The LPS focus programs are small

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

magnet high schools, established and run by

Lincoln Public Schools Lincoln Public Schools was founded in 1923, and is the second largest public school district in the U.S. state of Nebraska, located in the heart of the Great Plains. The school district of over 40,000 students is home to more than 60 schools and p ...

to serve the needs of academically gifted students.

Individual schools

As of 2009, there are four focus programs: * Arts and Humanities Focus Program *Entrepreneurship Focus Program *Information Technology Focus Program *

Science Focus Program The Science Focus Program (SFP) or Zoo School, or simply Zoo, is a part of Lincoln Public Schools and is one of the district's three focus programs, along with the Arts and Humanities Focus Program and the Career Academy. It is located at the Li ...

Background

Each school typically enrolls under one hundred students each year with the intent of creating a community in which students can receive individualized attention along with a curriculum centered on the school's respective focus. Admissions are based by application, which involves a short essay of intent. Generally, graduation requirements are not wholly met through the classes offered at focus programs alone, so students will often attend the high school in which they would normally be enrolled in for a couple class periods in the morning and then commute to the focus programs during the school day. Classes run on

block scheduling Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...

History

In 1997, Zoo School began as a project initiated by Dennis Van Horn and a group of teachers from various high schools in the district. The model of organization used by Zoo School has since been replicated by the other focus programs, which emerged one after another in the following decade. Most recently, the Entrepreneurship Focus Program was established in 2006 in the

Southeast Community College Southeast Community College (SCC) is a public community college system in the southeast portion of Nebraska. Locations The college offers three campuses, six learning centers and two additional locations in Lincoln that are within the 15-county ...

Entrepreneurship Center.

References

{{Nebraska-stub