By Kimberly R. Lane, Ed.D., Magnet Schools of America President
America’s students are more socioeconomically and demographically diverse than ever, and our schools are resegregating at alarming rates. I resolutely believe magnet schools grounded in integration, innovation, and inclusivity promote school integration while fostering diverse student interaction and providing high-quality academic and non-academic impact for ALL students. As MSA President, I will collaborate with colleagues, membership, and partners to honor the mission and vision of MSA and elevate the impact of magnet programs across the United States.
Lots of great work happens during the summer months for our MSA members! We jokingly think educators might find time for play in the summer, yet that is often the heaviest planning and prepping season as we prepare for our students in the upcoming new school year! Many of our district and school leaders/ teachers are attending summer professional learning opportunities, like the MSA Summer Symposia [Denver, where we learned lots of great AI tools to support MSA’s five pillars or Baltimore, where MSA members celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision – a seminal decision that guides our daily school integration work while promoting inclusive environments for all students within our magnet programs], as well as conducting strategic planning for the 24-25 school year, while others do all of these things while teaching and leading learning in a year-round environment.
Regardless of where you find yourself in the next few months, please find time to rest, reflect and remember that YOU are among friends and colleagues who appreciate the work, dedication, and commitment you bring to the students in your sphere of influence every single day.
In honor of our collective goals and work, I would like to highlight learning that occurred during our two MSA Summer Symposia and give a line-up of what our members can expect in the Fall.
SUMMER SYMPOSIA: Small but mighty might be a good term for our two MSA Summer events. In both Denver, July 8 – 10, and Baltimore, July 29 – 31, we had AI and Diversity/School Integration experts, and engaged learners from across the country who collectively shared and explored integrative and innovative ways to align our collective work. At the end of our time together, it was a highlight to showcase how the sessions intentionally addressed our MSA pillars as noted below:
As we look toward the new school year and Fall 2024, I am honored as President to champion our important MSA work ahead, such as reviewing the 2020-24 MSA Strategic Plan in preparation for a 2025+ plan, prepping for the 2024 Fall Policy Conference (October 2 – 4), advocating for our policy / legislative agenda, actively pursuing magnet research, providing high-quality professional learning and technical support through NIMSL, supporting our new (and current) MSAP and Fostering Diversity grantees, and engaging with our MSA members across our regions.
We are thankful for you, our members, as we could not do this work without your commitment and support of the organization and its programs. And, we are also privileged to have great MSA educators and advocates guiding this work as members of our Board of Directors, committees, and project work groups. YOU will definitely be hearing from many of them throughout the year. I share below what I consider to be key topics of focus during the next two years for MSA advocacy, strategic visioning, and action.
Promote strategic and systemic action built on a foundation of the integrative mission and vision of MSA through innovative, student-centric/choice, and theme-based programming modeling a welcoming and inclusive teaching and learning environment assessable for ALL students and their families, thereby impacting educational opportunities and outcomes that reframes education for district/school/classroom leaders as well as informs policy, advocacy, funding, magnet program implementation and sustainability.
I wish you well as you continue in your educational journey during this 2024-2025 school year. I look forward to talking with you at our upcoming events to learn more about you, your classrooms/schools/districts/states and your membership needs. I welcome you to reach out to me directly at krlane@wcpss.net.
Sincerely, THANK YOU for all you do to impact students, families, staff, and the greater community!
Raise the level of performance consistent throughout school districts nationwide and creates a platform from which all magnet schools can flourish. Magnet Schools of America’s national certification process is designed to recognize the hard work of the best magnet schools in the nation and to help them as they grow.