Month: March 2020

“Touring” Schools in a Time of Social Distancing

School Notifications for 2020-2021 entry continue to come in despite our unique time of social distancing and quarantining. Rest assured, we will return to a “new normal” and when that time comes, we will need to have a school choice in place. In order to help determine school fit, we are providing a platform to crowdsource information on various schools. If you have any helpful information for prospective families to learn more about a school remotely, please share your experiences, or create a new string if you do not see a particular school below. If you are a family seeking information, please feel free to pose your question under a particular school. In each school’s entry should be a link to the CPS page with more info.

Besides this forum, we encourage everyone to check out the websites or social media streams for each school, along with any parent groups such as “Friends of” groups that typically have contact information.

We are all in this together, and in this time of need, our collective experiences can help others become better informed. Thank you!

Agassiz ElementaryAlcott Elementary
Audubon ElementaryBell Elementary
Blaine ElementaryBurley Elementary
Chappell ElementaryCoonley Elementary
Burr ElementaryBrentano Elementary
Hawthorne ElementaryGoethe Elementary
Disney ElementaryDisney II Elementary
LaSalle ElementaryLaSalle II Elementary
Nettelhorst ElementaryJahn Elementary
McPherson ElementaryRavenswood Elementary
Waters ElementaryOgden Elementary
Lincoln ElementaryMayer Elementary
Drummond MontessoriSuder Montessori
Inter-AmericanJackson Language
STEM MagnetEdison Elementary
Beaubien ElementaryGalileo Elementary
Mitchell ElementaryTalcott Elementary
Bateman ElementaryMurphy Elementary
Amundsen High SchoolChiArts
Disney II HSJones College Prep
Lake View HSLane Tech
Lincoln Park HSLindblom HS
Northside PrepOgden HS
Payton College PrepSenn HS
Von Steuben HSWhitney Young HS
Westinghouse College Prep

Spring 2020 CPS High School Notification Links

The first round of CPS High School Notifications for 2020-2021 were released on March 27, 2020. Depending on whether an 8th grade student applied to test based Selective Enrollment High Schools (SEHS) and/or non-test based Choice High Schools (including IB, Magnet, CTE, Military, Charter, etc), a student can have up to 3 public high school choices: up to one offer for SEHS, one for Choice, and their neighborhood high school.

Any offers must be accepted or declined by April 22, 2020. Waitlists will open on April 27, but families should understand that not all high schools go to a waitlist, including at least half of the SEHS.

1st Round Cutoff scores for 2020-2021 SEHS: https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/GoCPS_Cutoff_SEHS_2020-21.pdf

1st Round Cutoff scores for 2020-2021 Choice HS (note- not all programs have cutoff scores): https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/GoCPS_Cutoff_Choice_2020-21.pdf

SEHS Principal’s Discretion is only for students who applied to Selective Enrollment High Schools (SEHS) but would like to enter a holistic appeal process that allows an SEHS Principal to select 5% of the freshman class for another SEHS on their list. A packet of information will be released shortly to detail the steps and timing.

Second Round CPS 2020-2021 Student ID Request Open

Families who missed applying to the first round of CPS elementary and high school programs for 2020-2021 can request to be put into CPS’s application system by filling out their CPS Student ID request form.  

From go.cps.edu:

THE CPS ID REQUEST
PROCESS FOR THE SECOND
ROUND FOR THE 2020-2021
SCHOOL YEAR IS NOW OPEN!
In order to apply online in the second round for the 2020-2021 school year to Choice Elementary Schools for grades K-8, or to ninth grade to programs without NWEA MAP eligibility requirements, your child must have a CPS ID number. In order to request a CPS ID number, click the “REQUEST FORM” link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRc4kwoX0S0N8Q_NliY2P_I7N3FLokJeCAwjJgvRA05WtuMQ/viewform