From fifth through eighth grade I attended Fitler Academics Plus School in Philadelphia, PA. This is a magnet school that teaches grades one through eight. We did not have a gifted program, I had to go to another school once a week for that.
At that time I had never heard of any magnet high schools (I don't think I've heard of any since either).
Fitler was a public school in a bad neighborhood. However, none of the neighborhood kids could attend without going through the same application process as the rest of us. This may be where the term 'magnet school' originates, as children were drawn in from all parts of the city.
Things that were not allowed at Fitler:
On days when we had an assembly, all of the girls had to wear dresses and the boys had to wear suits.
The most important thing that I learned at Fitler: