Choosing a School
Your Choices
JCPS elementary, middle, and high school students may apply to any of the following:
- The school that serves their home address
- A magnet school
- A magnet program
- An optional program
- Any other school in their elementary cluster or their high school network
The following sections offer more information on these choices.
Which School Serves Your Address?
There are two ways to find out which school serves your child's home address:
- Use the online School Finder.
- Call the JCPS Demographics Office at (502) 485-3050.
Magnet Schools and Programs
JCPS magnet schools and magnet programs focus on a specific subject (such as environmental studies), offer training for a specific career (such as engineering), or provide a specialized learning environment (such as a Montessori school setting).
Students who are accepted into a magnet program become full--time students of the school that offers it, and they go to the school for all of their classes-not just the magnet program classes.
Some magnet schools and programs accept students only from specific areas of the district. Other magnets accept students from any home address. JCPS provides bus transportation for district students accepted into a magnet school or program regardless of where the students live.
The district offers many different types of magnet schools and programs. Here is general information on a few of them:
- A traditional school is a type of magnet school that focuses on teaching and learning at grade level in a traditionally structured classroom environment. Traditional schools require uniforms, daily homework, and parent involvement. A traditional program operates in the same way as a traditional school, but it's a program within a school.
- A magnet career academy (MCA) is a type of high school that lets students focus on training for a specific career-in addition to providing the basic courses that all students are required to complete.
- A Montessori school uses the Montessori approach to learning, which encourages critical thinking, exploration, and self-directed education. For information on Coleridge-Taylor Montessori Elementary, click here. For information on Kennedy Montessori Elementary, click here.
Optional Programs
An optional program is a small, specialized program within a school. Students who are accepted into an optional program become students of the school offering the program. They attend the school for all of their classes, not just the optional program classes, but JCPS does not provide transportation for students in an optional program unless they live in the school's attendance area.
Elementary School Clusters
Students who aren't interested in magnet or optional programs may still apply to any other school in their cluster. JCPS provides transportation for students who are accepted. Most of the district's elementary schools are part of one of six clusters. Each includes 12 to 15 schools.
Click here for more information on applying to an elementary school.
Middle School Choices
Most JCPS middle school students always have the option of attending the school that serves their home address. Students may apply to attend a magnet middle school. They may apply to other schools through their magnet or optional programs.
Click here for more information on applying to a middle school.
High School Networks
Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, JCPS high schools will be divided into three networks. High school students may apply to any school in their network and to districtwide magnet schools and programs.
Click here for more information on applying to a high school.