The ins and outs of Montgomery's magnet application process: Here's what you need to know

Montgomery Public Schools already received more magnet program applications this year than it did in 2023, and there is still a week left for parents to submit their students for consideration.

The magnet lottery is a closely watched event in which MPS randomly selects from a pool of qualified students who will be allowed to attend a Montgomery magnet. These include three of Alabama’s top 20 high schools: Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School and Booker T. Washington Magnet High School.

MPS Director for Strategy and Innovation Kristy Hatch said that she has made a conscientious effort to increase transparency throughout the magnet process since taking on this role last year.

“There’s no mystery around it. There’s no lack of communication,” Hatch said. “It's very important to me that it is a fair and just process.”

As parents rush to complete the final steps in the application process by the end of the month, Hatch sat down with the Montgomery Advertiser to answer some of the most-asked questions she hears. Here’s what she had to say:

What is the most common mistake parents make?

Hatch said there are two.

The first is submitting multiple applications. Doing so immediately disqualifies your child from this year’s application cycle.

“We've already had that this year where an application is submitted with School A and B, and then another duplicate is submitted with School B and C, so they're kind of covering all their bases,” Hatch said.

She’s heard excuses like “I didn’t know the first one went through, so I just submitted another,” but nonetheless, when this happens, the person is completely removed from the lottery.

The second disqualifying mistake is if the person submitting the application is not the child’s legal guardian. You must have custody of the child you are trying to get into the magnet system.

“Everything else we really try to work with parents on,” Hatch said.

Am I at an advantage if my child was on the waitlist for a magnet last year?

No. Every year when school starts in August, the magnet application slate is wiped clean, and the waitlist starts anew.

Even if your child was on the waitlist for your desired magnet school in 2023, you must submit a new application for consideration in this year’s application cycle.

What if I already have one child in the magnet system? Does that help my other children?

There is no sibling preference in the MPS magnet lottery.

“It's tough, but because we have so few seats and so many applicants, we just have to be fair to everyone,” Hatch said. “Each application is considered independently.”

This means that when multiple children from the same family are accepted into the magnet system, it is purely by chance.

Which magnet school should my child attend?

“Begin with the end in mind. Because they are feeder programs, the schools are really set up around the high schools,” Hatch said. “I know it's hard to think about with a kindergartener, what school you want them to graduate from, but the feeders are all thematic.”

BrewTech has a STEM-focused curriculum where students can choose from career-based “academies” like engineering, medical, graphic design, information technology, architecture, business and marketing.

Bear Exploration Center and Floyd Middle School feed into BrewTech. This means children accepted into either school will have an automatic path to graduating from BrewTech without having to reapply.

Loveless Academic Magnet Program has the most stringent academic curriculum with numerous options for Advanced Placement classes to prepare students for higher education. Students must finish with a minimum of seven AP courses, and it is in the top 1% of high schools across the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Two paths lead into LAMP: Forest Avenue Elementary to Baldwin Academic Middle School, and MacMillan International Academy to Carr Middle School. Students accepted into any of the four schools will have automatic entry into LAMP.

Lastly, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School places an emphasis on the arts, preparing students for careers in creative writing, dance, theater, musical performance, broadcast journalism, television, radio and law.

Carver Elementary Arts and Baldwin Arts Middle School feed into BTW.

How does the magnet lottery actually work?

Once applications are in, Hatch and her team verify each application’s eligibility. For kindergarteners and first graders not yet enrolled in MPS, this is based on the required testing scores. For second graders and up, this is based on grade point averages.

Then, the lottery computer program compiles all eligible applications and sorts each one by which schools it meets the requirements for and which schools the applicant prefers.

By the time lottery day comes around in April, Hatch and her team simply go into the program and tell it to randomly select a certain number of seats, depending on what availability looks like in each school.

“We run every grade level at every school individually, and then we double-check it,” Hatch said. “I trust computers, but I'm also a parent. I would hate to not be included if I was supposed to be included, and I want everything to be done correctly.”

She said her team has yet to spot any mistakes made by the computer.

From there, the other eligible students who are not accepted get placed on a waitlist, and if students do not accept their seats or decide not to return, the computer pulls from the list of waitlisted students.

What are my child’s chances of being accepted this year?

The number of open seats across Montgomery magnets is always fluid, and it depends on how many magnet students intend to return next year, if there have been any changes in funding at each school and the overall student capacity at each school.

For example, when BTW moved into its new building last year, Hatch said MPS was able to almost double the school’s enrollment.

Typically, Hatch said, the most seats are available in sixth grade and ninth grade because they are transition years into middle and high school.

For the 2024-25 year specifically, there are an increased number of spots available at Floyd Middle School (which feeds BrewTech). There are also “a lot” of open seats at LAMP, which Hatch said is because of the difficult program there.

When is the deadline, and when will parents hear back?

Applications opened earlier this month and will close on Jan. 31. After that, parents will have until 4 p.m. on Feb. 16 to ensure the receipt of their child’s transcript by the MPS central office. The official lottery will be on April 2.

In previous years, Hatch said parents would only receive two emails: one to confirm the receipt of an application and the second to say whether or not the child had been accepted.

During last year’s application cycle, she changed that.

Applicants should now receive numerous emails throughout the process: an application confirmation, a transcript reminder two weeks before the deadline, a transcript receipt confirmation, an email explaining which schools each child is eligible for based on GPA prior to the lottery date and then a final notification of lottery results.

What should I do if I have more questions or need individualized help?

Any and all questions can be sent to Hatch and her office at magnet@mps.k12.al.us.

“We do our best to within 24 to 48 hours respond to the parents so that questions aren't lying out there,” Hatch said. “We work really hard on that.”

Hadley Hitson covers children's health, education and welfare for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: 8 things to know about Montgomery's 2024 magnet application process