It’s been 50 years since Miami-Dade County Public Schools opened its first magnet program at what was then Charles R. Drew Elementary School, in a historically Black neighborhood near Liberty Square.
The school launched its “expressive arts” program in 1973, with a focus on drama, art, music and dance, just down the road from what would soon be the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, which opened its doors in 1975.
Magnet programs were launched across the country in the 1970s to voluntarily desegregate schools, by recruiting white or high income students into low income schools that serve students of color.
In the past 50 years, the effort has grown to more than 370 magnet programs across 119 MDCPS schools, offering specialized instruction on themes spanning international languages, STEM and the arts — and has transformed the traditional neighborhood school model. That backstory is now being told in a new exhibit at HistoryMiami.
“Going back to the impact of 50 years of magnet schools in Miami, it’s creating these opportunities for youth to achieve their potential and to hopefully grow to be contributors to our community,” said Natalia Crujeiras, the museum’s executive director.
The exhibit at HistoryMiami is on display in the museum’s community gallery through Jan. 8, where visitors can peruse historic photos, artifacts and news clippings about the development and legacy of Miami-Dade’s magnet schools.
A history rooted in desegregation
Since their inception, magnet programs have been used as a way to voluntarily desegregate schools through parental choice — by drawing white students into specialized programs focused on technology or the arts, housed within schools that historically served children of color.
“The magnet programs were designed to ensure that we had integration,” said Magda Pereira, a director in MDCPS’ school choice office. “We work diligently to ensure that our offerings are open to all students … to cultivate and bring these innovative programs not only to specific communities, but throughout Miami-Dade County, regardless of ability level, of proficiency level and regardless of zip codes.”
While segregation of public schools was ruled unconstitutional by the landmark 1954 case Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, many school systems and white communities across the country mounted “massive resistance” to court-ordered desegregation.
In Prince Edward County, VA, officials closed down the county’s public school system rather than comply with racial integration in its classrooms.
A wave of new private schools opened in the 1950s and 1960s that came to be known as “segregation academies”, as white families left the public system and even left their communities for new developments in the suburbs.
In Boston into the 1970s, white families violently resisted court-ordered busing programs that desegregated schools by putting students on buses and sending them across town to integrate racially isolated schools.
In the midst of all this, school leaders were looking for ways to reform the public system, promote equity and retain enrollment. According to Magnet Schools of America, it was in the early 1970s that the word “magnet” was used in Houston, TX to describe the draw of its new Performing and Visual Arts School. The term stuck.
50 years, more than 370 magnet programs
In Miami-Dade, students in magnet programs now explore coding, robotics, international business, criminal justice and legal affairs, with accomplished programs in the arts and design, some of which require student auditions. But for the majority of the district’s magnets, admission is determined by a computerized random lottery.
“We open our doors to all students,” Pereira said. “And at the end of the day, it's a specialized program. They are motivated to come, to craft their skills and their talents and at the same time excel academically.”
Crujeiras, the museum director, says she herself is a parent of a magnet student. Her older child has been enrolled in the county’s magnet programs since middle school, a process which she said was about “finding the right fit."
“We found a rigorous curriculum with kids that had similar interests. Very demanding, very competitive, but at the same time in an environment that they felt supported,” Crujeiras said.
The window to apply for a MDCPS magnet school program is now open for the 2024-2025 school year. More information on the programs available and how to submit an application is available here. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15.
