M-DCPS: A Legacy of Choice

For more than 50 years, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has been at the forefront of the choice movement in education, having established Henry S. West Laboratory School in 1954, as an experimental school of choice associated with the School of Education at the University of Miami. This initiative was followed in 1963 by the development and implementation of a dual language program at Coral Way Elementary School. Magnet programs began in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in 1973 with the opening of a center for the Expressive Arts in the heart of the inner city. Since then, M-DCPS has implemented a broad variety of choice programs including the first corporate–based Satellite Learning Center in 1987; the first controlled open-enrollment schools in 1995; the State’s first charter school in 1996; and, most recently, the federally funded Voluntary Public School Choice Program in 2002. As of this school year, approximately 41% of Pre-K through 12 students in M-DCPS have made an active choice in school or program in which they are enrolled.

Choice programs are a sound investment for the future of our students and in the business workforce needs of tomorrow. Our entire community benefits from the large array of choice options offered by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Parents have a clear Choice in Miami-Dade County.