"Chicago Public Schools students are leading the country in academic gains, and these new STEM Magnet and classical schools will help continue to grow that record progress," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
The new magnet programs at Belaire High and their feeder schools are part of a big expansion of the school system's popular magnet program. The School Board has approved eight new magnet programs since May, bringing the number of schools with such specialized offerings up to 25.
"It's been huge," said Caroline Sharp, Oliver Magnet school drama teacher. "It's been a game changer because we started in a little portable with 25 kids. The next year we applied for a Disney grant and got it, and it changed everything. We had 150 kids try out that year! It has been like that ever since."
There are now about 4,340 magnet schools in the U.S. — more than ever before, according to a new “snapshot” from the nonprofit Magnet Schools of America. Those schools, which are public and offer theme-based curricula like STEM, art or music, educate one out of every 15 public school students in the U.S.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" may be one of the most common questions asked of children. Magnet programs have emerged as a popular way to help them figure it out.
Using the school's focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math across the curriculum, students employed engineering and scientific tools - defining the problem, asking questions and doing research - to determine the symptoms and remedy for a fictitious, mysterious disease that made students, teachers and staff sick.
"The idea that you would intentionally build a student body that is reflective of the region, that's a new thing in Richmond," said Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, an education professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who recently co-authored a report on school and housing segregation.
They're only in their second year as a STEM school, but their new focus is making a big impact in the classroom, not just in a lab or in science and math classrooms, but all classes.
