Enter Kindergarten at Magnet Elementary Schools

My daughter goes to Beaver Technology Center in GISD. We had her evaluated the February before Kindergarten. All kids are tested on the same basis for the Gifted/Talented, Magnet, and Classical program. They are given a percentage grade and if they fit into a certain bracket that's where they go. If they qualify for GT then the top kids that fill the slots will get in within the bus zones. For instance: If you live in a bus zone for Walnut Glen Academy and they take 40 students and your child placed #39 then they have a slot. For Magnet Schools - it is a lottery. Your child qualifies for a school within your bus zone and they need to fill 40 slots. They throw all the names into a hat and then draw 40 - your child doesn't get chosen and then placed on a waiting list.

The testing is done one on one with an evaluator and the positions are highly competitive. There is actually two rounds of testing for admittance into the program and they evaluate on 15 different criteria - imagination, knowledge, initiative, willingness to learn - the potential for GT essentially. If you turn in an application early all it does is get you a testing slot you like vs one you accept. All the school do some selection based on ethnicity but there is nothing obvious that tells how.

All the schools accept "neighborhood" kids. The GT schools have separate classrooms. The magnet schools incorporate them into the program.

You can PM me with other questions if you have them. You did the right thing by looking early. Informational meetings usually take place in December/January.

Both of my sons have gone through the GT Academies in Garland. I agree with AriaMom's explanation of how the system works. I will say that it is slightly less competitive for Kindergarten than for the other grades, because many people don't know to have their children tested for Kindergarten. There are three GT Academies in GarlandISD, two Math & Science Technology Centers and one Classical Magnet. You can go to the GarlandISD website to find info on the transportation zones. If you live in the transportation zone, then you are most likely going to be admitted as "Neighborhood," but not automatically. The slots are filled by proximity to the school and racial requirements. Example: If they have 40 spots for "Neighborhood" and 40 kids live within a few blocks of the school, then they will be admitted. If you live in the transportation zone, but are one or two miles away and in the racial majority, then you will be low on the list.

There is some debate about whether you would want to be a "Neighborhood" student. The Academies/Magnets have less discipline problems than other schools, have teachers that are usually happy to be there and enjoy teaching, have very active parent participation and have extra programs like music and art. The downside might be that some feel that the "Neighborhood" students are not given the same amount of attention as the "Gifted" students. I have not observed this at all. The students are grouped by ability for most classes, but are mixed together for music, art and P.E. Because of the active parents, their is extensive tutoring offered to students that are at risk for failing.

GarlandISD is an "Open Enrollment" school district. What this means is that you can choose which school (except for the Academy/Magnet schools) you want your child to attend. You are not required to attend the school that is closest to you. Of course, there are some limitations. If too many students want to go to a certain school, then it is decided by proximity and racial makeup. I will say that my experience is that the GT classes have been a fairly good racial mix, but predominately white students (at least 60%). They do have classes in the early grades for GT students that are English as second language, that are then integrated into the main GT program by 3rd grade.

So, even if your child does not qualify for GT or magnet schools, you still have some other options in GISD. I am not familiar with how the Richardson schools work, but would assume it would be similar. I don't believe they have as many magnet schools as Garland and mostly have GT pull out programs at certain schools, but I am not sure.

My daughter will be starting at Arapaho Classical Magnet in Richardson this year. There are 3 magnet elementary schools in RISD and 2 are chosen by lottery (ACM and The Math Science & Technology elementary), so getting your application in early does not give you an advantage - we just had ours in by the deadline. The third (Hamilton Park) does choose based on when your application is received. All three obviously have spots saved for children who live by those schools. Beyond that, I don't know how much race/ethnicity/etc. play into it. I think they may also take into account the home school in your area - some of the older schools in Richardson have problems with filling up quickly, so children in those neighborhoods who apply for magnets may have an advantage over children whose home school is newer, larger and/or more "desirable." I don't know this for a fact, though. There are no entrance tests for the magnets. They have advanced programs within the schools (all schools - magnet and non-magnet) that do require testing. We have not gotten to that yet, so I don't have the details about those programs.