CHAMPAIGN – Expect to hear more in the next few weeks from the Champaign school district about the magnet school programs set to begin in the fall.

The district is beginning a publicity campaign about the magnet programs before a special registration period for the programs at Garden Hills and Washington elementary schools begins at the end of the month.

The campaign will include presentations by the school principals at service organizations, facts on the district's website on the magnet school options, brochures that will be going home with students in the next week or two, and a feature in the district's newsletter that is due to be distributed in mid-February. The district published a special advertising supplement in The News-Gazette in mid-December.

It will also bring together a panel of community experts on the University of Illinois campus to talk about the magnet school theme of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math for Washington Elementary School. The discussion will be at 6 p.m. Feb. 16 at the University of Illinois Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., U.

The special lottery for the magnet schools will allow the district "to focus on those two schools, that historically have not been as attractive (to parents)," said Michael Alves, the Boston-area consultant who designed the district's school assignment plan, "Those schools have never been overchosen. They've never had a wait list at those two schools. (The district) can showcase what they're offering now that they haven't offered in the past.

"We could have kept those two schools in the mix with everybody else," he continued, "but (the district) has gone through a lot trying to magnetize those schools, so why not showcase those two schools and give parents the opportunity to get in them early. The idea is that these schools have undergone some significant changes and we want to make those schools accessible to parents who are interested in (them)."

The district is building a new, 60,000-square-foot Washington school, which will be expanded from two classrooms at each grade level to three. The new building will include a STEM lab for conducting science experiments.

The UI has an I-STEM initiative, which aims to improve education in science, technology, engineering and math, and the Champaign school district hopes to establish partnerships with the UI departments that are part of the I-STEM initiative.

The district is renovating Garden Hills school and adding 31,000 square feet. The school will be expanded from three classrooms at each grade level to four.

The magnet school will have an international education theme and strong emphasis on the fine arts. The school is seeking to be designated as a Primary Years Programme, part of International Baccalaureate, which emphasizes an international education that includes learning a second language and understanding cultural differences.

The earlier lottery period will also help the district determine the number of staff needed for those two schools next year, based on the interest of families in enrolling.

The lottery period for Garden Hills and Washington is from Jan. 26 to Feb. 28. It will include not only incoming kindergarten students, but also students entering the first through fifth grades who are currently enrolled in other schools and want to attend one of the magnet schools.

If a student wanting to attend one of the magnet schools does not get a seat at his or her first choice school, the student will be placed on a waiting list for that school. And if that student is an incoming kindergartner and does not get a seat in the magnet school, he or she will automatically be part of the regular kindergarten lottery process to take place in March.