Greenwich Public Schools Hold Magnet School Open Houses

The Greenwich Public Schools is hosting open houses for families who are considering applying to any of the district’s four elementary and one middle school magnet programs.

School choice provides opportunities to attend a school with programs that may be of particular interest to a family or individual student. School choice also provides the district with a means of balancing enrollment among its schools on a voluntary basis rather than by mandating school attendance area changes.

The Magnet School Application Guidelines Packet is available on the GPS web site www.greenwichschools.org/MagnetSchools.

All Greenwich magnet schools teach the same curriculum and provide the same support services as every other public elementary and middle school in Greenwich.

Hamilton Avenue School Preschool-5 (HAS) reopened this year (2015-2016) as the district’s first Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) school. STEM education can ignite interest and develop the skills and knowledge that prepares students for expanding career opportunities. It is a Phase I Digital Learning Environment school, with an existing Science Lab and television studio. HAS will also continue to provide preschool classes, World Language instruction (Spanish) in grades K-5, Suzuki violin instruction in PreK-5, and smaller class sizes in grades K-1.

The International School at Dundee K-5 (ISD) is an authorized International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme School and opened as the district’s first magnet school in 2000. Julian Curtiss School K-5 (JCS) has been a magnet school of World Languages since 2003, with students representing 60 countries, and 30 languages. JCS offers the choice of learning either Spanish or French in grades K-5.

New Lebanon School K-5 (NLS) is an authorized International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme school and has been a magnet school since 2009.

Western Middle School 6-8 (WMS) reopened as a magnet school in 2013 as an authorized International Baccalaureate World School offering the Middle Years Programme.

• Wednesday, Jan. 13: Julian Curtiss School at 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 14: New Lebanon School at 7 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 15: New Lebanon School at 8:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 20: Western Middle School at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Julian Curtiss School: 9:15 a.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 21: International School at Dundee at 9:15 a.m.
• Monday, Jan. 25: International School at Dundee at 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 27: Hamilton Avenue School at 7 p.m.

Photo: Hamilton Avenue School. Credit: Barbara Heins.