Deadline to Apply for Miami-Dade Magnet Programs Is Around the Corner

There are more than 200 unique magnet programs to choose from in liberal arts, visual or performing arts, STEM, and virtual learning. 

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It’s only January, but parents really should be thinking about the next school year.

The deadline to apply for magnet programs in Miami-Dade County Public Schools is just around the corner, on Sunday, Jan. 15, but there’s still time to find one for your child. 

“So we have choices — families can go to their neighborhood schools, or they can apply to one of those programs and explore a school outside of their boundary,” said Jacqueline Basallo, director of school choice and parental options for the school district.

There are more than 200 unique programs to choose from, spanning grades K-12, across five different fields of study: liberal arts, visual or performing arts, STEM, and virtual learning. 

The options are spread all over the county within a variety of traditional schools. Miami Lakes Educational Center is an exception as an all-magnet high school with 23 programs. 

“At minimum, our kids can come away with an understanding of what career path they want to explore in the future,” said Yaset Fernandez, the school’s principal. 

That’s what magnet programs are designed to do, immerse kids into a real-world experience, whether it’s visual arts or STEM fields like engineering. 

“They are really doing some hands-on learning," Basallo said. "Students are walking out of here trained and ready to go, and really at more of an advantage than their counterparts when they start college."

Students in the district’s health sciences programs learn on professional equipment. Miami Lakes Educational Center has an additional tool: the only Anatomage table in the district. It’s a remarkable tool that allows students to peer into every part of a real human body, in three dimensions, without laying hands on an actual cadaver. 

“This helps us bring to life what we’re learning, it helps us truly understand everything that’s going on,” said Mateo Padron, a senior in the pharmacy program. 

“We know that research says that students, when they’re interested in what they’re learning, they learn better and they’re more successful and we see that when we look at data of our students and our graduation rates,” Basallo said. 

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