6 New Magnet Schools to Be Valley-Based Next Year

In a major boost to the local education scene, the Los Angeles Unified School District plans to open 15 new magnet centers next year, six of which will be based out of San Fernando Valley schools.

District officials also announced that an existing magnet program--specializing in the humanities--at Cleveland High School in Reseda will expand by 180 slots next year, increasing the number of seats to 883. Cleveland is one of 135 magnet schools and centers currently in operation.

The expansion of 15 new magnet centers during the 1999-2000 school year will bring the number to 150. In the Valley, the new centers are planned for Columbus Middle School in Canoga Park, Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth and Reseda High School.

Three additional schools located in Granada Hills also will host magnet centers: Frost and Henry middle schools, and Kennedy High School.

Kids accepted into the district’s highly competitive magnet system--last year in Los Angeles, 70,000 people applied for 13,000 magnet school slots--will be able to study a particular specialty, such as computer science, medicine or business.

More specifically, students accepted into the new programs in the Valley could be enrolled in Reseda High’s police academy program, or take part in Columbus Middle School’s medical, math and science program.

The different specialties are based on requests made by the schools when they applied to host a magnet center. Kennedy High, for example, asked for a program geared to architecture, engineering and urban planning, which will be the first of its kind, school officials said.

LAUSD spokesman Shel Erlich said schools hosting the new programs were selected mainly for their space availability.

But, as with traditional magnet programs, regardless of their locations the application process is open to children from across the city.

Nonetheless, observers say there is a perk for Valley students who gain entrance to one of the new Valley magnet facilities.

“It’s an advantage to have them in the Valley, because in most cases students are bused to them, so the travel time will be less,” said Terry Morton, principal of Valley Alternative Magnet in Van Nuys.

And there are other benefits, Morton said. Besides providing students with the ability to concentrate on a specific area of studies, in some cases magnets also provide teaching alternatives, she said.

With just 540 students, for example, Morton’s school is not only small, but it offers kindergarten through 12th grade, meaning that families can enroll their children for elementary, middle and high school at the same facility.

“Magnet programs just give people more options,” Morton said. “And I think people want that.”

The schools also benefit, according to Linda Lane, principal at Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills, which will host a math, science and technology-themed magnet center next year.

“We think it will make the school a little more diverse and add some excitement at the same time,” she said. “That’s because there will be different projects, field trips and guest speakers.”

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Brochures containing information about the new magnet programs will be mailed in the first two weeks of December to parents and guardians of all kidergarten through 11th-grade students currently enrolled at an LAUSD school. Applications, which will be included in the brochures, must be postmarked or returned by Jan. 15.

Parents who have not received a brochure by Dec. 15 should contact their child’s school.

Children who live in the district but attend private or parochial schools are also eligible. Their parents may get brochures at any LAUSD school after Dec. 14 or at public libraries.

For more information about magnet programs, or to request an application or brochure, call (213) 625-4177.