By Travis Reems
Filed Thursday, October 5 at 1:49 AM
The following is a reprint from SLSWatch:
by The Watch Committee
According to school board member Peter Downs, St. Louis Public Schools are now accepting applications for admission to magnet schools.
The district moved up the application period for magnet schools so that families will know if they are accepted before they have to make a commitment to a private school. The district previously was losing students, who wanted to attend magnet schools, because the district was not accepting students until after the deadlines passed for committing to a private school. Superintendent Diana Bourisaw ordered the change.
SLPS began accepting applications today for the 2007-2008 school year.
The deadline for applications from magnet continuity students, and for students applying for Kennard, McKinley, Metro, Central, Cleveland, Gateway, and Soldan will be Friday, December 15. All of these schools have entrance requirements. Students will be a evaluated after they apply to determine if they are eligible for the lottery, that includes the evaluations for giftedness for students wishing to attend Kennard or McKinley.
December 29 is the application deadline for all other magnet schools. The lottery will take place on January 15 and the first placement notices will be mailed on February 2, two months ahead of last year's pace. Second round placement notices will be send March 2, and third round placement notices will be sent March 30.
It is nice to see district officials actually trying to build up our schools again.
7 Comments:
The district previously was losing students, who wanted to attend magnet schools, because the district was not accepting students until after the deadlines passed for committing to a private school.
This sounds like a good, rational response to the real issues that some parents face, and to pressure from the privates. Kudos to Dr. Bourisaw.
Thursday, October 05, 2006 10:17:00 AM
This is a great idea, although I am still perplexed about why they test kids AFTER they apply to Kennard, etc., instead of before. It just bogs down the system when kids are holding up a spot and then don't test in, and kids behind them on the waiting list who would have gotten in make other arrangements in the meantime. Can anyone explain the rationale behind this system?
Thursday, October 05, 2006 10:54:00 AM
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Thursday, October 05, 2006 12:38:00 PM
Anon:
I am guessing here, but my guess is that it is less costly to test only those students that apply as opposed to testing all students on the chance that they might apply. Again, I do not know the full facts around the entrance testing, but this seems like a likely possibility.
Saturday, October 07, 2006 12:50:00 AM
Yes, Travis, the testing for giftedness has to be one-on-one to be accurate and requires considerable manpower, as does special ed testing.
Saturday, October 07, 2006 12:31:00 PM
Time to dispel a few myths about the magnet schools in St. Louis. The only true magnet school in the district is Metro. Metro is the only school in the district that can actually send students to other schools that are not making the grade. Metro is also the only school that if you do not meet the requirements of the school you do not graduate. Metro is also the only school that requires that all of the teachers to have gifted certification as well as their subject certification. Other schools have specialized classes to obtain a certificate (if offered) but you can still graduate from the school if you meet the state requirements. For example, a student may be required to take a class that is related to the school but he/she does not have to pass it. At CVPA students are suppose to present a portfolio before entering the school and have a show or performance to graduate, which has never been enforced. At Gateway students were required to select a major course of instruction but a student could still graduate even though they did not meet all of the requirements of that major. At Soldan students are required to take four years of foreign language (i.e. Spanish 1, 2, 3, 4; French 1, 2, 3, 4; each number representing a year of school), but again they do not have to pass it. The class sizes are suppose to be smaller as well to provide more individualize instruction. This year with all of the reduction in staff classes across the board are on average 28+ students.
Remember these schools were set up to attract students from the county. Some did come into the city but quickly made a u-turn after realizing the so-called magnet schools were no better than the schools they left (again the exception is Metro). If we want our magnet schools to succeed like Metro we (meaning students and teachers) have to abide to the requirements for that school.
After the magnet schools were initially set up many other school districts from the country came to see these programs in action. They have now taken our programs, incorporated them into their various schools. The only difference is that these other cities have updated their programs on a continuous basis with their local colleges/universities. Their schools are the ones being visited instead of the schools here.
Saturday, October 07, 2006 11:35:00 PM
Thanks Travis, I think I was unclear in my question. I wasn't thinking they should test every student for giftedness. My experience has been that if you call R&C to ask about testing they tell you you have to apply, then if your kid gets accepted they will test him/her to see if he/she is gifted. I was wondering why they don't test the kids first when the parents request it so the parents know if they should bother putting Kennard on their choices or just move on and list other schools.
Sunday, October 08, 2006 6:37:00 PM
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