CINCINNATI -- In the mid-1970s, Cincinnati Public Schools launched programs in performing arts, foreign language and the Montessori method called “magnets,” designed to draw its youngest students away from their neighborhood schools into ones with a specific focus and greater diversity.
Today, the district has 21 elementary magnet schools that offer nine programs: performing arts, college preparatory, foreign language, fundamentals, gifted, Montessori, online, Paideia and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
Eight of those magnet schools accept children from throughout the city, enrolling more than 3,200 students this school year. There are also six west-area and seven east-area magnet schools, both with enrollment of more than 3,500 students.
The magnet school movement grew out of 1960s protests over school desegregation in America “and the educational reform model of public school choice as a way to address educational inequity,” according to www.magnet.edu.
The School for Creative and Performing Arts, Clifton-Fairview German Language and Sands Montessori schools were the first magnets established by Cincinnati Public Schools; the latter was the nation’s first public Montessori.
The district's elementary magnet schools started as small programs within existing schools, but they eventually grew so much they required their own facilities, said Christine Wolff, CPS communications manager.
In the court case Bronson v. the Cincinnati Board of Education filed in 1973, the NAACP sought to stop the building of all-black schools and create a public school system in which African-American children could attend schools outside their neighborhoods – and the city, if necessary. Cincinnati Public Schools responded when the case was settled 10 years later with changes such as some open enrollments within the district and more magnet schools for students from throughout the city.
More Montessori and language magnet schools were built in the 1980s, as were the city’s first Paideia magnets. Each numbers four today.
Later came a digital school, college preparatory, gifted and STEM schools. The latter became the nation’s first of its kind in 2012.
Some of the schools became so popular that parents camped out days ahead of enrollment day to compete in the first-come first-served enrollment system. Those desiring the Fairview-Clifton Foreign Language school set a record in 2014 by camping out for as many as 16 nights.
Cincinnati Public Schools ended the campouts this summer when it suspended the old magnet application system for one year. The system has been replaced by an online applicationand lottery process for the 2016-17 school year. It begins Oct. 24 and closes Nov. 29. The lottery will be processed from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5, with letters of acceptance or denial to follow.
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Unchanged is that new students with siblings in a magnet school get priority enrollment in that school. Paper applications are available at magnet schools on Oct. 5 and must be turned in by Oct. 16.
Wolff said Cincinnati Public Schools administrators hope the lottery will show which magnet elementary schools might require attention or expansion.
Proponents of the lottery say its randomness is more fair than a first-come, first-served system. Others disagree, saying it’s lazy and discourages the parental involvement factor the district desires in its magnet programs. Some parents have said they might move into more desirable suburban school districts because of the lottery.
Wolff said the CPS administration and the board will continue to work on creating a permanent magnet application policy for future years, and will seek input from parents and the community.
The district mailed magnet school guides to addresses within the district and scheduled five information sessions to explain the lottery system.
Cincinnati Public Schools magnets
Citywide:
- Academy of Multilingual Immersion Studies, K-8, Roselawn
- Academy of World Languages, preschool-8, Evanston
- Bond Hill Academy, K-6, Bond Hill
- Cincinnati Digital Academy, K-6, online
- Cincinnati Gifted Academy, K-4, Hyde Park
- Fairview-Clifton German Language School: K-6, Clifton
- School for Creative and Performing Arts, K-12, Over-the-Rhine
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), preschool-6, West End
West area:
- College Hill Fundamental Academy, K-6, College Hill
- Covedale Elementary College Preparatory, 4-6, Covedale
- Dater Montessori, preschool-6, Westwood
- Parker Woods Montessori, preschool-6, Northside
- Pleasant Hill Elementary College Preparatory, College Hill
- Roberts Academy Paideia, preschool-8, East Price Hill
East area:
- Mount Washington College Preparatory, 4-6, Mount Washington
- North Avondale Montessori, preschool-6, North Avondale
- Parker College Preparatory, 4-6, Madisonville
- Roselawn Condon College Preparatory, 4-6
- Sands Montessori, preschool-6, Mount Washington
- Silverton Paideia, preschool-6, Silverton
- Woodford Paideia, preschool-6, Kennedy Heights
