I represented my school at the Magnet Fair last year. If you plan to attend you should have a list of questions ready regarding the school’s mission, vision, values, demographics, and class size. Ask the teachers how they differentiate instruction for the different needs of their students. Ask what technology, sports, clubs, or specific extra curricular activities your child might be interested in are available at the school. Or just ask the representative what the major strengths and weakness of the school are and determine they are aligned with your child’s needs. As your child grows and develops, your school choice might change. The right school is the one that provides an environment for your child to succeed and that optimal environment varies from child to child. I recommend you choose an elementary school based on the service they provide instead of its feeder pattern middle or high school.

Great tips. Thank you! Our focus definitely is what is best for her now. It's just frustrating to me that there are feeder patterns this early.

We went on Saturday and, first of all, it was a mad house. Totally packed. So a lot of people interested in magnet schools.

We learned a lot about the program and had a good Q&A session with a couple of people - though of course they couldn't tell me the answer to the one question I wanted answered: Exactly how likely is it that my child will get in to the one we want.

One thing I wondered was how much things will change over the next decade as she proceeds through school - will schools lose magnet status, will the pathways change, etc. The man we spoke to said that if the next decade is anything like the last decade, not a lot.

Some more information in this story about Daniels' magnet status: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/wake/story/1280011.html

The school system admits students to magnet schools based on a weighted lottery system. That means if students live near a school that is overcrowded, they have a better chance of getting into a magnet school.

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Also, don't forget to watch for changes in the faculty of a school. The departure of a principal, curriculum coordinator, or the head of a department can really change a school's climate.
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Mom to Jude

If your base school has a high FRL number, good luck getting out and into a magnet. They haven't let anyone out of our base in awhile!

Its the same system in the UK and we planned ahead before having children. moving house to the school catchment area we wanted our child to go to. If you are outside of the area the its very difficult to get into a school in the UK. As soon as our daughter was born we registered her name with the school to make sure that when she was 3 there would be no problem in her attending. When she did eventually start school I was surprised at the stories about the number of people living in the area who had been turned down despite the fact the lived in the catchment area, so i guess you are very much doing things correctly in planning ahead, because its your child's education that is at stake, which shouldn't be taken lightly.
Chloe Bead Stalk

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