Glasgow Middle School gifted science students work on a project in class
EBR School Board Approves Plan to Expand Magnet and Gifted/Talented Programs
- Mar 21, 07
Baton Rouge, La – During a special School Board meeting held Tuesday, March 20th, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board approved staff recommendations that will expand the Magnet and Gifted/Talented programs throughout the school district.
School System Superintendent Charlotte D. Placide stated that the system is eager to recommend additional services in other areas of the district, which have not been able to offer additional programs during the period when the school system was under the desegregation court order and the Final Settlement Agreement. Currently, the bulk of these specialized programs are clustered in, or near, downtown area schools. The approved changes will result in shorter bus rides for many students in the parish who are currently participating in the Magnet and Gifted/Talented programs. The approved changes will also provide families more educational choices.
Significant changes include the addition of gifted classes to Audubon Elementary, Parkview Elementary, Wedgewood Elementary and Woodlawn Middle Schools. A major component of the proposal will also expand the Gifted/Talented screening process to include all kindergarten students in the school system. The plan would also implement a French and Spanish Immersion program at Westdale Middle School for students who complete the program at South Boulevard Elementary School.
The School Board also approved a new dedicated pre-engineering magnet academy at the Beechwood site which is currently a 6th grade satellite campus of Crestworth Middle School. Additionally, the academic and engineering magnet curriculum at Scotlandville Magnet High School will be enhanced and students enrolled in the Scotlandville Magnet Program will attend classes together and be assigned a core group of teachers who can monitor their progress throughout their high school career.
Under the agreement, additional gifted and talented services would begin in the 2007-2008 school year. Another component of the proposal is to merge the Magnet and Gift/Talented programs into one department called the Office of Innovative and Specialized Programs.
Principal Brister in Washington, D.C., to Accept McKinley Middle School’s Second Blue Ribbon Award
On Tuesday, November 13, 2012, Principal Herman Brister (pictured, left) and the school’s Teacher of the Year, Lynn Williamson (right), were in Washington, D.C., accepting McKinley Middle Academic Magnet School’s National Blue Ribbon Award from U.S. Department of Education’s Director of National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Aba Kumi (center). The event, which recognized some 314 schools from across the United States, was held at the Omni Hotel. Click herefor story.
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