Magnet schools are showing continued, sustained progress in student performance, according to recent local, state and federal statistics.

"We are excited about the academic progress that many of our schools are making and how well our programs are developing," said Kim Morrison, the program manager for Winston- Salem/Forsyth County (WSFC) magnet schools. "Partnering exciting magnet themes with strong academic performance has resulted in successful magnet schools."

Many people focus on yearly test scores, Morrison said, but a better measure of school success is improvement over time. Ashley Elementary School, Diggs Elementary School, Hill Middle School and Paisley IB Magnet School are great examples of such progress. Those schools became magnets in 2001, after the WSFC school district was awarded a federal grant. All four reached 100% of their targets for student achievement during the 2008-09 school year under No Child Left Behind, a federal school improvement program.

The longer a magnet program has been at a school, the better the school performs on state and local measures, according to statistics from the district. For example, Parkland Magnet High School has made
significant improvement since adding its International Baccalaureate and cultural arts program in 2005.

For the 2008-09 school year, Parkland made high growth in student achievement under the state's school accountability program. Other noteworthy examples of magnet school success include:

• Ashley Elementary, which met all of its federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets for the 2008-09 school year.
• Hill Middle, which made high growth and met all of its AYP targets for 2008-09.
• Mineral Springs Elementary School, which made high growth and met all of its AYP targets for 2008-09.
• Paisley IB Magnet, which made expected growth and met all of its AYP targets for 2008-09.
• Philo Magnet Academy, which made expected growth for 2008-09 and increased the number of AYP targets met by 78 percent.
• Hanes Magnet School, which made expected growth for 2008-09 and increased the number of AYP targets met by almost 69 percent.
  

The success of WSFC magnet schools has brought the school district recognition from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The district was one of only a handful included in an online "toolkit" that describes the steps school districts should take to create successful magnet programs. The DOE also has featured local magnet programs at its technical assistance conferences as examples of strong magnet implementation and
school improvement programs.

"The success of our magnet programs is due to the hard work of the schools and their ability to build great relationships with students," Morrison said. "Our magnet schools have proven that they can deliver instruction in innovative and creative ways while maintaining high levels of rigor," she said.

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