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About Us » Downtown Magnets Overview our Pathways

Downtown Magnets Overview our Pathways

DMHS OVERVIEW

Located minutes from the heart of the business and financial center of Los Angeles, Downtown Magnets High School began as the Downtown Business Magnet (DBM), a component of LAUSD’s expanding voluntary integration program. When the Electronic Information Magnet (EIM) was created in 1994, DBM adopted the name “Downtown Magnets” to incorporate both magnets in its name.

We are currently: 1) Downtown HS (Business) or 2) Downtown HS (Computer Science/Engineering/MultiMedia). If you would like to be considered for IBplease apply to Downtown HS (Business).

We have made steady improvements to our API score over the past 6 years and we are currently ranked among the top high schools  in our Educational Service Center. The U.S. News & World Report honored DMHS by ranking us as one of the top 500 schools in the nation for our students’ high quality of college-readiness and success on Advanced Placement exams. We have also been identified as one of the top 25 most transformative schools in the nation by Newsweek for having an exceptional graduation and college-going rate.

Students come to DMHS for a variety of reasons, but almost all of them leave us and go on to college.  Approximately, 65 colleges visit our school every year and we send students to visit their campuses all year round. Students who attend Downtown Magnets consider themselves college-bound and we consider each student a candidate for a college prep curriculum. We have an open policy concerning AP courses and encourage all students to enroll. We also offer a robust schedule of honors classes.

For students with more academic pursuits in mind, our award winning Debate Team competes in district tournaments and has participated at the national level with great success. We also field an Academic Decathlon team every year.

DMHS is comprised by two schools, one focused on business, the other focused on STEM and we also have an IB program - all of these programs and schools are located in one one and share, essentially, the same group of teachers. Downtown Magnets High Schools.is the over-arcing name, the umbrella, for ALL of our programs. Students enrolled in either school participate in one class per semester related to their pathway (theme). All other classes in a student's schedule meet A - G requirements (such as grade-level English, grade-level Math, Social Studies, History, PE, Foreign Language, etc.). Classes are taught by teachers well-versed in their content areas. Students from both schools intermingle throughout the day and share many of the same teachers.

 

Among Downtown Magnets High Schools accomplishments: We are a Magnet School of America School of Distinction (their highest honor awarded to only 44 magnet schools in America); We are a Gold Ribbon school recognized for our Business and Fashion pathways and our math recovery program; We are home of the highest LAUSD SBAC test scores combined, for both English and Math; Home of the award winning, nationally recognized DMHS Debate Team; Our school has a 98% college acceptance rate (67% attending four year colleges); Home of an LAUSD recognized Academic Decathlon Team; We have a robotics team & Cyber Patriots team; We have a thriving after school program and partnership with EduCare and LACC (college credit courses offered); We have a robust AP program; We have athletics and are challengers for city championships in various sports including boys and girls ​tennis, basketball, cross country, and volleyball.

 

If you are interested in applying:

  • Complete the online CHOICES application (if hyperlink does not work, please go directly to: www.echoices.lausd.net.
  • First, you will need to create a parent account and then go to your email to activate the link provided
  • You will need to enter your personal information and your child's personal information
  • Select Magnet/PTW Schools but remember you are applying for a MAGNET school only
  • Select Downtown HS (Business) and/or Downtown HS (Computer Science/Engineering/Mutimedia). You may select up to ANY three magnet schools in the application process, prioritizing in order of preference. Detailed instructions are provided in the application form itself.
  •  After November, on-time magnet applications close and the late application window opens, but as a late applicant you will not be able to use any points accrued (See Echoices for additional information on magnet programs, how they work, and the points system.)
  • Once again, to apply, you will need an email address. Once an account, has been created you can edit, add, modify information as necessary. (To activate your account, you will have clicked on the link provided in your email and filled out the application form.)
    • Select Downtown HS (Business) if you or your child is interested in magnet pathways and instructional themes related to Business/Finance or Fashion. Downtown HS (Business) is comprised of the following two academies: 1) The Academy of Fashion Design or 2) The Academy of Finance. You or your child would choose one of these two pathways after being selected, during the enrollment process (April).
    • Select Downtown HS (Computer Science/Engineering/MultiMedia) if you or your child is interested in magnet pathways and instructional themes related to Engineering, Multi-Media/Digital Arts. or Computer Engineering, comprised of the following 3 academies: 1) Academy of Informational Technology (Multi-media), 2) Computer Engineering or 3) Academy of Engineering. You or your child would choose one of these pathways after being selected, during the enrollment process (April).
    • The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program is another pathway we offer our students. IB is a rigorous academic program offered at only 3 schools in LAUSD. For more information on IB visit the IB website at http://www.ibo.org or contact our IB Coordinator, Ms. Marilyn Watt, at [email protected]. If you would like to be considered for IB, please apply to Downtown HS (Business).
    • If you wish to apply for this academic year you will need to fill out a SAME YEAR application at Echoices.
 
  • For additional information on our school and its programs, please visit our website at downtownmagnets.org. Also, please check out our teen-friendly Curriculum Catalog & Guide for an overview of all our magnets pathways here.
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Learn more by perusing our Academic Course Curriculum Catalog (please click link for information): http://www.downtownmagnets.org/ourpages/users/Robles/DMHS_Course_Catalogue_1.pdf

It is very hard to describe on paper what DMHS has to offer. Please feel free to contact the Magnet Coordinator Mr. Mario Juarez, [email protected]. 

We are affiliated with the National Academy Foundation, California Partnership Academies, and the Los Angeles Public Library.

Our two magnet schools are:

Downtown HS (Business)
Downtown HS (Computer Science/Engineering/Multi-Media) Formerly known as Electronic Information Multi-Media (EIM)