Magnet School Handbook

PURPOSE

The Magnet School Admissions Office, located at the Jackson-Madison County School System, Board of Education Office, 310 North Parkway, Jackson, TN provides essential services for those who seek information and assistance in pursuit of enrollment into magnet school programs in Grades K-12, in the Jackson-Madison County School District. The Magnet School Admissions Office interacts daily to answer questions and provide information to those parents and students who are interested in our magnet schools. You may contact the Magnet School Admissions Office at 664-2532 or Magnet School Services at 668-1184.

FUNCTION

The primary function of the Magnet School Admissions Office is to serve as the center of support for all magnet school applications and the admissions process. Services provided will include, but are not limited to:

  1. Assist with marketing and advertising for magnet programs at all schools working with the principal(s) and the School System’s Marketing/Public Relations Staff.
  2. Assist with recruiting students for all magnet programs.
  3. Counsel parents on magnet school choices and procedure for application.
  4. Supply parents with any available written information (applications, brochures, etc.) that may be helpful to ensure their understanding of the magnet programs offered at each school.
  5. Conduct a random selection process, where applicable, to fill seats in the magnet schools.
  6. Notify parents of the results of the random selection process.
  7. Establish and maintain an active waiting list of students not selected during the random selection process and notify these students of their status.
  8. Fill any vacant seats that occur after the random selection process from students that are on the established waiting lists.
  9. Assist parents with the regular registration process, where multiple choices are available.

NOTE:

It is the responsibility of the Magnet School Admissions Office to conduct a computerized random selection process to determine which applicants will be placed into the magnet schools. No preference will be given to the personal identity of any applicant, nor will any weight be given to any other element which will show preference. (See Sibling priority information under selection guidelines). Students who are not selected will be placed on a waiting list to fill future vacancies in the magnet school program.

ALIGNMENT WITH DISTRICT GOALS:

The Magnet School Admissions Office provides for a magnet placement system that is equitably administered according to publicized rules and supports the school district mission in two ways:

  1. Students will be placed in an equitable and orderly manner, and
  2. Fair treatment for all students will be shown in practice.

The Magnet School Admissions Office will follow guidelines established by the magnet application grant received by the school district (7/04) and in accordance with the agreement of the parties involved in the desegregation lawsuit (i.e. NAACP, School District, United States Department of Justice).

ELIGIBILITY:

Any student (Grade K-12) who is interested in the opportunities offered by a magnet school program is eligible to apply. The decision to apply for a magnet school program should be driven by the student’s interest in the focus or themes of a magnet school.

Students who live outside of the Jackson-Madison County School District are NOT eligible to apply to attend schools within our system.

REGISTRATION:
Students entering the Jackson-Madison County School System for the first time must present the following information to their school:

  1. Proof of Age (Birth Certificate)
  2. Evidence of current medical exam
  3. Evidence of State-required immunizations
  4. Child’s social security number/Card
  5. Three (3) proofs of current residence

Kindergarten students must be five years old by September 30th of the year which they are registering.
Parents/Legal Guardians must submit this information to their assigned school.

PRESCHOOL INFORMATION:

Preschool programs are offered within the Jackson-Madison County School System for students who are 4 years old. Preschool classes are operated at ten of our schools within the district: 1) Alexander Enhanced Option Elementary 2) Lane Technology Magnet Elementary 3) Lincoln Math and Science Magnet Elementary 4) Parkview Montessori Magnet Elementary and 5) Whitehall Enhanced Option Community Elementary 6) Denmark Elementary 7) Malesus Elementary 8) South Elementary 9) North Parkway Elementary 10) Arlington Elementary.
All preschool programs utilize the same curriculum in their daily function. For preschool information contact Dr. Vivian Williams at 427-6396.

APPLICATIONS:

Magnet applications are available in the Magnet School Admissions Office located at 310 North Parkway, all school offices (upon request), and on the school system’s website at jmcss.org under “registration information”. It is recommended that all applications be returned directly to the Magnet School Admissions Office.

If you have a child who will enter kindergarten for the upcoming school year, you may obtain an application from any school office, from the website, or from the Magnet School Admissions Office.

A separate magnet application must be submitted for each child wishing to attend a magnet school.

If your child’s current placement or recommended placement is a self-contained special services program, a school assignment will be determined in the IEP team meeting. You should receive a letter from the Special Education Department explaining your registration process.


SELECTION PROCESS:

The Magnet School Admissions Office will provide an application and subsequent selection process that assures fair and equitable accessibility to all student populations. The student selection process for a magnet school is best accomplished through a pure random selection process which provides equal opportunity for all applicants to be selected. The Magnet School Admissions Office uses a computer generated random selection software program that will select students for the magnet school programs. This computerized selection program is provided, monitored and administered by an independent software consultant from Nashville, TN. This random selection process is held annually at the Board of Education Office located at 310 North Parkway.

When applying for elementary magnet school options, keep in mind that boundary guidelines may restrict which magnet school your child may apply to attend. There are two elementary schools within our system that accept students from all areas within the system (Lincoln Math and Science Magnet Elementary and Parkview Montessori Magnet Elementary School).

SELECTION GUIDELINES:

  1. Applicants who have siblings currently enrolled in a magnet school may attend the same magnet school if they have made application by the deadline AND if there is space available at their requested magnet school. After these siblings have been placed, any additional seats available will be filled by the random selection process, with the exception of Madison Academic Magnet High School. Initially, this school will reserve 25% of its total seats available for students who receive free or reduced lunch and apply by the magnet application deadline. If there are more applicants in this category than the 25% during the initial application process, a random selection process for these slots will be held. The sibling clause for acceptance in the magnet schools applies only if the sibling already attending the magnet school is enrolled for the next (following) school year.
  2. Students who are currently attending elementary magnet programs are not automatically assigned to the intermediate magnet program. These 4th grade magnet students must submit magnet applications to the Jackson Intermediate Magnet School (Grades 5-6) (formerly Highland Park Intermediate School). Magnet students attending Lane Technology Magnet Elementary must submit magnet applications to attend Jackson Intermediate School (formerly Highland Park Intermediate School) to any school office or to the Magnet Admissions Office AND will be given priority when assigning magnet students to Jackson Intermediate School (formerly Highland Park Intermediate School).
  3. Magnet students who are currently attending Highland Park Intermediate School are not automatically assigned to Rose Hill Magnet Middle School unless they began their education as a magnet student at Lane Technology Magnet Elementary School. However, these magnet students and students enrolled in the 6th grade at Parkview Montessori Magnet Elementary School are given priority placement at Rose Hill Magnet Middle School (based on space available in the magnet program) after magnet siblings have been placed. All magnet students MUST submit a magnet application to any school office or the Magnet Admissions Office prior to the application deadline.
  4. All students wishing to attend Liberty Technology Magnet High School as a magnet student must submit a magnet application prior to the application deadline in order to be placed in the random selection process. Magnet students who are currently enrolled at Rose Hill Magnet Middle School in the 8th grade are not automatically assigned to Liberty Technology Magnet High School. 8th grade Rose Hill Middle magnet students will be given priority to attend Liberty after all siblings who have applied before the application deadline have been placed. These students will be given priority if they have attended Lane Technology Magnet Elementary School as a magnet student.
  5. Students already attending a magnet school as a magnet student and wishing to remain at that school for the following year do not need submit magnet applications to remain at that school. However, they will need to submit registration information for the upcoming year.

Note: If a student leaves a magnet school or declines placement at a magnet school at any time, they will be required to reapply and will have to go through the random selection process. No preference will be given because they have previously attended a magnet school.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation for magnet school students may be provided from designated pick-up points. For additional information on magnet pick-up points, contact the Transportation Department at 988-3890.

WAITING LISTS

If there are not spaces available at a magnet school, students will be placed on that school’s waiting list in priority order:

Priority 1: Siblings will be given first priority for placement on a magnet school’s waiting list. If there are any siblings who have applied prior to the application deadline that could not be assigned at the time of the random selection process, those siblings will have priority when additional vacancies become available. If necessary, a random selection process to establish a sibling wait list will be conducted. Siblings will have priority only if they apply by the magnet application deadline. If siblings apply after the magnet application deadline, the sibling priority placement will not be honored and they will be placed on the bottom of the waiting list in chronological order based on the date that their application was received.

Priority 2: If there are no magnet seats available, there will be a random selection process for students whose applications are received prior to the magnet application deadline. These students will be placed on a waiting list and will be placed in the selected magnet school(s) as spaces become available.

A student whose application is received after the deadline will be placed at the bottom of the waiting list in order based on the date of the applications receipt by the Magnet Admissions Office and will be eligible for acceptance on a space available basis.

It is very important that parents keep information current with the Magnet Admissions Office in the event of openings at the magnet schools. Correct address and phone number information is imperative to this process.

Students who wish to transfer from the assigned magnet school to their zoned school must receive approval from their magnet school principal.

MAJORITY-TO-MINORITY TRANSFERS

A student will be permitted to transfer from a school in which his/her race is in the majority to another school where his/her race is in the minority provided there is space available at the receiving school. (Contact the Transportation Supervisor at 988-3890 for information concerning bus pick-up points prior to requesting a transfer).

When racial balance is achieved at a school, no further majority-to-minority transfers to that school will be permitted.

If your child wishes to transfer and meets these guidelines, submit a majority-to-minority transfer application (available at your school or the Board of Education Central Office at 310 North Parkway) and return it, dated and signed, to your child’s principal or the Attendance Department at the Central Office.

For more information about majority-to-minority transfers, contact Kim Butler, Magnet School Registration Coordinator, at 664-2532.

TYPES OF MAGNET SCHOOLS

Following is a list of the magnet schools in the Jackson-Madison County School District. If you are interested in the types of magnet programs offered at each school, you may contact the school.

Alexander Enhanced Option Elementary (Grades pre-k – 4)
900 North Highland Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301
(731)422-1841

Arlington Elementary (Grades pre-k -4)
701 Arlington Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 265-9784

Lane Technology Magnet Elementary (Grades pre-k – 4)
746 Lexington Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 423-4720

Lincoln Math and Science Magnet Elementary (Grades pre-k – 4)
425 Berry Street, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 988-3800

North Parkway Elementary (Grades pre-k -4)
1341 North Parkway, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 427-3384

Parkview Montessori Magnet Elementary (Grades pre-k – 6)
905 East Chester Street, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 422-3116

Jackson Careers and Technology Intermediate (formerly Highland Park Magnet Intermediate) (Grades 5-6)
666 Lexington Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 427-4581

Rose Hill Magnet Middle School (formerly Jackson Middle Magnet School) (Grades 7-8)
2233 Beech Bluff Road, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 423-6170

Liberty Technology Magnet High School (Grades 9-12)
3470 Ridgecrest Extended, Jackson, TN 38305
(731) 423-9086

Madison Academic Magnet High School (Grades 9-12)
179 Allen Avenue, Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 427-3501

If you have additional questions regarding our magnet school choices, please contact Kim Butler, Magnet School Registration Coordinator, at 664-2532 or Bill Walker, Magnet School Services, at 668-1184.