Video:
Transcription:
Speaker 1: Welcome to Mondays with Maria, brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. Here's OCPS Superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Hi everyone. It's that time of year, the magnet application period is open for the 2024-25 school year. Bri MacNaught is back with me, and she has been in our schools and has seen our magnet programs firsthand.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. Dr. Vazquez, and they are so amazing. We have 41 magnet programs, and this year alone we have about 7,000 students enrolled.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Wow. Just in case some of our families are not aware, a magnet program is a specialized learning program. They're focused on academic excellence and highly specialized areas of study. For example, there's agriscience, there's criminal justice, law and finance, international studies, medical careers, even first responder training, and those are just a few of them.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. The list goes on and on. One of our more popular programs is actually the Performing Fine Arts Magnet at University High School. I've had the pleasure of doing a few different stories with them. One that sticks out is the theater tech program. Did you know that it's students that design and build the sets for all of their plays?
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Yes, I did because long ago I was the Principal Supervisor for University and I saw firsthand not only their performances, but I got to see the practices and I was blown away that the students do all of the work.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. It's actually unreal. I got to see the Beauty and the Beast play last year and the whole time I was like a student, like students did this. That’s awesome.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Yeah Amazing. Many of our award-winning programs fill up very quickly. There are limited seats, so when there are more applications than there are seats, we hold a lottery. Families are informed after the application window so they can begin planning for the following school year.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. That deadline to apply for one of our 41 magnet programs is February 15th, 2024. And if you have any specific questions, you can email [email protected].
Dr. Maria Vazquez: You can see all of the programs on the School Choice website. You will also find a virtual magnet fair that's available to watch, which will give you a lot of information.
Bri MacNaught: Yeah. That webpage can be found at schoolchoice.ocps.net. Or just look for the Magnet program graphic on the front page of ocps.net.
Dr. Maria Vazquez: Thank you all for watching. I'll see you next week On Mondays with Maria
Speaker 1: Mondays with Maria has been brought to you by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. Investing in our children today to strengthen our community tomorrow. For more OCPS news and information, visit theslice.ocps.net.