magnet school

noun

1. a public school with special programs and instruction that are not available elsewhere in a school district and that are specially designed to draw students from throughout a district, especially to aid in desegregation.

magnet school

noun

1. a school that provides a focus on one subject area throughout its curriculum in order to attract, often from an early age, pupils who wish to specialize in this subject

Word History and Origins

Origin of magnet school¹

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70

Example Sentences

Prestigious magnet school Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will welcome the most diverse class of students in recent school history next fall, according to data released Wednesday by Fairfax County Public Schools.

From Washington Post

In 1997, Austin-East was designated as a performing arts magnet school.

From Washington Post

Those students haven’t even been accepted into the school and already they are being blamed for bringing down the admissions bar and potentially the quality of education at the STEM magnet school.

From Washington Post

Fairfax County Public Schools is facing a second lawsuit over changes officials made last year to the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, its flagship STEM magnet school.

From Washington Post