Choice encounters: with near perfect attendance, rigorous curricular programs and motivated students, this district's magnet schools are a model for others.

Choice encounters: with near perfect attendance, rigorous curricular programs and motivated students, this district's magnet schools are a model for others. Katrina Rivera doesn't mind the nearly three-hour, round trip bus ride from her home to Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology Frank H. Peterson is an all magnet High School located on Jacksonville, Florida's westside. Before becoming an actual High School it was known as the Westside Skill Center. The Westside Skill Center was an alternative school. . "I chose this magnet school magnet schooln.A public school offering a specialized curriculum, often with high academic standards, to a student body representing a cross section of the community. because I'm trying to become an actress and if I don't make it--it's not really a guaranteed career--I still want to be in TV," says Rivera, who is entering her junior year in the Florida school's TV production and communication magnet program. "I'm learning how to work with cameras, work with a sound board, cut and edit tape, speak in front of the camera and [use] all the [industry's] language." Rivera is one of 20,000 students attending nearly 30 magnet programs in over 60 schools throughout Duval County Duval County may mean: Duval County, Florida Duval County, Texas Public Schools in Jacksonville. The demand for such programs is so great that thousands of students are placed on long waiting lists each year to attend schools that may be more than an hour away from home. The main attraction is that they offer students a head start in a chosen career and the chance to discover and develop innate skills and talents. The magnet programs began drawing attention in 1991, when a federal court ruled the district could eliminate forced busing. In its place, the district offered voluntary desegregation desegregation:see integration. , where students would be encouraged to attend 70 magnet programs, representing 25 themes, mostly at schools outside of their neighborhood, says Sally Hague, general director of school choice/pupil assignment operations. Since then, Duval has received almost $26 million in federal magnet grants. The latest $9 million grant--Inspirations: Duval County's Next Generation of Magnet Schools--is being used to significantly revise or introduce seven programs in its downtown schools, such as a new military sciences and aviation program, elementary and middle school international baccalaureate programs and the district's first K-8 Spanish Immersion/Montessori school. Earning Power Earning powerEarnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) divided by total assets.earning power1. The earnings that an asset could produce under optimal conditions. For example, AT&T may currently be earning $2. Teacher Charlie Rutledge has many success stories to tell about graduates from Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology, where students learn to cook up careers in culinary arts, communications, aviation, automotive, cosmetology cos��me��tol��o��gy?n.The study or art of cosmetics and their use.[French cosm��tologie : cosm��tique, cosmetic; see cosmetic + -logie, -logy. or child care. Among the most common are about those who've earned a career license or certification in a specialized field, which boosts their earning potential for when they hit the job-search pavement. That goes for both the college-bound and not. "[Some students have to work somewhere making minimum wage because they have no license or certification," says Rutledge, instructional support manager and magnet lead teacher at the school. "Our kids will [make] $12-$14 an hour while going to college." Budget Busters This is a list of Busters from the manga Beet the Vandel Buster. The Beet WarriorsBeetBeet is a young boy who has always desired to be the strongest Buster. He aspires to be like his heroes, the Zenon Warriors, who are known as the strongest of all Busters. Despite their quality reputation, magnet schools sometimes have a down side: They come with big expenses and small budgets. As principal of LaVilla School of the Arts School of the Arts is the name of several schools (usually high schools) that are devoted to the fine arts, including: Brooklyn High School of the Arts, Brooklyn, New York Charleston County School of the Arts, Charleston, South Carolina , Connie Skinner says managing the budget is her biggest challenge. The middle school supports 1,100 students and offers nine art programs: Band, orchestra, piano, guitar, vocal music, dance, theater/drama, visual arts visual artsnpl → artes fpl pl��sticasvisual artsnpl → arts mpl plastiquesvisual artsnpl → and creative writing. The first three programs alone require 7.5 teachers--not to mention the cost of big-ticket items big-ticket itemManaged care A popular term for an expensive therapeutic or diagnostic procedure like practice pianos and a baby grand for performances. Even the cost of sheet music adds up, she says. Booster clubs A booster club is an organization that is formed to contribute money to an associated club, sports team, or organization. Booster clubs are popular in American schools at the high school and university level. collectively raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for ancillary expenses. But Skinner says magnet programs are well worth the budgeting effort. "The challenges are so outweighed by the incredible joy of watching these children perform," she says. Mulling mulling (mul´ing),n the final step of mixing dental amalgam; a kneading of the triturated mass to complete the amalgamation. the Options It's not easy deciding what you want to be when you grow up. But information is power. Every January, students in Duval County are mailed an application and asked to choose up to three different magnet programs by the end of February. Families learn about programs through parent meetings and open houses and from brochures, the district's detail-packed magnet catalog or its Web site. Then in April, students are either selected via a lottery or end up on waiting lists. Open house participants get priority in the lottery, says program director Sally Hague. The district discourages blind choices because they often result in parental disappointment or even shock over the school's demographics, location, or, more specifically, the long bus ride. DISTRICT STATS Duval County Public Schools Number of Schools: 19 high, 27 middle, 105 elementary, 5 alternative centers and 3 exceptional student centers Number of teachers: More than 7,500 Number of students: Approximately 127,500 Ethnicity: 46% white, 43% black, 5% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 3% other Per-pupil expenditure: $5,672 Dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rate (2003-2004): 5% County population: Approximately 800,000 Superintendent: Nancy Snyder, since May 2005 www.educationcentral.org Golden Rules Why are Duval's magnet schools so popular? They follow three essential guidelines that make a successful program, says Steve Peha, president of Teaching That Makes Sense, an educational consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a feeconsulting companybusiness firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a in Chapel Hill, N.C. * The district makes a long-term commitment toward developing each program. He says it takes three years to work out the kinks, five years to know what you're doing and 10 years to make it really work. * Administrators learn how to manage the natural tension that may erupt between magnet and non-magnet teachers. Everyone works as a team--not at each other's expense. * Each school supports leaders or a cadre of teachers who are truly expert in their field. Besides a solid program, "You really need magnet people," he says.