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First of all, let me say that the information on this forum has been very helpful in trying to understand the Wake county school program etc but I'm still wondering about a couple things. I'm going to have a child entering kindergarden next year and am trying to figure out what our prospects will be. It appears they are temporarily going back to the 2011-12 base assignment plan which leaves us at Reedy Creek ES. It appears to not be the greatest so I'm looking at magnets/charters.
Therefore, back in 2011-12 or in general can you submit applications to several magnet schools?
Also, I read on here before that magnet schools preferentially choose students residing in "high-performing" nodes or attending "high-performing schools". Can anyone else confirm that rumor? If this is the case then my chances of getting in look pretty bleak.
Yes this ^^^ And I think one of the purposes of magnets is diversification, so not being in a "high performing area" may not matter. We are at a magnet elementary (just moved here and basically lucked out) but I'm already VERY impressed.
I can't make it to the fair but I might just give the office a call. Also from what I read, magnet program are generally added to low performing schools which then attract high performing students to balance. Also by admitting students at high performing/crowded schools opens up seats for others. So it would kind of make sense on their end if they admitted these students although it would be unfair.
I just think everybody should have an equal chance of attending the magnet schools or any good public school for that matter but I know that's opening a whole different can of worms. And if they do admit high performing students preferentially, it should clearly stated somewhere and not done on the down low. This is all based on one comment I read but this person insinuated that this practice is infact done under the radar. But I guess this just goes along with their big plan of balancing out all the schools.
We are in a very low performing base school and did get into a magnet school so it is possible. I was always under the impression that it had more to do with them wanting to keep the reduced price and free lunches at no more than 40% per school so that is why they chose nodes with higher incomes to attend magnet schools.While our immediate area is nice and middle-class, our node as a whole is much lower income.
I did all my research online and applied to the top magnets that appealed to me for my family and got my #1 choice in the second year (applied for 1st grade and did not get anything, did get into Hunter for 2nd grade).
I just think everybody should have an equal chance of attending the magnet schools or any good public school for that matter but I know that's opening a whole different can of worms. And if they do admit high performing students preferentially, it should clearly stated somewhere and not done on the down low. This is all based on one comment I read but this person insinuated that this practice is infact done under the radar. But I guess this just goes along with their big plan of balancing out all the schools.
It isn't done on the down low. I don't have the link anymore (it's somewhere on the wcpss website), but they publish the priority list for magnet acceptance. I think #1 was sibling, then high performing nodes. The magnet schools are intended to entice high performing students (in theory from more affluent families) to attend low performing schools (in theory in low income areas).
In my opinion, the pros of this system are that it rewards families who are willing to deal with the inconveniences of attending schools "far" away (longer bus rides, harder to volunteer, harder to get together with friends from school, etc.) and it raises the composite test scores of those schools. The cons are that a lot of families have little to no chance of ever getting accepted to a magnet school because of where they live, and there is a lot of unequity in elective options in the rest of the school system because they are "saved" for the magnet schools.
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