A new high school magnet program is scheduled to open at Poolesville High School. Pending budget approval, the Poolesville Magnet High School will be available for incoming freshmen in the upcounty area beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.

"I am pleased that the creation of this magnet in the northwestern part of Montgomery County will offer more students the opportunity to participate in a highly rigorous and challenging academic experience," said Superintendent Jerry D. Weast.

The Poolesville Magnet High School will be the first whole-school magnet in a Montgomery County high school. The whole-school model accommodates students selected through an application process from outside the home school, as well as local school students interested in the magnet focus areas. Curriculum under development will allow students to choose instructional pathways that include elements of the Science, Mathematics, Computer Science Magnet Program and the Communication Arts Program at Montgomery Blair High School and the Global Ecology Studies Program currently at Poolesville High School.

Students applying to the Poolesville Magnet High School must live in the areas served by the Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, Col. Zadok Magruder, Northwest, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, and Watkins Mill clusters. Eligible families have received a letter providing program and application information.

The new magnet program will begin with Grade 9 in August of 2006, and will be phased in over four years to include grades 9 through 12.

For more information, contact Erick Lang, director, Department of Enriched and Innovative Programs, at 301-279-8529, or visit the MCPS Web site.