Recently in Magnet programs Category

The state Department of Education today released its annual list of distinguished schools -- 484 this year, which focuses on elementary campuses.

For more on the program, go to the CDE website. Here were the local awardees on the list:

• LAUSD schools: Kentwood Elementary, Lomita Math/Science Magnet, and Park Western Place Elementary and Seventh Street Elementary in San Pedro


• Manhattan Beach schools: Grand View Elementary and Pacific Elementary


• Palos Verdes Peninsula schools: Cornerstone at Pedregal Elementary, Montemalaga Elementary and Silver Spur Elementary


• Redondo Beach schools: Beryl Heights Elementary, Birney Elementary, Madison Elementary


• Torrance schools: Arlington Elementary and Lincoln Elementary

Highland Elementary in Inglewood Unified was also named to the list.

*An earlier version of this post excluded two local schools. Sorry about that!

U.S News & World Report today released its annual list of the top 100 high schools in the nation -- and four of them are local.

Three were charter schools (two from Lennox Elementary School District); one was a magnet campus. Here they are, listed with their ranking:

21. Lennox Mathematics, Science, and Technology Academy, chartered by Lennox Elementary School District

26. Carson-based California Academy of Math and Science, a magnet run by Long Beach Unified. Here's a video feature the magazine did on a robotics program at CAMS.

70. Hawthorne Math and Science Academy High, a Hawthorne Elementary School District charter

94. Animo Leadership High School, a Green Dot-affiliated Inglewood campus also chartered by Lennox

Here's another video feature on the two Lennox schools, looking at their charter status and their focus on math/science. And ... here's a lengthy print feature on CAMS and the two Lennox schools' math/science emphasis.

The survey, which was based on data from the 2006-2007 school year, honored schools that were found to serve all students well -- regardless of whether they come from traditionally disadvantaged groups -- while preparing them for college.

Support for magnet programs has lessened, even as they better integrate students when compared to charter schools, the Los Angeles Times' Howard Blume reports in a story today about a new study.

Both magnets and charter schools typically appeal to families seeking accelerated academics, special course offerings or other enticements. Charters are different in that they operate independently of local school districts, free from some regulations that apply to traditional schools. While many charter schools value diversity, the report found that a focus on integration makes a difference.

Magnet schools achieve ethnic balance by actively recruiting and by paying for student transportation, the report said. Charter schools don't receive funding for transportation and rarely provide it, which means that low-income families can't get to desirable charters in higher-income areas.

The study (PDF) was released today by the UCLA-based Civil Rights Project. It looks at changing diversity levels in magnet schools in the wake of court decisions and other factors that are forcing magnets to adapt (and sometimes shrink).

This may be of interest to those following the plans for South Region High School No. 15, the planned magnet campus at LAUSD's Fort MacArthur property near Angels Gate Park. That school is mandated to be 70 percent minority, and many of those children come from outside of San Pedro.