Schools, often offering a specialized curriculum that attract students from throughout the district. Admission is frequently done on a lottery basis.
A school that attracts students from many different neighborhoods or backgrounds because of special interests, needs, or approaches, usually found in a heavily populated area; a type of alternative school or school of choice. A high school that focuses on music and art, science, or foreign languages, for example, might be considered a magnet school, as might a school with an intensive college-oriented program, a vocationally oriented school, a nontraditional educational approach, or a “second chance” program for former dropouts. Some magnet schools have been developed as part of voluntary desegregation plans, which attempt to attract a mix of students rather than rely on involuntary busing. The term magnet school is also sometimes used to apply to a school district’s centralized special services for children with handicaps.