- This topic has 204 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 8 months ago by
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No… I don’t know our results yet. But started a new thread for us to post kindergarten SEES results and offers when we have them. I know it’s extremely helpful for those that didn’t get a first offer, and are hoping for offers in subsequent rounds. Or are thinking of declining a first offer, to put their in the pot for a different offer. And for those next year applications, that we know will be anxiously scrolling though here next year! Good luck to you all!
Please post:
Score
Tier
School rankings
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RGC 143
Reading 97
Math 99
Just accepted an offer to Bell, which was our first choice!
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How did you see the math/reading scores? I just see a flat 142 total score, nothing showing more info…
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On the letter right above the RGC scores. Should say “your child’s classical reading score” with a percentile and then math.
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Whoops.. we are tier 4
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Yay, our kids will be in the same class
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Yea! I just saw this on the website.. looks like there is an open house for us on June 3rd. We did two virtual tours already prior to the application.
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Reading 99
Math 99
Offered Skinner North, first choice. Tier 4.
RGC n/a (not sure why, we only ranked Skinner North but I was curious to see how she did)
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Congratulations to you too! Looking forward to meeting you.
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Son was waitlisted for Suder pre-k. He is #33 on the list at Tier 2. The number sounds like its not too far down the list but thats dependent on 33 people refusing a slot. What are the chances of him being offered a slot before the school year begins? Should I give up hope?
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Tier 3, K. Classical: 98 reading, 93 math. RGC 122. Offered Decatur, second choice.
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Accepted Bell offer, our third choice
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What were your first two choices?
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Hi All!
Curious if anyone has insight into Pritzker RGC? Daughter got in there but it was one of our last options and we know less about it. Would appreciate any insight especially as to how to choose between there and Oscar Mayer. Thanks all!
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I don’t know anyone at Pritzker RGC, but I do know a family at Pritzker neighborhood and they LOVE it. But Meyer is a highly regarded program.
This is a good problem to have!
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Katie,
I have a child at Mayer – it is a wonderful school and the teachers do a great job working with kids of differing abilities and keeping things challenging. A very large percentage of Mayer graduates end up at selective enrollment high school too.
The parents are supportive, involved, and a fun group too.
Good luck to you and your family with your decision!
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Tier 2
Score 132
Offered Pritzker (1st choice)
Thank god for this, since daughter underperformed on Classical test.
Anybody else accepted to Pritzker– its an AWESOME program. Older daughter went from Pritzker RGC to Whitney Young Academic Center to Columbia University.
We are very relieved Good luck to everyone.
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We are offered Pritzker, and would love to hear more!!! I’ve seen some negative things about the principal, teaching to the test, and bullying online, but have heard positive word of mouth.
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All that is to say, I am excited but love to walk into things with clear eyes and expectations.
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I know a family at the neighborhood Pritzker program, and they love the school.
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Hello, I’m new to this and wondered if someone could help with advice. 142. So too low for the gifted school but wondering whether classical are better in the long run than a neighborhood school with a good reputation.
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Yes, in my opinion, classical is better than a neighborhood school with the best reputation because you will get all high achieving high performing competitive students next to your child whereas in the neighborhood, you’ll get a mixed bag of all levels. If your kids is advanced, he/she will not be stimulated enough in a neighborhood school taught to the bottom.
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142 is a good score, you should be very proud. What schools did you apply to? What tier are you? There may be additional seats opening if someone declines a first round.
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Bpmommy, thank you for your help. Tier 4.
Rejected by Pritzker, Bell, and Edison and both Skinners (daughter’s classical score was much lower).
Accepted by National Teachers Academy.
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I don’t know anyone in the NTA program. But it seems to get a lot of good press online. You we’re so close to getting a Bell offer, so if were to take a risk and decline NTA, I’m sure you have to be super close. But that means someone has to decline their offer, which is dicey!
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James, what order did you rank your schools?
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James, I think I’ve seen something that their classical score needs to be 50 to get into some of the RGCs? Possible that your child got the gifted score high enough but the classical score disqualified?
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LinMom: Classical scores were around 80 despite gifted score being 142
Bpmommy: we ranked them (1) Skinner W (2) Skinner N (3) NTA (accept) (4) Pritzker (5) Bell (6) Edison….
…but our work location has changed so NTA no longer as convenient as what had been our #4-#6 choices and seems from others scores that we have a chance in second round, assuming second round works ok when we’re now asking for a school that we ranked lower on our list
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We did K at NTA RGC and it was amazing. recommend touring/contacting the school with any questions. Ms Both, the K teacher, was beyond words and the school community is very special. We ended up leaving for classical due to distance but that is the only reason we left.
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James, replying to your original sub thread to make it easier to read. So the cutoff may not be 143 for Bell. You ranked NTA higher then Bell, so you may have received the offer to NTA because of your school rankings.
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The other thing to consider is that you are more likely to get Pritzker then Bell in a subsequent round, since you ranked Pritzker higher then Bell.
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James, I think how it works for first round is that Pritzker, Bell and Edison wouldn’t have considered your kid, because you were accepted / matched to NFT a school you ranked higher. I’d call the office to see if you decline if they will consider you for your lower ranked schools. I don’t believe you can change your rankings.
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Are you in Bell School District? Based on what i’m hearing, 142 is VERY close to the cutoff and if anyone declines, you probably would get a spot.
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Katie (#12034),
Pritzker is in a great location and neighborhood. Upper grade teachers in the RGC were some of the best I’ve encountered in CPS. Additional benefit is that they have an amazing arts program with lots of opportunities for performance and participation in visual arts and performing arts.
I have overseen 4 kids go through CPS schools. I am a huge fan of the Selective Enrollment options, since you’re guaranteed a very bright group of peers for your child and usually a very active and engaged parent network. When my oldest was there, there was also a very high matriculation into Lane and Whitney academic centers, which in my opinion is the golden ticket since it means you are done with the stress of high school admissions early on.
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James, I think how it works for first round is that Pritzker, Bell and Edison wouldn’t have considered your kid, because you were accepted / matched to NFT a school you ranked higher. I’d call the office to see if you decline if they will consider you for your lower ranked schools.
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Tier 3.
Math: 99
Reading 99
RGC: 133
Offered SN (2nd choice). Skinner was 1st choice (we live close by). Will likely accept SN
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How is skinner west?? My daughter got in but am wondering if I want to send her there
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I meant Pritzker (Skinner was a typo) was our first choice. @Aparajita – I have heard some mixed feedback about Skinner West from a parent who sends her kid there and also on this forum. So not sure. That was one of the reasons why we put Skinner North as 2 and Skinner West as 3 even though SW is closer to where we live.
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Thanks for the input. Anyone in the course who have kids at skinner west or know anything about it.
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Our child goes to Skinner Classical. They learn a year ahead and about half or more of them get into Whitney Young Academic Center where the rest stay at Skinner for 6-7-8 which is also very good. They are all very bright kids. As with all schools, some teachers are better than others. We have been very happy so far. I don’t know if I’d commute across the city for it, but depending on your options and if it makes sense for your family, you should take it! School is very large and also has had good afterschool and extra curriculars, pre pandemic anyways….. The neighborhood program is also one of the best in the city.
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RGC score 141
math 99
reading 99
tier 4
offered skinner west, 1st choice
kindergarten
debating if I want to send her there. I live in south loop but am reading not so great things about skinner west, so now debating.
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Anyone considering Skinner West should be assured it is great. My kids have attended both their classical and neighborhood programs and other than some overcrowding in some classrooms, we love it. The teachers are really good. Also please note a large number of students from SW get into the Whitney Young Academic Center, in fact it may be WY AC’s biggest feeder…or at least one of them.
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I’m having this same experience with my selective enrollment choice- online chatter making me nervous, but I think the people who post things online about the schools are disproportionally unhappy (in life).
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In case this helps at all, I’ve spoken with three Pritzker families (two RGC and one neighborhood) over the weekend and all have great things to say. I don’t know if you can PM on this software but I’m happy to share more about the conversations I’ve had!
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Hi!! Is it possible to learn more about those conversations? My email is [email protected]. Thank you very much!
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RGC: 145
Reading: 78
Math: 95
Tier 4
Offered Bell (1st choice), will likely accept
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Amazing, thank you for the reassurance! I think we have a lot to be excited about!
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Math 99
reading 99
rank : 125
got into Mc Dade . wondering if we should take it . I did attend the open house and Mc Dade as our 2nd option ,but cant find the analysis sheet now and the school is very far for us(we live in bucktown) . Any Mc Dade parents here? would appreciate any feed back on the school. Should we accept it?
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My granddaughter is a current Kindergarten student at McDade Classical and we love the school. An amazing engaging Principle and we loved her Kindergarten Teacher. The work is very challenging but my granddaughter has maintain honor status. My daughter was going to retest her in 2020 for Keller but decide to stay at McDade because she loved it that much. Has small classes, current goes to 7 grade but will be adding 8 grade. Renovation was completed in 2020 with an added Annex. Classes offered Reading, Math, writing, Social Science, KG Health, Science, Drama, Spanish, PE, KG Library. hope this helps
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Tier 4
145 RGC99 reading
95 math
offered Edison our first choice and we plan to accept. Our oldest child goes there if anyone has any question, I’d be happy to help answer.
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Hi, I was wondering what you did to prepare? Any strategies or books? Thank you
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I’d love to know more about the school community is like at Edison.
RGC: 149
offered Edison (out first choice)
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Hi KMom,
Edison is diverse because their isn’t a neighborhood school associated like Bell. The community is small 250 kids and they come from all over the city. I wish the school community was better. It’s one of only a few downsides we’ve had at the school. Our neighborhood school has a robust school community and we were so excited to hopefully find that at Edison. I think if you get involved you will find your community but it isn’t as overt as at some other schools. I think it’s just the natural of a school where so many kids are bussed in. There is an active PTO that plans events for the school and we have actively participated in those over the years. Hope that helps.
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Thank you so much!
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reading – 98
Math – 90
RGC – 97
My daughter took the early kindergarten test and did extremely well with Math and Reading at 99.8 percentile.
I know she messed up the SEES test, I am ok with it.
Skinner west is our neighborhood school.
I haven’t received any offers in selective programs.
Offered in Jackson A, Galileo, STEM- magnet and SWIFT magnet cluster.
Is it better to accept these offers or SW neighborhood class.
I have no idea on the programs and would appreciate input
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My child took the early entry test last year and did a bit better (99.9 reading 99.7 math and 99.9 cognitive) and this year scored a 99 in math 97 and 143 on the RGC) How did your child do on the early entry cognitive? I know last year I was dying to know how the early entry scores coordinate with SEES results, since we didn’t do the SEES testing last year!
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Thank you for in the info. Her cognitive was >99.9. So wasn’t sure how the SEES scores were messed up. Her math was also >99.9 and reading at 99.8 for early kindergarten test
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Based on the super basic information my child told me, the cognitive test for early entry and the RGC test was different.
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Could also be that your child didn’t vibe with the tester or wasn’t feeling well, etc during the SEES testing. Since all scores are lower. But your child did great on both tests… so congrats regardless!
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Just wanted to add that Skinner W is an excellent school, and I’m sure they would differentiate for your child! Seems to me that it would be an excellent choice for an early enrollee!
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Thank you for the input. With these 4yrs a lot of things their moods, she sometimes decides not to answer anything. Not much worried about her score, i am sure there will be a lot more opportunities for her.
Now i am bit confused if i have to take other magnet school offers or just go with SW neighborhood program. She is not eligible for SW magent as she falls into the neighborhood-
Right! My daughter came out of the SEES test saying she got one reading wrong. Which seemed to be pretty insightful! She is a very fluent reader. Preschool tested her reading level and gave me her letter reading level in the fall. Can’t remember it off hand (we are out of town right now) but I googled it and I’m pretty sure it said first grade (if not second) but they said that she probably was higher but they didn’t have the materials to test higher levels. She can be a little hot/cold about reading to me out loud (she is self taught) so knowing her.. she likely said “I don’t know” if she came to a word that was too much work to figure out. They did ask her to read paragraphs. So you just never know how they will react in the test! Ha!
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STEM is great K-5 but middle is very low quality and no Algebra. The administration do not seem to care to improve grades 6-8. Many kids do test for ACs but most get into Kenwood. I would take Skinner. they are trying to manage class size better now. Congrats on all the offers, wow
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We have a 5th grader at STEM and another kid at SW Classical. STEM is great, I would say on par with SW neighborhood or slightly better in Math, Science – without the crowding – for K-5. They also teach Computer Science, Engineering and coding where as SW teaches Spanish or Chinese and has better Fine Arts. The class is capped at 28 kids at STEM and there are two classes per grade. SW is trying to fix their crowding problem but historically has been over 30. Upper grades are a concern at STEM. About half the kids move out to academic centers in 7-8 [this year it was 40% of the class]. I would recommend Skinner Neighborhood or an AC for Jr High over STEM.
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Bpmommy, am I reading this right – your child got 143 and accepted by Bell, and my child got 142 and Bell rejected, and we both are Tier 4?
I don’t mean that to sound jealous – just trying to learn how this works. Did we just figure out from our two kids’ scores that the Bell cutoff was 143?
And does that mean I should be very or fairly optimistic about getting in as a 2nd round to Bell?
Or is it a lot more complicated than that?
Thank you so much for any knowledge.
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I wanted to reply to u but replied in wrong places lol
It depends on how u ranked your schools. Was Bell 1st choice in your case? If there was another student with same details (same tier like urs, same score, but let’s say that student put Bell as 1st choice and u put Bell as 2nd choice, given all equal parameters the seat would be offered to a student who ranked Bell higher). I think u have a good chance of getting an offer in next round. FYI, my son got 150 and didn’t get any offers for 2nd grade, he started his neighborhood school and got an offer in the first week September
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143 must have been the cutoff. And yes, we ranked Bell #1. I think you have a really good shot of a second round offer if someone declines their first seat. But I think they much have to be a tier 4 decline? I think tiers factor in for more then the first round but I’m not 100% sure about that.
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Bell was our first choice, too 141, tier 4. Not offered.
Offered Pritzker, second choice.
If anyone has insight into how exactly 2nd round selections are made as it relates to tiers let us know!
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I’m correcting my statement about the tier 4 Bell “ cutoff “ being 143. The 142 poster (James) had ranked NTA higher then Bell, which would have factored into the NTA offer.
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We’re at RGC 142 and accepted to Bell. I would call them and see if it has something to do with your applicant rankings. We only applied to Bell, so it was our #1 preference.
I don’t know what the Tiers are, but we’re in Coonley district.
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If you enter your address here, it should tell you.
https://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoollocator/index.html?overlay=tier
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I’m pretty sure all of Coonley is in tier 4
though.
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Score: 141
Tier: 4
Offered McPherson, second choice. Curious our odds of getting into Bell in later rounds? From the posts above it sounds like we are just below the cutoff. Bell is our neighborhood school and I would love to have her there.
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NCmom/anyone else, can one reject an offer in the first round and still participate in a later round?
Or are later rounds only available to families who did not receive any acceptances?
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It depends on how u ranked your schools. Was Bell 1st choice in your case? If there was another student with same details (same tier like urs, same score, but let’s say that student put Bell as 1st choice and u put Bell as 2nd choice, given all equal parameters the seat would be offered to a student who ranked Bell higher). I think u have a good chance of getting an offer in next round. FYI, my son got 150 and didn’t get any offers for 2nd grade, he started his neighborhood school and got an offer in the first week September
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James, absolutely. You can reject now and still get an offer later on. But u might not get an offer too, so there is a risk. We rejected our first offer, and got another offer in second round which we gladly accepted before
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Toymom … What was the year you got a offer in the second round? .. I am in the same boat .. our current offer is way too far to travel from our 2nd choice.. I am hoping to get an offer from our 3rd choice in priority list.. but worried to decline.
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I called the office and they are saying they take the next highest score of kids who didn’t match in the first round in the second round, regardless of tiers.
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It depends on how u ranked your schools. Was Bell 1st choice in your case? If there was another student with same details (same tier like urs, same score, but let’s say that student put Bell as 1st choice and u put Bell as 2nd choice, given all equal parameters the seat would be offered to a student who ranked Bell higher)
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Hi. I’m confused because my son has a RGC Score but no Reading or Math scores. Any idea why he would have n/a for both?
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What grade was your son applying for? If for Kindergarten, he should have automatically been given both the RGC (scale score) and Classical exams (reading & math percentile scores). If applying for upper grades, the exam(s) given depend on which programs you selected. If you only selected RGC programs, he would not have to take the Classical reading & math tests.
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We also got n/a but for gifted, and applied for kindergarten. I am confused, but it’s not important to us as we applied for Classical only.
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That means you didn’t apply for any classical schools.
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Hi – just wanted to post because I saw some McPherson offers. Our oldest is in selective K there and youngest just offered selective K. We are accepting & happy to have them together. The program is not as established as Bell, etc., and obviously this year was a challenging year to make any observations, but the teachers and administration are caring (and their pre-k program is excellent) and parents extremely involved & committed to making a class of friends, from pandemic park dates to pods to after-school playground dates – the facilities themselves are quite nice by CPS standards & the location near parks, etc (and lots of parking) is a plus. While it may not have the “name” of Bells and others, we are pleased as punch to have the opportunity of having both together. The 1st-grade teacher is also the RGC coordinator and worked with the K teacher to build up a program. K teacher also works with the other teachers in the kindergarten team so kids are not totally cordoned off. Anyway figured worth posting since we are in a unique position of having both a child and offer in SEES there.
I’m pretty sure they are having frequent early childhood open houses and would encourage anyone with an offer to attend-
N/A
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Hi! My son was also accepted to McPherson for the K RGC program. Is there any chance we could set up a time to speak? Would love to hear more!
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98 Reading
97 Math
115 RGC
Offered/Accepted Decatur – 1st Choice (T4)
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I just noticed this on the letter
“Selection for the kindergarten Regional Gifted Center seats begin as high as 150” I wonder if the test maximum score was only 150, or if the highest scoring child this year was 150. I thought the test maximum score was 160?
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The max score is still 160 i believe.
RGC 159Math 99 Reading 99
Tier 3
Offered Bronzeville Classical ( 1st choice)
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Amazing scores!! Thanks for clarifying.
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Asking for clarification — when it says the scores begin at 150, that’s the cutoff score? For what school is this?
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This is what was printed on the letter. Not sure how to interpret it.
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Reading: 76
Math: 99
RGC: 141
Tier: 4Offered 2nd choice, Pritzker.
Was not accepted to 1st choice, Bell.
Excited about the possibility of Pritzker, but bummed we seemed to have just missed Bell.-
I don’t know anyone at Pritzker RGC, but I do know a family at Pritzker neighborhood and they LOVE it. That would be tough to decline that RGC offer. Pritzker was on our list also, just ranked lower.
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RGC 133 – Only tried for Bell and obviously didn’t get in.
Offered at Hawthorne and debating between that and neighborhood school : Audubon.Thoughts?
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Hawthorne is a great school – you will regret if not accepting it.
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Second that. Hawthorne is much better than Audubon!
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RGC: 134
Offered at McPherson (Tier 4) (3rd choice)
Any additional information on McPherson’s RGC program out there?
Appreciate the insights NWside Mom. We have a strong preference for our neighborhood school (Budlong) and trying to weigh the options. -
Any current or prospective Decatur parents that can offer insight into the school? It looks like a great school on paper. But I’m worried about the commute (quite frankly, we ranked schools in December when I thought my husband and I would never set foot in an office again but we are both back working downtown 5 days a week).
I’m assuming RGC 122 / Tier 3 is too low to get into McPherson or Edison in later rounds (both closer), right?
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I have a 1st grader at Decatur. He takes school bus to/from Decatur. He loves his school – that’s all i care about tbh. I have another son in Coonley gifted, and when i compare academics Decatur is a much harder school to study academically – assignments projects etc more difficult, heavily academic if i can say that. Principal just changed. I love the new buildings they got this year. Its a small school, everyone knows everyone there
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Thanks for the info and perspective on Decatur, Dad3. I emailed the school to see if they would have an open house for prospective families and they basically told me to look at the website. Not very encouraging. Maybe I’m asking too much, but we are extended an offer which we should be able to evaluate, whether in person or not. I don’t think Decatur had any sort of virtual open house earlier in the year, or if they did, I missed it.
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I’m definitely not trying to push McPherson on anyone over others – as all are great choices, both RGC and neighborhood, but I’ll offer the following.
* I wouldn’t focus too much on how the test scores “look” on paper – it has a large cluster program at the school, which skew the test score results (plus no RGC grades are old enough for inclusion). The primary years program is really emphasized, as there are 5 pre-K feeder classes and 4 K classes. So it’s quite nice that the school, while K-8, does not feel overwhelming.
* I certainly understand the draw of a neighborhood school. Ours is a desired school, and we have to commute to McPherson. My thought was that we could always fall back to a neighborhood program whenever we want but couldn’t do so the other way around and be assured of a slot anywhere. Of course the drawback is not walking to the school. One bonus if commuting is that the school is right next to the Ravenswood metra that goes into ogilvie. (There’s also a bus for RGC.)
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Math 96
Reading 97
RGC 133
Tier 4
Applied to Decatur and Edison – didn’t get either. Do you think we stand a chance for either in the next round?
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Tier 3
scores: math/reading – 86 both
gifted -135
school rankings:
1) Decatur
2) Edison
3) Bell
got offered Bell and gladly accepted.
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Reading 99
Math 94
Gifted 132
Tier 4
Accepted to kindergarten at McPherson (4th choice)
We’ve been accepted to a private school already where he’s currently in pre-K and has an older sibling there. Since we know little about McPherson, we’re probably going to decline, and instead discuss differentiation opportunities with his current school.
But would appreciate others’ perspectives.
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Reading 91
Math 98
Gifted 139
Tier 4
Offered Pritzker (#2 choice, behind Bell). Neighborhood school is Prescott. Did not expect to get offers at any RGC given the number of applicants vs spots. Any insight into Prescott vs Prizker RGC greatly appreciated – we are relatively new to Chicago and know literally no one in CPS.
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Hi!
I don’t know much about Prescott, though have a friend that sends his son there and they like it a lot. He’s about to enter 7th grade, I think, and they didn’t do younger grades there so I am not sure what they’re like.
I have talked with a couple Pritzker RGC families and they also like the school. Unless Prescott is way more convenient for you, I always think of the fact that you can fall back on your neighborhood school the next year if you don’t like your SE school. You may not have the option the other way around.
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My responses are posting to weird threads. Congrats to both of you and thanks for the info EVM! We were offered Pritzker and will likely accept. We have been in a pre-K class at CPS, and while my child is happy and we could certainly keep her on this path of general ed at our well-regarded neighborhood school, she’s not being academically challenged. If Pritzker ends up being too much or not the right fit, we can always go back to our neighborhood school, but it is much harder to get into a selective enrollment school during a non-acceptance year, as you are relying on kids moving or transferring to open spots.
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Thanks for the input! We are 99% likely to take this route – accept Pritzker for next year with a plan to fall back to Prescott if it doesn’t work out.
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Received an offer from Skinner North, but our first choice is Bell. Our oldest child is attending Bell RGC and would love to have both kids at the same school. Unfortunately, RGC score is only 125. We are Tier 3. Any chance if we decline SN, we might hope for an offer Bell?
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Congrats! We were offered Pritzker and will likely accept. We have been in a pre-K class at CPS, and while my child is happy and we could certainly keep her on this path of general ed at our well-regarded neighborhood school, she’s not being academically challenged. If Pritzker ends up being too much or not the right fit, we can always go back to our neighborhood school, but it is much harder to get into a selective enrollment school during a non-acceptance year, as your relying on kids moving or transferring to open spots.
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Tier 4
Math 96
Reading 86
RGC 111
Applied to Decatur and Edison, no offers. Do we stand a chance for 2nd or 3rd rounds with these scores? Older kid goes to Decatur and it would be wonderful if the younger one gets in as well. Thank you!
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I think someone said on the thread that 115 is the bare minimum for gifted programs but considering the circumstances were still dealing with it doesn’t hurt to go for it. But if you have any offers I could consider the ones you have
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Thank you for the response. We only applied to Decatur and Edison and got no offers!
Any idea if we have a shot at Classical schools for 2nd and 3rd rounds with these scores (Math:96, Reading:86) based on past experiences? Thank you!
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Carnegie and maybe Bronzeville. NTA and McDade are pretty up there
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Reading Score: 85
Math Score: 86
RGP score: 121
Tier 3We ranked Edison #1, Decatur #2, Bell #3, Pritzker #4, MacPhearson #5, SN #6
We got no offers, and fared dismally in the magnet school lottery as well.
Does anyone have a sense of whether we might get an offer from Tier 3 in a subsequent round? Glancing through these it looks like the cutoff was about 10 points lower for Tier 3 but still a good 10 points higher than he scored on the RGP test. We live between Edison and Bell and would be beyond thrilled to get an offer at either school, but he didn’t do as well as we had hoped. Thanks!
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You may try casting your net a bit wider and try Beasley, Carnegie, Coonley, Lenart and Morton all have K gifted programs. And all gifted programs bus students who live 1.5 miles away (w/ boundaries for Carnegie, Coonley and NTA) from their neighborhood school.
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Beasleys min is 135
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No gifted K in Coonley anymore. 3rd grade is the last gifted class this year
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Reading: 99
Math: 92
offered skinner west (1st choice)
anyone know about class sizes?
also, any way to get my child’s rgc score if we didn’t apply to gifted programs?
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I would call the contact number on the letter to find out if you could get the RGC score.
Just curious, what tier are you in? I haven’t seen many comments on this site about Skinner W acceptance scores.
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We are tier 4. Finding it difficult to find much info about the program. Any information would help! Our daughter took the early entrance exam, did well, then took this, just to see. She has a late December birthday, so a little unsure of how we feel with her being the likely youngest in the class.
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That is a tough call. My daughter did the early entry test last year. We didn’t do SEES testing last year. December birthday as well. We obviously ended up not taking the offer, and did the SEES testing this year. It worked out perfectly for her, as she grew so much in preschool this year. So must more outgoing and confident. And she got to be in person all year.. so that was GOLD. I think she would be fine if she would have started last year (in a SEES program) I think if we got a SEES offer last year I would have been way too nervous to pass that up! But in the end it was much more beneficial for her to stay in preschool the last year, so it all worked out in the end.
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We were in the same boat last year .. didn’t know about SEES and had just done the early enrollment test. I was nervous but thankfully she didn’t get a offer in the magnet lottery. My daughter is gentle and has difficulty saying no. She grew a lot this past year and I feel much better sending her to kindergarten this year, I feel more confident comparatively that she will be ok 🙂 . Good luck … But like BPMommy says… If you got a seat in SEES .the decision becoming all the more challenging.think through :)..good luck !
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Thank you! We are beyond conflicted. Shes a smart girl, but I dont want her to be pressured. But I also feel she has outgrown her daycare. Where is your daughter going this year?
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We got an offer from mc Dade… But we stay in bucktown .. contemplating our decision
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SW Classical sizes: Kinder-1st 28 or so
2nd-31
Largest is 34 in 4th but I think they quit doing that. Class size is being managed/scrutinized better now than previous years
May have lost some during Covid, these were numbers from pre Covid days.
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Offered/accepted Decatur.
Does anyone know what the next steps are? Will we hear from the school about how to complete registration paperwork, etc.? Do we need to call them?-
We heard from our SEES on Tuesday, June 1. They contacted us via email. I assume anyone with an offer was contacted. Shared upcoming visits, registration information and etc.
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Reading – 98
Math – 99.
Got accepted into SN (our first choice). Having second thoughts on SN. The rating is 6/ 10 on greatschools.org. Wondering if we should go to Skinner West, which is neighborhood school for us.
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Schools will contact the those who select offers in in the first week or two sometimes after for the SEES that have neighborhood programs as they are much larger and more K and new students (i.e. Skinner West)
Our child is in K at SEES and they contacted us on May 14 and offers went out on May 8. They actually sent it to all students/ families who received an offer even if they hadn’t accepted. It was a new parent orientation.
Some initial forms were due mid-June, all other forms were due by the first day of school. Everything was done via email. And orientation was on Google Meet
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I was disappointed when I checked the rating too a couple of days ago. My friend says that ratings are kind of messed up after the pandemic and that I should not trust them. She says that the community is lovely. We will try it this year, if we don’t like it we may move to the neighborhood school.
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I believe the following website is more reliable . https://www.schooldigger.com/go/IL/schoolrank.aspx
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I personally would be looking here.
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Hi newparent_1, I’m a current Skinner North K mom who extensively toured SN, Edison, and Decatur and ended up choosing SN due to location, later school starting time (8:30 as opposed to 7:45 for Edison), and a larger grade size (2 classes per grade instead of 1 per grade for Edison and 1 or 2 for Decatur).
I am extremely satisfied with SN. The academics are excellent with many small groups based on levels for reading, spellings are math. So even though there are a lot of students that are very advanced in each class, each student can be challenged according to his or her abilities. There are also other classes like art, music, PE, and Spanish. The homeroom teacher also taught them about science and culture. For culture, they did a wonderful unit on holidays around the world where they learned about many different countries and their unique traditions, food, and music.
But even more important than academic, the school’s emphasis on social emotional learning is superb. All the teachers use positive re-enforcement and are very kind to the students. All the students learn about sharing, dealing with big emotions, calming down, being kind, etc. These important life skills are repeated throughout the school year.
Another advantage of SN is the large parent involvement. It has an active parent community where we organize activities both inside and outside of school. It’s something much easier to do with a larger school. Currently the chess team is coached by very involved parents. For K this year a parent ran a virtual book club.
The principal and vice principal are very involved. Both had worked as substitute teachers for remote learning (I was so surprised!).
I did read about bullying on forums last year when I was deciding on the school. I think they are probably from the past and I haven’t heard of any bullying instances from any parent. In fact, like I mentioned before, the school does an excellent job teaching and practicing social emotional learning that bullying if it ever occurs in the future, I am very confident the teachers would pay attention to it, communicate with the students and parents, and handle it well.
Lastly, SN has a huge playground, a double playground in fact, because it’s next to CPD’s Stanton Park. There are classes like basketball offered at Stanton Park. 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions.
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Any feedback on Beaubien? Trying to learn more.
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Reading 66
Math 90
RGC 151
Offered Bell, will likely accept (2nd choice, Tier 2), though puzzled by the varied scores
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The classical and gifted tests are different questions given at the same time, and Bell would only be looking at your RGC score (great score!), and the classical programs only look at the math and reading. My understanding is that the RCG test is more like patterns, puzzles, and inference, while the reading would be sight words, letters, etc. and the math, simple word problems, so if your child is not reading it would make sense that they would score lower.
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Thanks! I didn’t realize they would be entirely different sets of questions, but still curious why his results would vary between the two. He tested during a phase of finding giving the worst wrong answer hilarious so I suspect that had something to do with it. I guess it’s water under the bridge now so no point in lamenting.
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If he got a 60 on Reading in Classical he probably wasn’t able to show the test giver that he knows how to read. Those who get 99s can read fluently. If they get in the 80s they can read a little [at least that’s my experience after 2 kids taking the exam].
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We actually decided to decline our spot for Bell, so at least one spot is up for grabs!
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For anyone looking at school data, below are two surveys done by CPS and are organized by individual schools.
https://www.cps.edu/about/district-data/metrics/surveys/
The 5 essentials survey is administered to middle school students (I believe). The data collected can be found here organized by school:
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Hello 112518Mom,
Can I bug you with another question about Edison? My daughter was just offered a place, and and we are trying to make a decision between Edison and Disney (which is really close to our house). Has your child felt like the student experience was positive, ie not too competitive? Are the parents nice? Sorry to bombard you, just don’t know any current parents!
Thank you!
Alison
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Hi A fish,
My son has loved his time at Edison. He has made great friends. I haven’t noticed it feeling too competitive but my son is very competitive by nature and he has really thrives on the challenges they’ve set out for him. The parent community is what you make of it. Because kids come from all over, you do have to make a more conscious effort to get together but the benefit I see is that the same kids will be together most of elementary / middle school and that is so unique. The teachers are wonderful and really work hard to tailor lessons for each child. No school is without challenges but we’ve been happy at the school. It’s a tough decision but you have two great options to choose from. Good luck!
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Hi,
My son is in Kindergarten at Edison. I still can’t believe how much he learned this year. It is accelerated definitely but very supportive,too. Accept Edison, you won’t regret. -
Hi,
Does anyone know when second round offers for SEES Kindergarten become available?
Thank you!
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Re Question for Round 2: I’m not positive if this applies to selective enrollment, but the website says Round 2 Results come out July 19 (https://go.cps.edu/).
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Math 96
Reading 86
No offers in 1st round. We are moving from Tier 4 to Tier 3 and have updated the address in GoCPS. Does anyone know if we will be considered tier 3 or tier 4 for the 2nd round? Thank you.
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Just curious if anybody has received a second round offer? Curious if people actually reject their first offers!
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Bpmommy, I was wondering the same thing! I’m guessing no second round offers yet since no one has replied to this original thread. Also when I looked at last year’s thread, it seemed the second round offers came like 1.5 mos after the first one. Though would love to hear if anyone rejected since I’m hoping for an offer in round 2.
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Interesting! You would think SEES wouldn’t go several rounds. I have received a second or third round offer for a neighborhood school last Friday, so I know those are moving along. Of course, we are sticking with our RGC offer.
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A good number of 2nd round offers definitely go out for SEES schools. My child is a 3rd grader and got into an RGC in rd 2. I think people decline for many reasons (location, they move out of the city, change of heart/prefer neighborhood school, etc.).
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Per CPS website, Round 2 results are not released until July 19. Not sure if that applies to SEES or Choice or both.
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For non selective enrollment I did receive a second offer last Friday. First neighborhood was the day results came out.
Under elementary it says:
JUNE 16, 2021
Round 1 Waitlist Process OpensI was thinking round 2 was the additional schools you could apply for that had open seats. But who knows?
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First neighborhood offer was the day results came out, second one last Friday (for clarification)
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Round 2 results should be out today…. right? What’s the ballpark time?
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@Kate: Is it today or Monday? I thought it was Monday but would love it if it was today.
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I have received two neighborhood/magnet offers since original offers came out. So those have been moving along this whole time.
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Himama, I know that their website currently says July 19 but I sent my husband a photo weeks ago where it says July 16. I heard a rumour that it’ll be late today.
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see image there
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Kate, late as in 4ish PM like last time? Also, will they let us know via our GoCPS account or an email or phone call?
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I feel so impatient
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Our daughter received an offer to Pritzker late afternoon today – it just showed up in our GOCPS account; no call or email as of yet. Her score was 142.
Thank you bpmommy and LinMom for your help last month here.
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Are the results out for Round 2? No updates in GoCPS so far. Does that mean we have no offers in Round 2? Thank you!
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Received an offer from Keller for 3rd grade. Will decline.
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so I didn’t apply for any second rounds but somehow got an offer from NTA. We were planning on Disney. Now I’m back confused. Anyone have a kid at either school? I’m horrible at making decisions lol
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Hi Betty…I’ve heard good things about NTA … know a few parents there.
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I see they have a pool but their website isn’t as robust as disney. Granted this was my second choice original I liked the Kindergarten teacher. She took time to meet with me when I was making my list but I didn’t do much reach after the fact because we didn’t receive an offer at first. But now I’m just all confused again lol
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Betty,
The NTA facility is great and they offer a swim team too.
NTA will have a new kindergarten teacher this coming year (I likely toured well after you toured – I toured last month and learned this); the kindergarten teacher from last year is going to coordinate the gifted program this year instead. The new teacher is new to teaching in the gifted program, but not new to NTA and has also taught kindergarten in the past.
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@Betty, was your child offered a spot in the RGC?
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Yes when I talked to the coordinator she said it was an oversight he didn’t get an offer the first time. From what someone said above she was the previous RGC K teacher. Is NTA a school within a school like Disney?
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It is one school with both a neighborhood and RGC program.
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Anyone know if Round 2 offers actually went out last night?
All of our decisions still show Round 1 results. (Choice waitlists and RGC) Declined an RGC, but just waiting to enroll in our neighborhood school until our first and second choice RGCs are either offered or denied.
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@Dadness, yes, we got a Round 2 offer last night to Pritzker.
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We received a round 2 offer for our 3rd kid to K McPherson RGC.
Tier 4
129
Had ranked it 3rd among RGCs. Unsure what we will do.
Any Bell Round 2 offers received for K? Would love to know your scores. Our older 2 are at Bell RGC.
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Pritzker Kindergarten parents, I was thinking of having a meet up sometime next month so our kiddos can meet. Let me know if you’re interested and I can start a new thread to figure out dates. Thanks!
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Very interested!
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Hi! Know there’s a lot here about Pritzker. Similar to other posters curious if anyone can comment on the following.
1) principal. Have heard some negative things.
2) stress level/ focus on tests. I don’t know any parents at pritzker but I’ve heard at some other schools kids even at kindergarten level and especially first or second grade are super stressed out prepping for tests which I don’t love at such a young grade. Am wondering if at an RGC in particular this would be further exacerbated. Thanks for any insight!! -
Hi Katya! Sounds good, send me your email addy and I’ll let you know. Thinking maybe mid-August.
As for your Pritzker questions –
1) I haven’t heard anything specific about the Principal but I did talk to someone who sends their children there (actually one is already at an Academic Center at Lane) and she just said, you have to hold her accountable sometimes, whatever that means. Unless I hear something that severely affects the culture of the school, which I have not, I don’t think some “negative talk” about the Principal would stop me from sending my child to an RGC program.
2) I watched a recording of the zoom call (happy to email it to you) from back in June and they talked about trying to dissuade kids from being competitive and discussing grades, which was good to hear. There’s also not much homework, according to the teachers on the call, and the kids have the opportunity to finish work at school.
Hope this helps!
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Hi everyone,
Tier 4
Math: 99
reading: 99
RG: 125
my son got a 2nd round offer for the Pritzker RGC (1st grade) and we already have a spot secured at the magnet Hawthorne. Any recommendations on which one is better? I’ve read the above thread and seems like Pritzker is a great school but so is Hawthorne?!
thank you
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Curious with what you ended up going with? We too received and offer at Pritzker RGC and Hawthorne. So torn.
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Hi, has anyone received any 3rd round offers yet? I called up CPS couple of weeks back and I was told that offers would be released on August 9th. Thank you.
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We have received an offer this morning from NTA for Kindergarten.
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Congratulations! And thank you for the response.
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Just got an offer for Decatur and accepted.
Reading 97
Math 98
RGC score 135
Tier 4.
Anyone know where I can get info on the bussing routes? My eldest is at Beaubien RGC and they also start at 7:45am!
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last year there was a bus from Beaubien to DCS around 7am. Email the office and you should be able to sign up for bussing.
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We also received an offer from NTA.
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Has anyone received round 4 offers?
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Yes, we received an offer this afternoon to Morton for K. We won’t be accepting, as we decided to go private due to the never-ending COVID nonsense.
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We received an offer yesterday from Bronzeville Classical for K, I guess they went pretty far down their list since my child’s scores were 82 math, 62 reading.
We had already everything ready to go to Galileo, we attended a summer kick off to Kindergarten program there, we met the principal and the teachers and our child is excited about going there, so we are not sure about making this last minute switch.
Any advice?
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I have heard nothing but great things about Bronzeville. I would strongly consider accepting the SEES seat at Bronzeville instead of Galileo
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- What tier are you? You’re right they could be trying to fill up seats 82 math 62 reading
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Tier 4
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Tiers stop factoring in at some point. Not sure if it’s round 2 or 3.
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We didn’t receive the offer for SN math 99, reading 98 tier 4. SN is our rank 2 though.
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What is your first choice. I think you should talk with the office
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What grade is this for?
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I hope everyone had a wonderful first day of school!
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