New London — Saddled with dwindling resources while seeking ways to innovate, former New London High School Principal Louis E. Allen Jr. first pitched the idea of a magnet high school to Superintendent of Schools Rene Racette.

It was 1997, and after he got the green light from Racette, it would take another seven years of debate and planning by a host of advocates to convince people the city could attract students to New London.

Now in its 10th year, the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut has not only garnered national accolades but will accommodate nearly 400 students from at least 18 municipalities in the upcoming school year.

“Many people thought it would never happen,” said Allen, who served as the school’s director until 2014.

“We had talented students leaving the district. Here we are now with a waiting list for people to get in,” Allen said.

Former and current students, staff and community members of the school will gather on Friday to recognize the anniversary and celebrate the school's designation this year as a "Magnet School of Excellence" by Magnet Schools of America.

A dinner and fundraiser with entertainment is being held starting at 6 p.m. at the Blaustein Building at Connecticut College.

Magnet school Director Laurelle Texidor said money raised will aid the school’s goal of providing scholarships to former magnet school students now in college.

Money will also be used for what Texidor described as innovative programming and an early college opportunity program at the school.

Texidor said part of the school’s success is the dedication of the staff, “in building whole citizens and teaching life lessons” beyond the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum.

Texidor is a former principal of both Winthrop and Jennings elementary schools in New London. She started in the school system in 1991.

“The culture of this school is accepting but challenging,” she said. “Attention to our curriculum and instruction has paid dividends ... as has bringing the community in as partners. Our goal is to always improve who we are.”

The magnet school is adjacent to New London High School. New London High School Principal Tommy Thompson said it is a symbiotic relationship in terms of programming.

The magnet school offers STEM-focused courses, but students participate in extracurricular activities and take their core classes at New London High School.

“We look at it as one campus with two buildings,” Thompson said. “It’s a shared success. One of the great strengths of this concept is the regional diversity it provides students.”

New London students were first introduced to the STEM curriculum in 2005 at New London High School. The doors to the new $18.75 million, 60,000-square-foot magnet school opened in the fall of 2006.

Allen, who is now the director of development for New London Public Schools and magnet school theme coordinator, said the state provided initial funding for school construction.

State funding for operations is contingent on maintaining a minimum of 25 percent of the student body from outside the district. Currently about 40 percent of the students come from outside the district, Allen said.

Allen said the magnet high school was the model and the “guinea pig” for the subsequent growth in the region’s “school choice era.”

New London’s school district now offers a STEM-themed educational pathway starting at Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School and transitioning into Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School.

Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio called the school “an absolute success story for the city of New London.”

“The success of the STEM is part of the reason why the city was able to garner support for an all-magnet school district,” Finizio said.

“If not for STMHS leading the way, I doubt we would have gotten the state’s support to convert the entire district,” he said.

With many of the major hurdles successfully overcome, Finizio said, the high school and middle school are the last two remaining components in a full conversion, which will be a several-years-long process.

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay