Eligibility

To be eligible for application to a magnet school, a custodial parent of the student must be domiciled (living) within Durham County lines and possibly with a geographic region of Durham. Proof of residency is required in the form of a deed, current lease, current mortgage document, or current property tax document. (Magnet coordinators should be familiar with the list of documents located here that can be used to establish domicile https://www.dpsnc.net/domain/106). A custodial parent or guardian with photo identification must provide this document in person to the school. Families that cannot establish residency through one of these documents can only establish residency through affidavit completed with the DPS office of student assignment. This step is necessary to ensure that a custodial parent is the one making a choice to enroll the child in a magnet school.

Current DPS students, home school, private or charter school students, or students who are not currently attending any school are eligible to apply. Students/newcomers to Durham Public Schools that wish to apply outside of the application window may submit a “late paper application” to the Office of Student Assignment (OSA). No priority will be given for late applications. The application will be processed and the students seated if space is available or placed on the wait list if no seats are available. The OSA dashboard highlights priorities for each magnet school. Please note that all priorities are based on DPS school board policy and are subject to change. This process usually opens around May 1st each year.

Priorities

Link priority

A link priority is an assignment providing a natural link from one magnet school to another identified middle or high school. An application must be submitted, ranking the linked secondary school as the first choice.

• Rising 6th graders from George Watts Montessori Magnet and Morehead Montessori Magnet Elementary Schools are linked to Lakewood Montessori Middle Magnet School.

• Rising 6th graders from Burton Magnet Elementary are linked to Shepard Magnet Middle School.

• Rising 9th graders from Shepard Magnet Middle School are linked to Hillside International Baccalaureate Programme.

Sibling priority

A sibling is defined as a brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister domiciled (living) in the same household.

• Sibling attending priority: A sibling attending priority is an assignment given to applicants who have a sibling currently attending the program elementary magnet school and who will be attending during the upcoming school year. An application must be submitted, ranking the identified elementary school as the first choice.

• Sibling applying priority: A sibling applying priority is an assignment given to student applicants when siblings apply to the same elementary magnet school. An application must be submitted, ranking the identified secondary school as the first choice. There must be seats available at the grades requested for the sibling group, to take advantage of this priority or none of the sibling group will be seated. If a parent does not want this priority, the sibling(s) should not be listed on the sibling applying portion of the application. This will allow each sibling the opportunity to be considered as a solo applicant for assignment. THE LINK IS ALL OR NOTHING: either both siblings will get a seat or neither will. Be prepared to explain this to parents.

Zone Assignment Priority

All students living in Durham Public Schools attendance area have a base attendance zone. Some students who live within an established zone have lottery priority as outlined within the specific zone definition.

Walk zone Priority

A walk zone is an assignment priority that allows automatic assignment to students who live within one (safe walking) half mile of the schools that have this priority. A walk zone is not part of the lottery. It acts as an attendance zone, providing automatic assignment. The following magnet elementary schools are the only schools that have this assignment preference:

• Burton Magnet

• Club Blvd Magnet

• R.N.Harris

Priority Zone

A priority zone is a designated area around the school that provides applicants who are domiciled (living) in that area an assignment priority. This priority takes place when the lottery is conducted. It is not an automatic assignment, as there must be space available at the grade level requested. George Watts Montessori Magnet and Morehead Montessori Magnet are the only schools that have this assignment priority. An application must be submitted, ranking the identified school as the first choice. The following magnet elementary schools are the only schools that have this assignment preference:

• George Watts Montessori

• Morehead Montessori

Priority Choice Zone

A priority choice zone is an assignment priority that takes into account applicants who live within a designated zone. This priority takes place when the lottery is conducted. It is not an automatic assignment, as there must be space available at the grade level requested. The only magnet elementary school that has this assignment preference is Sandy Ridge Elementary. The designated choice priority is given to students who are domiciled (living) in the attendance zones of the following schools:

• Easley

• Eno Valley

• Glenn

• Hillandale

• Holt

• Little River

• Mangum

*Applicants must submit an application and rank their school of priority as their first choice to be considered for any of the priorities through the lottery process.

*There is no guarantee of assignment for either sibling priorities, or link priority, as seats must be available at the grade level(s) requested.