This group scoured America for 10 great magnet schools. They found one in Charlotte.

Magnet Schools of America has named Piedmont Middle School as one of 10 schools across the country that can best demonstrate how such schools boost academic achievement and diversity.

Piedmont, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school in uptown Charlotte, enrolls about 1,000 students for its rigorous International Baccalaureate program, with a long waiting list every year. It's the only North Carolina school among the national demonstration schools just selected by the national magnet school association.

The group also launched a new certification program, flagging an additional 45 schools across the country that meet high standards. Those include nine in Wake County Public Schools and five in CMS.

The Wake list includes Combs, Brentwood, Conn, Douglas, Farmington Woods, Hunter, Wendell and Wiley elementary schools and Millbrook High.

CMS won certification for Barringer, Blythe, Chantilly, Cotswold and Idlewild elementary schools. Last year Magnet Schools of America honored Idlewild, a neighborhood school that includes a magnet for gifted students, as the nation's top magnet school.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 3:18 PM with the headline "This group scoured America for 10 great magnet schools. They found one in Charlotte.."