溫馨一刻
留住孩子們成長的快樂時光。
正文
美國的富人很多會送孩子去私校。大家一定聽說過這些頂尖的私校： Phillips Academy Andover， Phillips Exeter Academy， Groton School，Milton Academy，Middlesex School，Deerfield Academy，The Thacher School等等。這些貴族學校除了學費高，教育質量一流，進好大學的比例也高。美國普通人不能進嗎？能。它們也象好的大學一樣，有need-based的助學金。但有限的位置導致了激烈的競爭，離家住宿也讓不少父母卻步。美國公立係統有沒有象這些私立學校一樣注重教育質量的學校呢？有。這就是美國的磁校（magnet school)。
磁校起源於六十年代，是為了打破中小學種族分隔而建立起來的。美國的中小學是以就近上學為原則的，在城市裏，貧民區往往是非裔或其他少數民族集中的地方，這樣就導致了不少學校學生的種族單一，學校之間學生教育水平的差別也就自然而然地和膚色連在了一起。是強製性地把學生從一個區拉到另一個區（我知道有學區為了學校種族平衡，搞抽簽的。），還是在大家不願意去的學校裏建立一個特殊的program，象磁鐵一樣來吸引學生呢（磁校名字的由來就是這個）？顯然後者更有吸引力，也得到了政府的鼓勵。根據統計數據，這類磁校每個學生的花費就比普通學校一年多200塊。用來吸引學生和家長的東西五花八門，象一個好的math/science program，一個好的music/band program等等。但大多數學校還是以學習相關的program作為吸引家長和學生的手段。
從這個磁校的來由就知道磁校往往是在大中等城市。在鄉村和小城市，一個學區沒有集中的貧民區和單一種族集中的住宅區，也就沒有必要建磁校了。紐約市大名鼎鼎的磁校有 Stuyvesant High School，The Bronx High School of Science和Brooklyn Technical High School。
曆史是往前走的，磁校也一樣，在適應社會的變化。今天的磁校分為三類：
在同一個學區之內的有gifted program的中小學磁校。這些學校往往比較老，坐落在貧民區附近。這是學區為了拉平各學校之間學生成績的差距，同時也讓各種族的學生混合在一起。這類學校還是歸當地的學區管理，隻招收本學區的學生。小學初中往往有校車，高中往往會有公共汽車來解決。學校的經費除了政府按人頭分配的資源外，還有學區所在地的住宅的房地產稅。
跨學區的磁校。這類學校往往是大學附中，不歸任何學區管理。學校經費的主要來源往往靠州政府按學生人頭來分配的政府資源。由於不能拿到當地的房地產稅，家長的捐助往往也是學校經費來源的一個重要部分。沒有校區的校車，孩子上學必須靠父母每天接送。由於是公立學校，也就沒有學費一說。但一般書籍和雜費會比上麵第一種磁校的花費要高一些。
住宿磁校。這類往往是州政府建立的高中，比較有名的象Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy（IMSA)。由於是公立，所以也沒有學費和住宿費。象IMSA每年每個學生的開銷是2800左右。當然，孩子出門在外，一些隱性的開銷是不可避免的。
大多數磁校都需要申請，往往有特殊的考試和要求。有心的父母可以上感興趣的學校網站找資料。下麵是Newsweek 2010在它的公立學校排名之外另外列出來的Public Elite學校。這些學校因為是磁校，學生是挑選過了的，自然不能和普通高中一起排名：
America's Best High Schools: The Elites
Jun 12, 2010 8:00 PM EDT
NEWSWEEK’s Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students. These top-performing schools, listed below in alphabetical order, were excluded from the list of top high schools because, despite their exceptional quality, their sky-high SAT and ACT scores indicate they have few or no average students.
Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, N.J.: A collection of seven career-focused academies where students have an extended school day.
Biotechnology High School, Freehold, N.J.: A demanding program started in 2005, with two large research rooms, four state-of-the-art science labs and 73 percent of the class of 2009 earning an International Baccalaureate diploma.
Bronx High School of Science, New York: One of the most famous schools in America for many years. It has a richly talented, ethnically diverse student body.
Early College at Guilford, Greensboro, N.C.: The state’s first early college high school, where 11th and 12th graders take courses at Guilford College and graduate with both a high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit.
Gatton Academy of Math and Science, Bowling Green, Ky.: Juniors and seniors from all over the state are selected by scores, grades, and essays to live in their own Western Kentucky University residence hall, earning college credit as well as completing high school.
High Tech High School, North Bergen, N.J., and High Technology High School, Lincroft, N.J: Both opened the same year, 1991, use the increasingly popular High Tech High name and are magnets emphasizing hands-on learning. But the Lincroft school is run by Monmouth County and Brookdale Community College while the North Bergen school is one of the Hudson County schools of technology.
Hunter College High School, New York, N.Y.: One of the city’s legendary public high schools, with a program for 7th to 12th graders administered by Hunter College. It was an all-girls school until it went coed in 1972.
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora: “Wayne’s World,” the Mike Myers Saturday Night Live sketch and film, is not the only cool thing associated with Aurora. IMSA is also a state-funded boarding school. It takes 10th through 12th graders and has a strong mentoring program.
International Community School, Kirkland, Wash.: Students are selected through a lottery to attend this school, which focuses on international awareness. It is one of the few elite public schools without a selective admissions system. Instead, as happens sometimes, the lottery participants self-select into an academic powerhouse.
Louisiana School for Math, Science & the Arts, Natchitoches, La.: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors who survive the tough admissions process live at the boarding school established by the state legislature in 1982.
Loveless Academic Magnet Program, Montgomery, Ala.: The selective program, known as LAMP, offers 9th through 12th graders advanced studies in a wide range of subjects and just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, Richmond, Va.: Unlike the science-math orientation of most of the public elites, the focus of this school is on world cultures and building students’ leadership skills.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham: This school, established in 1980 in an abandoned hospital, started the small but interesting trend of state-created boarding schools drawing bright and ambitious high-schoolers from all over the state.
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City: A state-funded boarding school that teaches all courses at the university level.
Pine View School for the Gifted, Osprey, Fla.: This public school opened in 1969. Only those with 130 IQs or above may apply. It has grades 2 through 12 and many successful academic teams.
South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, Hartsville: Another state boarding school, this one is for 11th and 12th graders across the state.
Stuyvesant High School, New York, N.Y.: It has been teaching the city’s most academically ambitious students for several generations. It offers about 55 AP courses every semester, and has plenty of courses above that level.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Fairfax County, Va.: The most selective public high school in America, drawing mostly from the affluent households of northern Virginia, it has one of the most talented faculties in the area.
Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains, N.J.: This selective-admission school also focuses on science, math, and technology.
University Laboratory High School, Urbana, Ill.: There is competitive admission for this day school on the campus of the University of Illinois. It makes good use of its higher-education environment.
Whitney High School, Cerritos, Calif.: Like Jefferson and High Tech Highs, a suburban version of the New York–area superschools, with very competitive admission. Unlike students at the state boarding schools, those at Whitney go home at night.
Jay Mathews is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor and Washington Post columnist.
Editor's note: The Bronx High School of Science was not originally on the 2010 Public Elites list due to an error in the SAT scores that the school submitted for consideration.
兒子今天收到磁校的錄取通知。兒子將去的這所磁校以校友中有多名諾貝爾獎而出名。從去年開始我就和兒子一起準備考試（SSAT，見以前文章)，申請，也算功夫不負有心人吧。他剛給我電話，說收到了錄取通知，讓我履行以前和他打賭的一千塊“賭資”。算起來，買書買資料複習和我花的時間一起加起來，也有一萬塊的投入吧。兒子不用去私校，五年算下來也省了我十萬塊吧，算得上是我近年來最合算的一筆投資。
（二0一三年四月十九日）
這個概率和樂透一樣，指望這個是不現實的。
不過你要不是東歐來的猶太人, 得獎的機率就小很多.紐約市公立高中畢業生一共有40人得到諾貝爾獎, 其中35人是猶太人.
要不你去問一下虎媽的孩子的高中是那所？
美國好像有兩所中學出了多個諾貝爾獎獲得者呢。:).