MPS Changing Magnet Schools Application Process
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Changes are coming to the application process of Montgomery’s magnet schools. And that has parents and students wondering if that will impact the program’s standards.
The application process to get into magnet schools has begun for the 2015-2016 school year and there are big changes to the way students get in. Superintendent Margaret Allen says the new process is more consistent but one student tells me it’s concerning.
12-year-old Hannah Thomas is a 6th grader at Floyd Middle School in Montgomery. She says she’s had her heart set on going to Loveless Academic Magnet Program, or L.A.M.P for a few years.
“I feel I’m very academically driven.”
Hannah reached out to Alabama News Network after she got word that Montgomery Public Schools officials were changing the way students are selected for magnet schools.
“I feel that my opportunity is being taken away,” she says. “As I was told in the beginning of the year, that I had a really big chance to get into L.A.M.P but now in the middle of the year, I really feel it’s not there anymore.”
There are five major changes to the application process. Among them, applications will now be processed through the central office instead of at the school level and rank ordering will no longer be used. The changes come as recommendations from the U.S. Department of Education. Hannah’s mom Ashley says she believes the changes are unnecessary.
“We’re bothered a little bit by the fact that this is also coming down federal wise and we know that our state and local government have discretion.”
Because Hannah goes to Floyd, she won’t automatically feed into LAMP and her mother says the new process is making getting into the nationally ranked school harder
“It kind of feels like you’re putting us in a position. If your children are going to enter into the magnet program, if you’re on a certain track, it’s hard to move around in that track once you’re in the program. “
Superintendent Margaret Allen says in part “In the past, some of our schools ranked students based on interviews, auditions, test scores, and grade point averages. The U.S. Department of Education is asking that the practice of ranking be discontinued.”
A spokesperson for MPS tells us the only school that’s now using a ranking system is Forest Avenue and that now all schools will be random, based on the student making the minimum requirements for that school.
The magnet application process continues through March 20. Applications are available online at www.mps.k12.al.us or at any MPS school.
Changes to the magnet application process for 2015-2016 include:
• One application for each level – elementary, middle and high schools – rather than a separate one for each school.
• All applications are being processed at the Central Officer rather than at the school level.
•Testing is only being used for new applicants for kindergarten and first grade.
•Rank ordering is no longer used as a strategy to determine who fills a slot.
•Auditions at the arts magnets will determine a students’ skill levels. Students who meet proficiency requirements (and meet the GPA standards) will be randomly selected to fill available seats
