Diversity lagging at other schools

Not every school that opened a partial magnet program this year saw as much success as Haut Gap Middle in increasing student diversity.

Chicora School of Communications in North Charleston and downtown Memminger Elementary, both predominantly black schools, also became partial magnet schools but chose to offer their themed programs to the entire student body. Neither did as well as Haut Gap on Johns Island or downtown Mitchell Elementary in attracting white students.

In contrast, Haut Gap and Mitchell Elementary, also predominantly black schools, offered partial magnet programs to a select group of students at the school.

Haut Gap has an advanced studies program, while Mitchell has two Montessori classes for pre-kindergarten students.

Camille Hendrix, principal of Chicora School of Communications, said she wouldn't change the way her school has implemented its program. Although the school didn't see a dramatic rise in its student diversity, she said those who came to the school from outside its attendance zone represented an improvement in student diversity when compared with the rest of the student body.

She was pleased with the school's ability to attract 42 students who don't live in the school's neighborhood and expects the school will see more diversity in the future. She also predicts student achievement will improve.

The challenge her school faces is that its surrounding neighborhoods aren't racially or economically diverse, and the district doesn't provide transportation for students who live outside the area.

"As the word gets out, I think more students will get more excited about enrolling their students," she said.

Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott said she cares less about whether schools offer a magnet program to some or all of their students, and she cares more about ensuring that the lowest achieving students, often minorities who live in poverty, receive the extra help they need. She said she understands parents want the best education possible for their children, and she doesn't fault them for avoiding low-achieving schools; such decisions based on school quality aren't related to students' race.

"The race issue is the fact that we have too often not done the extra things … we are not willing to spend the extra money for those who need it the most," she said.

Schools that have magnet programs for only a small group of students aren't necessarily addressing the needs for the rest of the student body, Scott said. They need to make sure they don't leave other students behind, she said.

Charleston County School Superintendent Nancy McGinley suspected that more parents didn't opt to transfer their children into schools such as Chicora and Memminger because they didn't want to move them in the middle of their elementary school years. It's easier for parents to choose a new school at a typical transition time, such as beginning elementary school or moving to middle school, she said.

"One lesson we see from this is that a way to grow these partial magnets might be to start with an entry grade level and build it up as the years go by," she said.

Another reason Haut Gap did well in attracting racially diverse students is that it offered a program that parents wanted, and the school made a clear distinction on how it would be different from a traditional neighborhood school, McGinley said. Other schools can take a lesson from that, she said.

In addition to the Montessori program, Mitchell Elementary Principal Dirk Bedford made the rest of the school a partial magnet by giving it a math and science focus and accepting students from elsewhere. The school's Montessori program did far better than the rest of the school in attracting white students.

Laing Middle in Mount Pleasant also began a partial magnet program this year, but it was different from the other four schools involved because it already had stronger test scores and more diversity.