Signature & Magnet Programs

Although many families choose to attend their neighborhood school, PUSD offers families the option of attending one of its signature or magnet programs that focuses on a specific themed curriculum.  Families participate in the Open Enrollment process if they want to enroll their student in one of the following programs:

Dual Language Immersion

In Dual Language Immersion Programs (DLIP) students receive instruction in two languages, English and a “target” language. The goal of the DLIP is for students to become bilingual and biliterate – able to read and write as well as speak properly in both English and the target language.

PUSD offers Spanish, Mandarin and French DLIPs, using the “90/10” model. Students start the program in kindergarten with 90% of their instruction in the target language, and 10% in English. Each year, the balance shifts until they receive half their instruction in each language. PUSD also offers DLIP pre-Kinder programs, but these are neither a prerequisite nor a guarantee of admission to an elementary DLIP program. (See DLIP Master Plan for details.)

DLIP programs are located at:

  • Spanish-English: San Rafael, Jackson STEM Magnet, and Longfellow Elementary; Blair IB Secondary School (6-12); and Octavia E. Butler Magnet Middle School (OEB Magnet).

  • Mandarin-English: Field Elementary; Sierra Madre Middle School; and Pasadena High School

  • French-English: Altadena & Eliot Arts Magnet K - 8

  • Armenian Academy: Webster Elementary and Blair - optional program; one class per day starting in kindergarten, and includes language and culture courses at the secondary level

International Baccalaureate (IB) Program

The IB Programme aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. The Primary Years Programme at Willard Elementary prepares students to become active, caring, lifelong learners, who have the capacity to participate in the world around them.  Blair’s Middle Years Programme is a framework that encourages students to make connections between their studies and the real world.  Blair’s rigorous IB Diploma Programme develops students who have an excellent breadth and depth of knowledge, critical thinking skills, global perspective, and are college-ready.

Arts Magnets

As an Arts for All school district, PUSD believes in the value of providing an arts curriculum for all K-12th grade students.  To further demonstrate its commitment to the arts, PUSD has a K-8 arts magnet program that begins at Altadena Arts Magnet Elementary and continues to Eliot Arts Magnet Middle School.  Both programs nurture students' academic achievement through music, dance, visual arts, and theatre arts. Students engage in arts-integrated project-based learning across the curriculum in addition to having classes in music, dance, theater arts, and visual arts.    

Math Academy

PUSD’s Math Academy radically accelerates the learning curve of mathematically gifted students so that they complete BC Calculus by the end of 8th grade. Students are tested in 5th grade to determine their eligibility, and the program starts in 6th grade at McKinley K-8, Sierra Madre Middle School, and OEB Magnet. The high school curriculum continues at Pasadena High School, and combines college-level pure and applied mathematics.

STEM/STEAM

PUSD’s STEM and STEAM magnet schools infuse Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math across the curriculum to engage students in a real world, hands-on approach to education.  Science labs, gardens, design labs, robotics, and more enhance the learning experience of the students.  Each of the STEM/STEAM schools has a unique focus:

  • Jackson Elementary STEM Multilingual Magnet - All students, including those in the Spanish DLIP program participate in the STEAM-integrated hands-on curriculum.

  •  Washington Elementary STEM Magnet – An emphasis on environmental stewardship is infused throughout the curriculum whether that’s in the outdoor garden classroom, on field trips or in the classroom.

  •  Octavia E. Butler Magnet Middle School - Spanish Dual Language Immersion Program students and Math Academy students also participate in the STEAM-integrated hands-on curriculum.

Summit Learning

Summit Learning is a computer platform-based instructional system that allows students to personalize their learning and move at their own pace. Offered at McKinley K-8 to all middle school students, students work collaboratively with each other and with their teacher. Students learn from whole group instruction, small group sessions, and one-on-one time with their teacher.

John Muir High School Early College Magnet

In collaboration with Pasadena City College, students at John Muir High School Early College Magnet engage in a rigorous, four-year program, earning up to two years of transferable college credit while in high school. All freshmen take an introductory college course to build stamina for college-level courses. Students will have options for additional early college courses in subsequent years, and will have the benefit of tutors, mentors, internships, and other career-related experiential learning. All course fees and materials are free for JMHS students.

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How to Apply:

All families who wish to enroll in the Dual Language Immersion Programs must participate in the Open Enrollment process. Students living within a designated radius of Altadena, San Rafael, Jackson, Longfellow, or Field are given preference in the Open Enrollment lottery, but are not guaranteed a spot. Families that do not receive placements at their preferred Spanish-English DLIP school may be offered a seat at another program site.

The entry point for DLIP is kindergarten or transitional kindergarten. Students who wish to enter a DLIP at 1st grade or above must take an assessment and demonstrate a level of proficiency in the target language that will enable them to be successful. (Contact the Language Assessment & Development Department to request an assessment and placement.) Ideally, dual language program enrollment is balanced between English speakers and native speakers of the target language. When completing the Open Enrollment application, parents must indicate whether their child is or is not a native-speaker of the program language.

Families who wish to attend one of the other signature or magnet programs, and do not live within that school’s attendance zone, must also participate in Open Enrollment.  Families who wish to attend Altadena Arts, Eliot Arts, Jackson STEM (but not DLIP), John Muir Early College Magnet, Washington Elementary, Butler Magnet, Webster, Willard or Blair IB, and who live within these schools’ attendance zones may register directly at these schools.