CMA Families,

As a result of the decision by the Board of Education to continue to support Career Magnet Academy, we thought it might be helpful to revisit some of the most significant changes that have been implemented in our ongoing efforts to increase the rigor of our magnet programming and to increase our out-of-zone enrollment. The two most significant changes are as follows: 1) the expansion of our dual enrollment opportunities to include the entire PSCC Straw Plains course catalog and 2) the implementation of AVID to help ensure that our CMA scholars are college-ready by the time they reach their junior year in high school.

Prior to these changes, when our magnet programming focused on only four career pathways (homeland security, advanced manufacturing, teaching as a profession, and sustainable design), the name “Career Magnet Academy” aligned with our magnet theme and accurately communicated the opportunities we offered our community. Since our programming has shifted to a focus on dual enrollment with an emphasis on an early/middle college experience, we at CMA feel that a different name could communicate more clearly our magnet theme and, consequently, attract more potential students.

It warmed our hearts to see how our CMA family stood together and took ownership of saving our school.  We would like to see that same passion and energy invested into changing the name of our school. To that end, we will take submissions for the name of our school throughout the month of February using the form below.  Once the submission window closes on 2/28/19, a committee made up of staff, parents, students, alumni, and community partners will meet to narrow the submissions to a reasonable number. Those submissions will be sent out for a vote, and then the final name choice will go before the Board of Education to be approved.  

We look forward to reading your responses, and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Best,

Leanne Hawn

Principal
Career Magnet Academy