Wake County's magnet school application period starts this month, virtual events planned

Applications for Wake County's magnet, year-round and early colleges schools will begin this month, and the school system is planning a series of virtual events to help families learn more about their options.

The application periods for Wake County Public School System's Early College and Crossroads FLEX programs, for high school students, runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 14.

For magnet and year-round schools, it runs from Oct. 15 to Jan. 28.

Families will be notified of the results on Feb. 23.

It's important to note that decisions are not made on a first come, first served basis, so you do not need to scramble this month to figure out what schools you're going to apply to. Instead, to determine where students attend, the school system relies on a complicated decision tree that includes the socioeconomic status of a student's neighborhood and the school where they are applying. The goal of magnet schools, in particular, is to promote diverse school populations and make sure schools aren't fille with a high number of low-income students.

Usually, by now, families are signing up to take tours of magnet schools to get to know what's offered, but schools aren't even open for students at the moment because of the pandemic.

To help parents make a decision, Wake schools is offering some virtual parent information sessions and magnet fairs where you can learn more about what's offered.

Here's what's scheduled: