A federal grant awarded this week will help three new magnet schools spring up in the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan district.
Leaders in the southeast-metro suburban district were notified Thursday that they will receive $2.2 million this school year through a federal program that aims to desegregate schools and fund the development of magnet schools. They expect the grant to be renewed for two more years.
The grant will help transform Moreland Elementary in West St. Paul into a school specializing in arts and health sciences. Pilot Knob Elementary in Eagan will focus on science, technology, math and engineering (STEM). Heritage Middle School in West St. Paul will become an environmental STEM school.
The three schools have already taken some steps to become magnets, but the grant will speed the process, said district spokeswoman Susan Brott. "Now, obviously, it's on a much larger scale," she said.
This year's grant money will pay for hiring new staff members, buying equipment and developing new lessons for the schools, she said.
Districts often turn schools into magnets in the hope of better integrating the revamped buildings by luring new students from other district buildings, as well as charter and private schools.
In the West St. Paul district, the magnet schools were chosen because they have larger minority populations than others nearby, according to school leaders. This spring, for example, Pilot Knob Elementary had a minority population of 55 percent, compared to 11 percent at Mendota Elementary.
West St. Paul school leaders also hope to narrow a racial gap between the district and the community. Recent figures show that minority students comprise 23 percent of children living within district boundaries, compared with 38 percent of those attending district schools.
