Journalism & Communication

Journalism & Communication Magnet Application

The Journalism and Communication (J&C) Program offers creative students with exceptional communication skills a rigorous project-based curriculum that fosters intellectual and social growth. Through engaging coursework, students take on roles that promote problem-solving and critical thinking. In a supportive team environment, they develop as enterprising leaders within the school and community, regularly earning national accolades for their published work. Admission requires an essay, an activities survey, work samples, two recommendations, grades, attendance, and test scores. Click here to visit the J&C webpage and learn more about this nationally recognized program.

The following items are required to apply to the J&C magnet:

J&C Statement of Academic Integrity for all Admissions Application Submissions:

We define “original” as wholly created by you — not AI-generated, suggested or corrected, not collaboratively created with another human, and not from a template (from Canva or elsewhere) of any kind. 

Helpful Tips:

• Make sure your sharing settings are set to "anyone with the link can view" 

• Make sure your links work 

Portfolio

• Written Essay (maximum 750 words)

Submit a single digital document containing an original essay responding to the following prompts:

• What interests you in J&C? The Journalism & Communication magnet prepares students for any career in which verbal and visual communication is important. Why are you applying to J&C? You can choose to include descriptions of any personal experiences, interests, and/or ambitions that have led to this decision.

• What drives you? Describe a time when you took an unpopular stand, OR explain a belief, idea, or topic that sparked your curiosity enough to investigate further on your own or take action. 

At the top of the document, you must include this statement: “I, ___________, declare I am the sole creator of the work below. No part of this work was plagiarized, edited or produced by another student, parent, adult, other individual, or with AI technology.” 

• Performance Task

Submit a single Google Slides digital document containing one to three examples of your original work from the categories listed below. We define “original” as entirely created by you—without the use of AI, templates, or collaborative assistance. Ensure your sharing settings allow access to your document and any included links (e.g., YouTube videos).  Click here for a sample Google Slide submission document.

Pick up to 3:

• Digital Art, illustrations, or page layout: Submit 2-4 designs.

• Photography: Submit 5-10 photos.

• Creative video: Submit 1 video 

• Speech: Submit 1 video of your speech performance.

• Podcast: Submit 1 podcast.

• Short story: Submit 1 short story.

• Poetry: Submit 2-4 poems.

• Journalistic writing: Submit 1 news or feature article, editorial.

• Non-fiction writing: Submit 1 personal narrative, written speech, reflective piece, or research paper.

• Multimedia: Submit 1 work that combines multiple media forms.

Rules for submission:

• For each work, include a brief statement explaining the software or app used, the reason for creating the work, and the intended audience. (Creating new work specifically for this application is acceptable.)

• Do not submit any work co-created with other people or artificial intelligence.

• Do not submit work created using a template with preset fonts, colors, images, or layouts.

• While it’s encouraged, but not required, to submit work from multiple categories, a complete application must include at least one submission from a single category. You may submit up to three pieces from three different categories. Note that some categories require multiple examples for a complete submission (e.g., the poetry category requires 2-4 poems).

• At the top of your document, include the following statement: “I, ___________, declare I am the sole creator of the work below. No part of this work was plagiarized, edited, or produced by another student, parent, adult, or AI technology.”

Activities Survey

List your 5 most important activities. You will indicate leadership positions or the nature of your membership for each activity.  Your time commitment will be selected from the following choices: less than 6 months, 6 months - 1 year, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3+ years. Include any work, volunteer, sport, club or outside organization participation.  You will enter your activities on the online duPont Manual Criteria Portal.  

Recommendations
TWO recommendations from teachers. 

• One must be from your current or last year’s Language Arts teacher.  Collect your recommenders’ email addresses. It will be submitted on your application.

• One can be from a teacher who is familiar with the student's academic performance, abilities and commitment. Collect your recommenders’ email addresses. It will be submitted on your application.

Academic

Attendance (optional):

Attending class is critical for success at duPont Manual High School.  Please provide a brief rationale if you have a total of more than ten (10) absences over the past 3 years.  Please include relevant reasons for the absences and any efforts that will be taken to ensure improved attendance if admitted to duPont Manual High School.   

IF YOU ARE A JCPS STUDENT:
We will obtain your attendance, transcript, school administered test scores and grades from JCPS. You do not need to provide this information with your application. However, if you have taken the ACT or SAT and wish to include your score report, please do so.

IF YOU HAVE NOT ATTENDED A JCPS SCHOOL, please submit the following with your application:

1. 1. • Attendance records for the past three years

      • Any standardized test scores, including ACT or SAT if available

      • Transcript grades for the past two years

      • Most recent grade report for the current year

Please note – Attendance is part of the application review. If your student has had a significant attendance issue in the last three years, please complete the optional attendance statement portion of the application.  

Behavior

IF YOU ARE A JCPS STUDENT:

We will obtain your behavior report from JCPS. You do not need to provide this information with your application. 

IF YOU HAVE NOT ATTENDED A JCPS SCHOOL, please submit your behavior report with your application.

Approved by Magnet Team (LP) 9/2025