Union County Magnet High School
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The Union County Magnet High School (UCMHS) is a magnet school in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The Magnet School has approximately 270 students. The Mission Statement of the school says the school wishes to prepare students for college/vocational training utilizing technology through problem solving, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary education. Students must apply to enter the school and the school turns away approximately 2/3 of applicants.
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Legal Implications
Since its creation, UCMHS has been controversial. There are 21 districts that are contained within the Union County Vocational Technical Schools District (UCVTSD). Following the creation of this school in 1997, a number of these districts filed suit against UCMHS. Scotch Plains, New Jersey petitioned the state Board of Education to force the exclusion of students from their district from the Magnet School. (See third external link below.) Rahway, New Jersey refused to allow Rahway students attending Magnet to participate in Rahway extracurricular programs. (See fourth external link below.) Their argument was that Magnet was taking the best students away from their home districts, that Magnet was drawing funds away from the home districts, and that they have to pay for transportation to Magnet.
Magnet won each of these suits because it is, legally, a Vocational-Technical school (a school which offers a vocational education) that offers certification in drafting (90% of students must pass the ADDA). Simply put, Magnet exists officially for the training of draftsmen and engineers.
The final case against UCMHS was the case launched by the City of Linden, New Jersey. It was resolved late in 2002 in favor of UCMHS. Linden ran a science school within its own district where it sent its gifted and talented students. They argued that their program was comparable to UCMHS allowing them to keep their students and not have to pay into the county school. The UCMHS argued that the programs were not comparable, as evidenced by Linden students desiring to leave their home district in favor of Magnet.
Distribution of funds was also a hot, though unofficial, topic of this case. The sending districts receive approximately $9000 annually for each student, while Magnet would receive $6000 for a student. The remaining $3000 which the home district keeps more than covers the transportation fees, sometimes leaving the sending district over $1000 of profit. Regardless, some districts were still not satisfied.
In the end, these cases proved that in New Jersey, at least, a school at the county level may compete with local schools, opening up a future potential for specialization and competition in public schools.
Educational Implications
The school's mission states that it focuses on science, math, and technology. Consequently, students are required to take one course in each topic every year. Some of the technology courses which include topics in engineering, design, computer programming, 3D animation, and architecture, are offered in conjunction with the Union County College (UCC) and students receive college credit for those courses. Very high level math courses are offered and almost every student completes courses up to Calculus I and the highest level students take courses up to Multivariate calculus, Linear Algebra, and Differential equation. The school employs very loose requirements for skipping math and science and students often skip courses after studying them on their own.
Though New Jersey law requires graduating high school students to have taken at least 10 credits of courses in the arts, the students are not required to do so (note that several arts courses are offered). The school avoids this regulation by incoporating arts into humanities courses. This allows more time for the science, math, and technology courses that the school focuses on.
Because of the tenuous nature of the school's existence, it places great importance on safety and removing any possible liabilities for the school. Because of this, several rules are strictly enforced like carrying a school ID visibly at all times. These strict rules are at sharp contrast with the relatively obedient student body. Any sort of extreme misbheavior or large infraction of the rules is rare.
Interdisciplinary learning is encouraged, with English language and History classes being at the forefront of integration. Computers are used in every class, often for research. Using the internet as a substitute, the School has no library. There is approximately a 2:1 ratio of students to computers.
With the smaller student population everybody knows everybody else. There is significantly more interaction between students of different ages than in most High Schools. Beyond this, students and teachers have a closer relationship. It is not uncommon for a student to visit the teachers' lounges during lunch to discuss a topic, educational or otherwise.
Culture and Extracurriculars
Fencing club was the most popular physical activity sanctioned by the school. Originally intended to develop into a team, the recent budget crisis at the state level has removed any chance for the team to be funded any time soon, as had been promised to students and teachers earlier. This lead to the resignation of the former Club Advisor and the current inactive state of the club.
Multicultural club is the most popular club in the school. It pushes for the appreciation of various cultures throughout the world. It sponsors activities to help people appreciate and spread awareness of other cultures. The grand finale of the year in this club is the Multicultural Fair.
The Robotics club officially lists approximately 15% of the school as its members, and is therefore the second largest club in the school. It's main activity is participating in the FIRST robotics competition (as team number 1257).
The Magnet House Band provides live music at many school events and assemblies. It consists of a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist, a pianist, occasional brass, and the principal's vocals.
The Magnet school is home to its own newspaper in the Magnet Attraction. An attempt in 2004 to introduce a completely amateur and uninformative "underground" newspaper called the "Magnet Free Journal" failed miserably.
Building
The building that houses UCMHS was constructed in the 1960s and housed a portion of (UCC) through the 1970s. It was abandoned through the mid 1990s when the UCVTSD had the building gutted and renovated. UCMHS opened in 1997 and since then the building has seen minor renovations and the addition of a glass atrium to the fitness center. Following the major renovations in the mid-1990s, the building was named Mancuso Hall after the Chairman of the Union County Board of Education at the time.
The facade of the building features faux-stone over the staircases, which project from the building, and a series of white and brown gravel coated concrete panels, each containing a trapezoidal window. The building contains many windows and glass walls to the extent that in some places one can stand on one side of the building and see through the other side of the building. Inside, the building features white walls and blue metal-lashed windows. The majority of the school is carpeted, with the exception of rubber floors in the fitness center and laboratories and tile in the lower floor hallway. The building is two stories.
The building is equipped with various modern conveniences, including a central clock system, an intercom, fully automatic restrooms, computer network, telephone, and AV connections in every room, and low-glare light diffusers.
Student's Views
Student opinions vary wildly as to the quality and effectiveness of the school. Many are discouraged by what they see as excessively large workloads and little attention paid to actual education, with more emphasis placed on so-called 'busywork'. Several students have left the school and gone back to their sending districts. On the other hand, many students acknowledge that the experience has been a positive one for them as well, uniting them for the first time with a community made up entirely of other intelligent students.
External links
- Union County Magnet High School's website (http://www.ucmagnethigh.k12.nj.us/)
- Article in newspaper on the proposal of the Magnet school (http://www.goleader.com/97stories/97mar02magnetschool.htm)
- September 22, 2000 decition by NJ State Board of Education Concerning the Magnet School (the Scotch Plains decision) (http://www.state.nj.us/njded/legal/sboe/2002/feb/sb63-00.pdf)
- November 29, 1999 decition by State Comissioner of Education Concerning participation of Magnet Students in Home District Activities (the Rahway decision) (http://www.state.nj.us/njded/legal/commissioner/389-99.pdf)
- September 22, 2000 Decition by State Comissioner of Education Concerning the Magnet School (the Scotch Plains-Fanwood decision) (http://www.state.nj.us/njded/legal/commissioner/2000/313-00.pdf)
- The Robotics Team's website (http://ucnj-tech.org/)
- The Magnet Free Journal's website (http://www.magnetFJ.com/)