- The Union County Magnet High School (UCMHS) is a magnet public high school located in Scotch Plains on the Union County Vocational Technical Schools Campus, serving the vocational and technical educational needs of students throughout Union County, New Jersey. The Magnet School serves approximately 280 students. The Mission Statement of the school states that the school's goal is to prepare students for college/vocational training utilizing technology through problem solving, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary education. Students must apply to enter the school and the school turns away approximately 2/3 of applicants.
- As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 292 students and 23.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.3.
- Awards and recognition
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Union County Magnet High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, during the 2004-05 school year.
- Union County Magnet High School was cited as a "Public Elite", one of 22 such schools recognized nationwide in Newsweek magazine's listing of "America's Best High Schools" in the May 8, 2006 issue. Newsweek described that the school's "Focus is on science, math and technology".
- In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Union County Magnet High School was listed in 598th place, the 12th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.
- In 2005-06, the school averaged a 1922 combined SAT score, fourth highest of all public high schools statewide.
- In 2008, Magnet High School, along with the Academy for Allied Health Sciences, was named #1 youth per capita in the entire nation by the American Cancer Society for their Relay for Life. In total, the schools raised over $73,000.
- In 2009, Magnet High School, along with the other UCVTS schools, was named #1 youth per capita in the entire nation by the American Cancer Society for their Relay for Life. In total, the schools raised over $115,000.
- Culture and extracurricular activities
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Magnet is accepting and open to new cultures and tries to recognize and celebrate these cultures through the Multicultural Club, Spanish Club, and French Club. In addition to this club, there is also drama club, Science Olympiad and math league for those interested in science and math competitions, golf club, community service club, robotics, Magnet Inventors Team, chess club, technology club, yearbook committee, art club, newspaper club (TechToday), video wall committee, class councils (one for each grade), and student council (whole school). Most clubs meet during lunch.
- The Magnet House Band, consisting of a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist, a pianist, and the occasional brass, provides live music at many school events and assemblies. However, the band became more exclusive in the year 2007 when an apparent lack of interest lead the founders to believe no one wanted to join, leaving the band consisting only of a drummer, guitarist, and bassist (the members of a local band, Papa Justice & the B-Lags). Many of the musically talented students at the school are upset at this decision, yet none of them have taken any action to reverse the decision. However, in the 2006 to 2006 year, the high school has its first ever Music League, a group that is still in its early stages of creation. Little to no progress has been made with this club since its founding.
- In October 2006, a small group of students formed an Anime Club to view and discuss anime, or Japanese cartoons. They met significant difficulty in forming the club due to opposition from the school board. Now these students meet under the permission of the Multicultural Club, and are forming a larger fanbase as the interest spread to other schools on campus.As of 2008, these students are considered to be a separate organization, known as "A.N.I.M.E." rather than the "Anime Club" as they do not have an advisor and are not an official school club. They are not listed in the student handbook as an extracurricular activity.
- The school holds dances about once a month and annually, Magnet hosts a talent show and the Coffee House, which is put together by the drama club. In Spring 2006, the drama club has put on its first full-length production since 2003. Since 2006, the drama club included a musical group, and in 2007, musicals and singing acts were included in the annual "Coffeehouse" production.
- The Monumental Movie Makers club was a subsection of the Drama Club. It was founded in the 2006-2007 school year, yet due to a lack of interest, no progress has been made. Due to the rapid expansion of the Drama Club, the advisors did not have any time to devote to the Movie club, thus leading to its demise in the 2007-2008 school year.
- The second largest club within the school district is 1257 Robotics Team. Because the school is oriented to math and science, the FIRST robotics team receives a lot of support. As of the 2006/2007 school year, the Robotics Team has been disbanded due to a lack of a faculty advisor and general interest.
- Being enrolled in an engineering school, a few Magnet students also compete in the annual UCC bridge building competition, which consists of teams of about 5 people each from all over the county. Teams are divided into novice and advanced categories, and each team must build a bridge with the given specifications (they change every year).
- A new club at Magnet, which began in the 2007-08 school year, is the SMAC (Student Movement Against Cancer) club. The club was started by two students, and its main objective is to schedule, plan, and organize the annual Relay For Life held at the school.
- Magnet does not offer any varsity sports, but students are allowed to join sports teams in their home districts, provided they do not pose any scheduling conflicts. The Union County Vocational Technical School district offers after school intramurals. There is also a non-affiliated Ultimate Frisbee team that many Magnet students have chosen to become members of. Its first competitive year was 2007-08 where it entered in the ARJI youth tournament at Rutgers.
- Building
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The building that houses UCMHS was constructed in the 1960s and housed a portion of (UCC) through the 1970s. It was abandoned through the mid 1990s when the UCVTSD had the building gutted and renovated. UCMHS opened in 1997 and since then the building has seen minor renovations and the addition of a glass atrium to the fitness center. Following the major renovations in the mid-1990s, the building was named Mancuso Hall after the Chairman of the Union County Board of Education at the time.
- The facade of the building features faux-stone over the staircases, which project from the building, and a series of white and brown gravel coated concrete panels, each containing a trapezoidal window. The building contains many windows and glass walls to the extent that in some places one can stand on one side of the building and see through the other side of the building.
- Magnet is located in Scotch Plains on a campus which is home to Union County Vocational-Technical School, the Academy for Information Technology, the Academy for Allied Health Sciences, and the Union County (or John H. Stamler) Police Academy. The campus also has a New Jersey Transit bus stop and a soccer field.
- Starting in 2008, construction will begin in 2008 for an addon to the Magnet building. This addon will serve as the site of the Performing Arts school, which opens in the 2008-2009 school year. The plans for the addon reveal that a bridge will link the building with the addon, which will be located in one of the last free patches of ground on campus, over a frequently used path leading from a parking lot to the front door of the Magnet High School.
- Legal Troubles
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Since its creation, UCMHS has been a subject of controversy. There are 21 municipal school districts that are contained within the Union County Vocational Technical Schools District (UCVTSD). Following the creation of this school in 1997, a number of these districts filed suit against UCMHS. Scotch Plains petitioned the New Jersey Department of Education to force the exclusion of students from their district from the Magnet School. Rahway, New Jersey refused to allow Rahway students attending Magnet to participate in Rahway extracurricular programs. Their argument was that Magnet was taking the best students away from the home districts and that Magnet was drawing funds away from the home districts.
- The final case against UCMHS was the case launched by the City of Linden. It was resolved late in 2002 in favor of UCMHS. Linden ran a science school within its own district where it sent its gifted and talented students. They argued that their program was comparable to UCMHS and they should not, therefore, be required to pay tuition for students attending the county school. The UCMHS argued that the programs were not comparable, as evidenced by Linden students desiring to leave their home district in favor of Magnet.
- Magnet won each of these suits because it is, legally, a Vocational-Technical school (a school which offers a vocational education) and offers vocational certifications. State law requires local school districts pay tuition for students who attend the county vocational school.
- External links
- Union County Magnet High School's website
- Data for Union County Magnet High School, National Center for Education Statistics
- 1257 Robotics Team
- Article in newspaper on the proposal of the Magnet school
- September 22, 2000 Decision by State Commissioner of Education Concerning the Magnet School (the Scotch Plains-Fanwood decision)
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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