Your last-minute guide to applying for Baltimore County school magnet programs

Baltimore County parents, time is running out to submit applications for public school magnet programs.

You have just over 24 hours to apply. The good news is it takes only about five minutes.

Magnet programs allow students to attend any school in the county, regardless of where they live, to get specialized education in areas such as law, visual arts and information technology.

Here’s what to know about the process, including what happens after you hit submit.

When’s the deadline?

The online application portal will close at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The school district will not take applications after that.

It sneaks up on families every year, said Bryan Stoll, the district’s coordinator for the Office of Educational Opportunities and Services.

“We hate to see any family disappointed or sad because they missed it,” he said.

What programs should I pick?

Students should base their magnet program decision on what’s interesting to them, Stoll said, not on which school they want to attend.

Programs are offered at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Each student can select up to three programs to be entered in a lottery for a slot.

“Decisions for one program don’t have any impact on the decisions for another,” Stoll said. “If they pick three programs, their child will be in three different lotteries.”

Elementary students can enroll in STEAM programs — focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math — at The Chatsworth School in Reisterstown and Cromwell Valley Elementary Regional Magnet in Towson.

Applications for students entering kindergarten through second grade are accepted at Chatsworth. Students entering grades 1-4 can apply to Cromwell.

For middle schoolers, the system accepts applications only for incoming sixth graders. Programs include health sciences, mass communications and performing arts.

Incoming ninth graders can apply for high school programs in culinary arts, environmental science and the Teacher Academy of Maryland, to name a few.

For more information, visit the school system’s magnet programs page.

The application was submitted. Now what?

Stoll said an automated confirmation email is sent to the address used to create the magnet application account. Check your junk mail if you don’t see the email. If that doesn’t work, call the school system to make sure the application went through.

For elementary and middle schoolers, all that’s left to do is wait until Jan. 8 after 4 p.m. That’s when the results will be released.

High schoolers need to schedule an entry assessment while filling out the application form.

Each assessment is based on 100 points. Students who score 80 points or higher are placed in the “first tier or the first pool of the lottery,” Stoll said, raising their chances of securing a spot.

“As long as the student goes to the assessment, they will be in the lottery,” Stoll said. “If they don’t go to the assessment, they’re disqualified.”

Assessments happen in November through early January.

Students can expect to learn whether they’ve secured a spot in a magnet program on Feb. 19 by the end of the day.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.