Magnet Programs in Jacksonville, Florida

A Jacksonville student enters a Duval County Public Schools magnet through the lottery, which opens December 1 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on January 31 for the following school year (Duval County Public Schools).

The application lives inside FOCUS and is reached only through a parent or guardian's Linked Parent Account in the Family Portal, so a family new to Duval County Public Schools first completes the new student application and creates that linked account (DCPS magnet page). Each Jacksonville application receives a priority under School Board Policy 5.46. Families who change their mind can submit again; the district processes only the last application submitted, and every choice locks at the January 31 deadline. Sibling preference has to be re-entered on any resubmitted application.

Duval County Public Schools shares lottery results no later than March 31. A student who is not placed goes onto that school's waitlist, which families track in FOCUS, and the family is notified if a seat becomes available (DCPS). Questions go to District Enrollment Services at (904) 390-2082; the district office is at 1701 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32207.

The Duval County Public Schools program table lists magnet options from Jacksonville elementary schools through high school, with themes ranging from Montessori and coastal science to welding, aviation and the arts (DCPS magnet program table).

Career themes cluster in two Jacksonville high schools. A. Philip Randolph Career Academies runs academies in barbering, building trades and carpentry, cosmetology, HVAC, welding, health sciences and modeling and simulation, while Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology lists automotive, aviation, communications, culinary arts, early childhood education and an agricultural biotechnology and vet assisting academy (DCPS). Edward H. White High School adds a logistics academy and Riverside High School an engineering academy.

At the elementary level the same Duval County table lists museum studies at Ortega Elementary, medical arts at Venetia Elementary, dual language at San Jose, Beauclerc and West Riverside elementaries, and gifted or academically talented programs at Central Riverside, Holiday Hill, Jacksonville Beach and Richard L. Brown (DCPS program table). Each elementary row names the middle schools a student can continue to, so a Venetia medical arts student, for example, has continuity toward Darnell-Cookman, Mayport Coastal Science Middle or Springfield Middle.

Jacksonville STEM Academy appears in the district table with a middle school STEM program, and STEM, math, science and technology elementaries such as Andrew A. Robinson, John Stockton, Lone Star, Loretto and Pinedale list continuity to Springfield Middle School or Jacksonville STEM Academy (DCPS program table).

Fort Caroline Middle School of the Visual and Performing Arts, LaVilla School of the Arts and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts may require an audition, either for lottery priority or for admission itself (DCPS magnet page).

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts sits outside the Duval County magnet application entirely: applicants do not complete a magnet application and instead contact the school for audition and admission details (DCPS). The district tells families to contact each of the three Jacksonville arts schools directly for specific audition dates and requirements.

The arts pathway runs in a line. LaVilla School of the Arts lists ten middle school disciplines, including guitar, piano and creative writing, and Fort Caroline lists 2D and 3D art, band, cinematic art, dance, orchestra, theatre and vocal; both feed to Douglas Anderson by audition only or to William M. Raines High School, which carries its own visual and performing arts magnet (DCPS program table). Fishweir and Pine Forest elementaries hold the elementary arts programs that continue to Fort Caroline or LaVilla.

IB, AICE, AP Capstone and Early College seats at Jacksonville high schools such as Stanton and Paxon are filled through a separate High School Acceleration Programs application, not the magnet lottery (DCPS High School Acceleration Programs).

For 2027-2028 the Duval County application opens at 8:00 AM on Monday, December 1, 2026, closes Thursday, January 14, 2027, and decisions go out Tuesday, February 16, 2027 by email to the Family Portal address (DCPS). To be considered, an eighth grader must be proficient in reading and in math on a grade 7 test, be enrolled in or have finished Algebra I, and earn at least 70 points. Grade 7 core finals are worth up to 36 points, grade 8 first semester core grades up to 34 and test scores up to 30, and applicants are ranked from 100 down to 70 until seats run out. Families may list up to two choices.

Early College students attend classes as full-time students during their junior and senior year at a designated campus (DCPS). For nondedicated magnet schools, zoned students are placed first, and an applicant who misses any one criterion is automatically ineligible. Help with the form is available at District Enrollment Services, 4037 Boulevard Center Drive, first floor.

Duval County Public Schools says its dedicated magnet schools have unique admission processes that require students to meet and maintain academic standards for entry and for continued enrollment (DCPS magnet page).

Some Jacksonville programs carry their own entry checks. A controlled open enrollment application for Darnell-Cookman, Paxon, the Riverside engineering program, Stanton or Wolfson requires a copy of the child's most current transcript emailed to [email protected] (DCPS controlled open enrollment). The High School Acceleration Programs application uses the reading, math, Algebra I and 70 point rules described above, and only one reading score and one math score count, whichever earns the most points (DCPS).

For Jacksonville families, state law sets the frame too: section 1002.31 requires each Florida district, including Duval County,'s controlled open enrollment process to maintain existing academic eligibility criteria for public school choice programs, to keep a wait list of students denied access because of capacity and to notify parents when space becomes available, and it lets a student who transfers under the section remain at the chosen school until completing its highest grade level (Section 1002.31, Florida Statutes).

Duval County Public Schools provides only limited transportation for students attending Jacksonville magnet schools and programs (DCPS magnet page).

The district program table says limited school bus transportation may be available for many programs (DCPS program table). Transportation is the parent or guardian's responsibility for Special Transfer Option schools (DCPS controlled open enrollment). For the High School Acceleration Programs the district points families to its Transportation webpage, and for Early College it says rides to the college are not exclusive to a school bus and may include free services from the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, also known as JTA (DCPS).

A Jacksonville family that misses the lottery can still seek an open magnet seat through Duval County controlled open enrollment, which fills available seats first come, first served after the lottery has run (DCPS controlled open enrollment).

Florida law backs the Jacksonville process: section 1002.31 defines controlled open enrollment as using parents' indicated preferential educational choice as a significant factor, and directs each school board to let a parent from any Florida district enroll a child in a school that has not reached capacity (Section 1002.31, Florida Statutes).

For 2026-27, Duval County Public Schools lists three windows: quarter two applications September 28 to 30 (already past), quarter three December 7 to 9 with assignments December 16 and a move on January 6, and quarter four March 1 to 3 with a move March 22 (DCPS). A family may file one magnet application and one Special Transfer Option application, and placement at one school removes the student from every other waitlist. The district advises Jacksonville middle and high school students to transfer only in quarter three, and students in Exceptional Student Education should consult the ESE Department first, since ESE services are not guaranteed at a choice placement.

One timing detail is easy to miss in Jacksonville: the December 7 to 9 open enrollment window falls inside the December 1 to January 31 lottery window, and the High School Acceleration Programs form closes January 14, 17 days before the magnet lottery closes (DCPS HSAP). Residents of other Florida counties are also eligible to apply for controlled open enrollment (DCPS).

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Duval County Public Schools website and Online Sunshine.