Be sure to scroll down to read all information on this page.

The brochure and application for the 2013 - 2014 school year will be available on this site
from 12 noon on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, through Friday, November 30, 2012.

2013 - 2014 Magnet Application Deadline Friday, November 30, 2012

Submitting a Middle School Magnet Application

• Please review the middle school magnet program descriptions at the link on the right side of this page.
• Read all instructions in the Middle School Magnet Programs brochure and application prior to submitting an application. Note that most programs only accept applications for incoming Grade 6 students.
• Prior to submitting the application, parents should ensure that both sides of the application are complete and the required report card(s) are enclosed.

REQUIRED REPORT CARD(S)

• ALL applicants must attach a copy of their report card for the entire 2011–2012 school year.
• First-quarter 2012-2013 report cards for students currently enrolled in a Baltimore County public school will be obtained from System data.
• Applicants not currently attending a Baltimore County public school must apply by November 30, 2012, and provide a copy of the current year's first-quarter/trimester report card as soon as it is available, but by no later than December 31, 2012.
  
  Please be aware that any change in program selection(s) requires the submission of a new application, postmarked or hand-delivered on or before the application deadline.
  
  
• Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered to:
  
  Middle School Magnet Application
  6901 Charles Street
  ESS Building – Room 106
  Towson, MD 21204
  
  on or before the established application deadline:  November 30, 2012. Hand-delivered applications will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 30, 2012.
  
  Applications are not processed without proof of timely submission (i.e., clear postmark date or certified mail receipt). Applications postmarked, hand-delivered, or received without a clear postmark after the November 30 2012, deadline are not processed.
  

For proof of timely submission, it is strongly recommended that applicants use certified mail with a return receipt requested from the U.S. Post Office.

The brochure and application for the 2013–2014 school year will be available on this site through November 30, 2012.

Middle School Magnet Programs Brochure

(The Middle School Magnet Programs Brochure is in PDF format, which requires a PDF reader to open.
If you are unable to open this file, please contact your local school for an application.)

Middle School Assessment Guidelines for 2013-2014

Prior to attending an assessment, applicants must obtain the Assessment Guidelines for the program. The Assessment Guidelines contain specific information regarding the components of each assessment and any preparation required prior to the assessment.

Assessment dates and times are available on this site and in the Middle School Magnet Brochure.  Mark the magnet assessment date(s) and times on your calendar.  Schools will send assessment appointment reminders to all applicants.  Applicants who have not received notification of an assessment date or time, at least five (5) days prior to the scheduled assessment date, must contact the school to obtain their scheduled time. PLEASE NOTE:  It is the responsibility of the parents to: ensure that the applicant attends the assessment on the scheduled date and time. contact the schools if scheduled magnet assessment appointments conflict. contact both the school and Magnet Office immediately if the applicant cannot attend or complete the scheduled assessment due to an unforeseen illness or emergency.  Please be aware that assessments will not be rescheduled without documentation verifying the illness or emergency. Inclement Weather In the event that school activities are cancelled due to inclement weather, magnet assessments will be postponed. Postponed assessments will occur on the designated inclement weather date. The Office of Communications will post all emergency closing and cancellation information on the BCPS automated information line, 410-887-5555. Closings and cancellation announcements will also be made through local media.

Download the assessment guidelines for each program to which you have applied.

1. Download general scoring guidelines that explain how report card information is scored.

 Middle School Magnet Program Scoring Guidelines

2. Download specific assessment guidelines for each program to which the applicant has applied.
   

Middle School Assessment Guidelines

• Deep Creek Middle School Center (21st Century Digital-Age Learning)
• Deer Park Middle Magnet School (Earth/Space Science, Fine Arts, Mass Communications, Spanish Language)
• Lansdowne Middle School Center for Career and Professional Studies
  (Admission via Random Lottery – No Audition/Assessment required)
• Loch Raven Academy ( Conservation Sciences, Law & Finance, Arts Exploration)
• Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology ( Exploratory Program)
• Southwest Academy (Science and Engineering)
• Sudbrook Magnet Middle School ( Environmental and Earth/Space Science, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, World Languages)

Admission to Middle School Magnet Programs

In order to be considered for placement into a middle school magnet program, applicants must earn at least 70% of the assessment criteria points. 

If the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of available seats, seats will be filled in the following sequence:

1. Available seats will first be filled with priority placements.
2. A random lottery will be conducted to fill all remaining available seats and to generate a wait list.

Two priority placements exist at the middle school level:

• 20% Priority – Up to 20% of the available seats will first be filled by qualified applicants who show exceptional commitment and promise in the specialized program as evidenced by performance on the magnet assessment(s).
• Child of an Employee - If the primary work site of a BCPS employee is a school with a magnet program and the employee's child applies to, and qualifies for, a magnet program in that school, the child will be given priority placement in the magnet program.

Random Lottery Process:  For each program, eligible applicants are assigned a computer-generated random number.  The applicants for each program are then sorted into a list according to their assigned random numbers, from lowest to highest.  Available seats are offered to eligible applicants, starting with the lowest random number (i.e. first on the list).  When all of the available seats in a program are filled, the remaining applicants are given a wait-list number that corresponds to their position in the list. 
Admission decisions are mailed to parents by early March. 

If you have questions or need additional information,
please contact the Office of Magnet Programs at (410) 887-4127.