ISD 281 Magnet Schools Application Available Dec. 1

Kindergarten magnet school lottery applications for Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School (RSIS) and the School of Engineering and Arts (SEA) at Olson Elementary School in the Robbinsdale Area School district will open December 1, 2012, which is a Saturday. 

Families of incoming kindergartners will be able to access the magnet application online this year by going to https://magnetlottery.rdale.org/.  Access to the magnet application will begin on December 1, 2012.   Paper copies of the magnet applications will also be available at all schools and at the Education Service Center, 4148 Winnetka Avenue North, New Hope beginning on December 3, 2012.

Families who currently have students attending either school, and wish to have their incoming kindergarten student attend that school as well, must fill out an application and submit it before the deadline. 

The deadline to submit applications is 4:00 p.m. on February 28, 2013.  Only kindergarten magnet applications are online.  Families of students who are currently in grades K-4 need to fill out either an in-district transfer form or an open enrollment form.  Both forms are currently online at www.rdale.org, by clicking on “Families” or “New Families”.  Families will be notified by March 15, 2013 of their status in the lottery.

RSIS celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary this past year, and is known statewide for its outstanding Spanish Immersion education.  Students who are older than kindergarten and who wish to apply to RSIS must be enrolled fulltime in a Spanish Immersion program or pass a grade level proficiency test.  Students from RSIS who are entering middle school can continue in the Spanish Immersion program at Plymouth Middle School.  The middle school Spanish Immersion magnet program is well into its second decade of proven success for students.

SEA opened in the 2012-2013 school year and has been very successful in creating a fantastic science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) elementary magnet school – the only one of its kind in the area.  The district is currently exploring the possibility of creating a middle school STEM magnet program, with a decision to come later this year.  Both middle schools currently have Gateway to Technology, the middle level let of the Project Lead the Way national pre-engineering program.  Both Armstrong and Cooper high schools have Project Lead the Way courses at their schools.  In addition, all elementary schools in the district have implemented strong STEM components in their school, with teachers all over the district trained in STEM initiatives over the last couple of years through such leaders in STEM education as the Region 11 Math and Science Teacher Academy Partnership, the Works Museum, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).
 
For more information on all of the choices that Robbinsdale Area Schools has to offer, visit them at www.rdale.org or check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RobbinsdaleAreaSchools.

Information provided by Robbinsdale Area Schools.