Magnet Angel - Because every parent deserves an angel in their corner.

Intro to Magnet Angel (or Magnets 101)

Angelmom — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:19:26 +0000

Here's what I can answer:
What should I look for in a school?

Here's my situation, what do you think of my choices? or
This is my plan, do you see any loopholes?

Can you further explain this?

Here's where I can call in all my resources and try to get an answer:

What is the magnet program like at _____? or

Are there any parents with kids at ____ magnet?

--While
it may be a long shot, Magnet Yentas are well-connected. A shout out
from one yenta will likely get a response from a friend of a friend.
But remember, all advice is free, so therefore, you get what you paid
for.

What are some unsung magnets/charters/neighborhood schools in my neighborhood?

--We've all got our favorites in certain neighborhoods, but one year's unsung hero may become next year's hot property, so there is no guaranteed "in."

Here are some of the questions I can NOT answer:

How many points does it take to get into _____ Magnet? or

I have ____ points. Will I get into the magnet?

--Even
seasoned magnet coordinators who are well up LAUSD's pay scale don't
get directly into quoting how many points it takes to get into a
specific magnet. Popularity among magnets changes between years as new
schools open up or administrations change.

What school should I send my child to? or

Which is the best school in my area?

Is _____ a good school?

--Without
the years of bonding that hopefully you and your child have formed,
it's impossible as Yentas to guess which school is the best for your
child. We can recommend schools in a particular area to look at, but
ultimately where we would send our kids could be completely different
than where you might want your kids to go.

My child has a fall birthday. Should we put him in or hold him back?

--We
can help you see your options. We can link you to great articles on
redshirting kindergarteners, we can even tell you what we did with
*our* kids (and so far they've turned out ok....) but like other
personal questions, ultimately they're best left up to parents to make
the decision for their kids.

Happy New Year

Angelmom — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:41:19 +0000

It's been a busy semester, that's for sure. My son has successfully completed his first semester at Cal Lutheran University. My daughter has been promoted to her school's orchestra. And I almost ran for LAUSD school board.

One week in late October I read that Julie Korenstein had decided she would not seek reelection for the district six seat, and a week later I was driving down to the LA City Elections Office, taking an oath, and declaring myself a candidate. It's amazing the lengths you'll go trying to buy a little time to make a decision on something as serious as a run for political office.

Four weeks later, I opted not to turn in the petitions. As much as I want to be able to help the kids in this district, and as much I as I'd like a direct say in what will go on down on Beaudry, the reality is this board seat has been turned into a stepping stone for well-healed politicians, and I don't want to spend the next four months begging for money to try to get the word out. People already are well aware of what I've been able to do

I feel like my calling is always going to be school choice, but I don't want to worry about what I say or how I say it--offending some group. There is no lobby for families like there is for apparently every other group in LAUSD.

I've been able to speak at a Magnets & Martinis event in L.A. in mid-December, and I've helped out the great new beat reporter at the Daily News, Connie Llanos. She wrote a great article on magnet season here: http://www.dailynews.com/education/ci_11327207

The new year promises some of the most severe budget cuts imaginable, so this won't be the last post you see from me.

Back to School and Back to Blog

Angelmom — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:42:35 +0000

Hola parents!

It's been ages, and I'm dealing with an FAQ issue here on Magnet Angel, so for awhile I gave up a bit. I'll try to find a decent workaround.

In the meantime, I was at a bookreading for Sandra Tsing Loh's new book, Mother on Fire, and got pressed into service rather quickly. The same question keeps coming up, over and over, and that's clearly why does LAUSD do such a terrible job of promoting the hidden gems it has all over the district? Not just the Balboas, but the quiet neighborhood schools offering violin, or fundraising for an art or computer teacher.

Sandra has created a blog-ish resource where parents looking for information on a local school can write in and Sandra puts out the word, and parents from that school are located and come write back about it. It's incredibly grassroots, but it's why it's working so well. It's at http://askamagnetyenta.wordpress.com

With the kids starting school again (and Michael in college, FINALLY), I'll try in earnest to keep up with this site as well as the time I'm spending on GreatSchools.net on their community forum answering parents questions there too.

LAUSD Magnet Angel

Angelmom — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:13:40 +0000

LAUSDMagnetAngel.com was created to help parents find answers to their public school questions without spending days on hold or getting different answers each time a parent calls downtown.

Not always politically correct, but a true veteran of virtually all school choice options, Angel can guide, nudge, and advise for free. A volunteer in no way affliated with LAUSD aside from having been in the trenches as a parent, LAUSDMagnetAngel truly believes you deserve an angel in your corner.

Links

Angelmom — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:19:07 +0000

With an area as vast as Los Angeles is many of us have created separate websites that specialize in a variety of niches.

Sandra Tsing Loh's Scandously Informal Guide to Los Angeles Public Schools

http://www.sandratsingloh.com/index.php?pr=Scandalously_Informal

Sandra's "Ask a Magnet Yenta" blog

http://askamagnetyenta.wordpress.com/

Tanya Anton's GoMamaGuide to Westside Public Schools

http://gomamaguide.blogspot.com/

Bill Ring's Guerilla Guide to LA Unified

http://www.guerrillaguidetolaunified.com/

Los Angeles Parents Union

http://www.laparentsunion.org/

LAUSD's School Finder--type in an address and get your "home" school

http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=schfinder0

Angel Zobel-Rodriguez's LAUSD Magnet Angel

http://www.lausdmagnetangel.com

When a PI school Isn't Really PI

Angelmom — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:14:39 +0000

Recently families in the North Valley have been receving letters from the middle schools stating their schools had not met academic targets and were designated Program Improvement schools. I've heard from more than a few frightened parents who had no idea what that meant--their phenomenal schools of just a few months ago were now threatened with governmental takeover and the parents now had the right to move their children to different, yet-to-be-determined middle schools that did not fail the No Child Left Behind targets. Let me assure everyone that of the schools I have checked--Lawrence, Frost, Porter, Holmes and others, the issue is with one subgroup: children with disabilities. While this does not take away from the severity of the issue for this subgroup, an administrator pointed out that the schools have mainstreamed more severely disabled students in recent years and this is the challenge that all these schools face.

It would be nice if the letters that declare that a school is designated a PI school also explained what led to that designation: the entire school, specific subgroups, etc.

Since getting a transfer out of a PI school uses the same application as the Magnet application, I encouraged parents interested in banking magnet points to continue with their plans to bank points and talk to the schools directly. If they felt everything was okay for their families, stay put, or for a little extra security, get ready to plan for open enrollment which will start in April or May. I can't see parents requesting out of a school they're happy with no control over where their child will be sent.

Thankfully, I am a few years from middle school with my daughter, but feel for the parents, as it's just one more unnecessary drama in their lives.

Red Shirting Kindergarteners

Angelmom — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:47:05 +0000

I got into an interesting discussion with some parents at my daughter's school regarding redshirting kindergarten students. States across the country are enforcing a mandatory minimum age for kindergartners, where a student must be five by a certain cutoff date. Some states it's the beginning of September before school starts, and in California it's actually December. The goal is to keep parents from starting their children in school before they're ready. That makes some sense, or else, the parents of the "extremely, wildly, gifted out the treetops" might be trying to enroll them in school before the placenta is delivered.

What concerns me, though, is exactly the opposite practice--redshirting. Some parents feeling they will gain an advantage if they keep their five and even six year olds out of kindergarten an extra year. I'm not talking about kids with fall birthdays who are not ready for school at four, but children that are fully five or even turning six during the school year and the parents hold them back one more year so they will be (presumably) even more mature and better prepared for kindergarten.

My son was four when he started kindergarten and didn't turn five for two months. He was reading. He was also a boy and he liked to move. Thankfully, we weathered the storm, and we've been very happy with our decision since. I can only imagine what happens to a class if this practice catches hold when some well-meaning parents send their five-year-olds to kindergarten and have to compete with six-and-a-half-year-old kindergarteners. Do I as a parent want my daughter, a March baby and still the tiniest in her class, having to compete physically with children that are double her weight and six inches taller than she is?

Kindergarten is supposed to prepare children for school. Kindergarten should not be looked at as the gateway to Harvard and Yale. I really wish more people would look at the journey and let their kids be kids rather than look for the destination and strategize their entire lives before they've lost their first teeth.

Getting the Word Out on Great Public Schools

Angelmom — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:28:29 +0000

I offered to do the newsletter for my daughter's school's PTA. There was no newsletter this year, and when they sent home the list of "jobs" available, I figured if no one else wanted to do it, I would be willing. My husband will set me up with a template, and I can insert content.

A newsletter is important for the families attending the school, but it's equally important to the neighbors surrounding the school. While I hope to offer an online version accessible at all times, I do want to print some good, old-fashioned newsletters and take them door to door in the neighbhorhood surrounding my daughter's school and offer them for availability at their Neighborhood Council.

The parents that chose their neighborhood school know what a little gem we've inherited. But with so many children in private preschools, it seems many are already biased against the schools sight unseen.

By papering the neighborhood, we will show long-time residents what the school's up to since their children have graduated, and hopefully show "future families" what we're all about. Since great schools do wonders for real estate values, I'd really like to partner with any of the realtors in our area to show prospective buyers what they're getting if they buy into the neighborhood, too.

I hope the newsletter serves as both a news source for school families and even more so, a resource for the community as a whole.

Granada Hills Charter High School Graduates Thursday

Angelmom — Wed, 30 May 2007 05:00:42 +0000

It's not even June and the first of the area schools will be graduating Thursday evening. As soon as Granada went charter, they chose to move their academic calendar earlier. The kids start school in the beginning of August and finish their midterms before the holiday break in December. And when they return, it's to the second semester. And now, May 31st, they graduate. Congratulations, GHCHS grads!

They've got three full weeks now until their friends can join them sleeping in. It's during these three weeks that the Granada kids are the envy of the Valley. However, talk to them again in August when the rest of the kids are still savoring their vacations and the Granada folks are back to the day-in, day-out drudgery of classes.

Open Enrollment Ends June 1

Angelmom — Tue, 29 May 2007 05:40:13 +0000

I'm still moving into these new cyber digs, but I want to mention that open enrollment ends June 1st. Parents have been swarming into the offices at my daughter's school for the five spots that are available. It's not too late to look into options for 2007-08

How We Got Here

Angelmom — Tue, 29 May 2007 05:30:03 +0000

This site has been a long time coming. I'm an LAUSD mom of two: a sixteen-year-old junior and a six-year-old kindergartener. My son, patient as he is, went through three schools in three years. Kindergarten, we tried open enrollment at a very prestigious West Valley School. It didn't go so well. First grade, a neighbor convinced us to try the neighborhood school where she was an administrator. Year round was just not for us. Finally in second grade, he was accepted by a great magnet that met his needs. LAUSD has plenty of choices available, thanks to their size, but informed choices are a lot better than just picking names of schools from a hat. My daughter, being 10 years younger, has the benefit of older, wiser parents who chose the right school the first time (and turned down the acceptance to the phenomenal magnet her brother got into 10 years prior).

Last fall, I came across the LA Times School Me! blog. It was eye-opening. Soon Sandra Tsing Loh was brought on as the "Magnet Yenta." Personally, I've always found that finding the right school is more like giving birth, so I would have chosen Magnet Doula, but it was her title, and she went with Yenta. I attended a parental get together Sandra hosted, Martinis and Magnets, and I found a room full of parents that needed help. I assisted with the Magnet Yenta questions at School Me! until they shut down the site in early May 2007. The information outlet dried up, but not my desire to help. What to call myself? Well, that didn't take too long either. When your parents actually name you Angel, you make the best of it. So here I am, Magnet Angel. At this point, I'm a veteran. Anything I can do to help families find the right school faster--first time out--will help me feel better about the journey my family's been on. I won't always know the answers, but I know where to look. Keep coming back and hopefully I'll use a good part of the summer to make this a site that parents can use and then sleep a little easier at night.