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CALIMESA: Magnet school concept approved by boardSep 28, 2011 (The Press-Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Mesa View Middle School in Calimesa will open as a magnet school next fall, the Yucaipa-Calimesa school board decided Tuesday night. The district plans to open Mesa View as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, magnet school starting next school year. Under the concept recommended by administrators and approved by the board, parents of sixth-grade students who want their children to attend Mesa View will have that option. Mesa View, located in Calimesa, now serves seventh and eighth grades. The working plan is for the sixth grade to operate as a school-within-a-school, though the logistics have yet to be worked out, Superintendent Sherry Kendrick said. Parents of Mesa View students who do not want their children to attend the magnet school can transfer them to Park View, the other middle school in the district. Mesa View already offers STEM as an elective. Students are introduced to robotics, engineering, computer-assisted design, model fabrication, space and flight, electronic circuit boards and forensic lab testing, the classroom website states. The STEM program has been adopted by schools nationwide. As a magnet school, Mesa View still will offer STEM as an elective but all of its students will get a dose of the curriculum. The plan is for students to visit the STEM lab four times a year for weeklong lessons. Mesa View Principal Jim Stolze said the magnet school will be marketed to families who live outside the district. Thirty-six students added to the district would generate $180,000 in income, Stolze said. He expects the school to receive another $4,000 in grants and donations. Stolze said the magnet school's expenses could total $76,000, which includes personnel, teacher training, materials and marketing. "I look at it is an investment in our district," Kendrick said. Assistant Superintendent George Velarde said if the magnet school attracts at least 15 students who are new to the district, that would bring in $76,000, meeting the expenses. Stolze said after the meeting that he was confident the school would draw at least that many new students. ___ (c)2011 The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) Visit The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) at www.PE.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |