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My family will be relocating to Chicago in Spring 2025 due to our jobs. My son is currently in 7th grade and will miss whatever testing is happening this grade. Can someone recommend some resources for me to get up to speed on what I need to know and do for high school. I’ve done some googling but it’s so overwhelming!
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High school test is given in 8th grade in October, so he will not miss any high school testing in 7th grade. He must have straight A’s in 7th grade as those grades count for high school.
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My advice is don’t move here. The public school system is a morass, and it’s difficult to get your kids the curricula they need in 7th and 8th grade, unless you get into an academic center, which is very difficult. Consider private school for 7th and 8th, and apply for high school. Oof, I say this as the mom of two smart sixth graders, who will not get the chance to take algebra before 9th grade, even though they are ready for it next year, unless they get academic center seats. The acceptance rate at some is less than 10%. :/
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Regional Gifted Center and Classical programs often have seats open up for 7th and 8th grade since they lose a good chunk of their class to Academic Centers. You could potentially get a seat for 25-26 even if you can’t test until the spring. If you get in, your kid won’t be the one who’s new, plus they’ll be able to take accelerated classes.
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CPS has it’s issues but also some great strengths! This is maybe not the best site for info and you might want to check out the FB group for Raise Your Hand as it has a more diverse set of parents.
You haven’t missed anything as high school testing happens in 8th grade. That said, those are just to go to a handful of test-in schools. You will also be able to go to your neighborhood high school (may be great, may be awful so think about that when you find housing) and then there are other magnet high schools as well as some good private schools. All the info on public schools can be found at the Gocps website but you’ll get a better idea of which schools people like and don’t like by asking around.
Raise Your Hand can be a good spot to ask about specific schools and ask people to DM you.
Like most big cities, maybe even more than most, Chicago is very segregated and the schools in higher income, whiter neighborhoods have so many more resources than those in the lower income neighborhoods. I don’t love the way the school board plans on fixing that, but I do think there is alot of positive energy out there to make it better. A lot of folks are pretty obsessed with the same few test-in schools but honestly there are some gems all over the city.
The above poster makes a good point about Algebra in 8th grade. Some middle schools offer it, and some don’t. If your kid is ready for Algebra, it’s pretty necessary to prepare for the high school test if they want to go to a test in school. It’s frustrating that not all schools even offer it. But they are right to say that there are many accelerated middle schools that often have spots open because there is also some kids who test into those fancy high schools in 7th grade. So that would be my question for any school you look at.
Lastly, we are in some scary times with CPS in that there is a looming budget cliff that we are about to fall off of and so far no solutions in sight. I can’t say what the future looks like but I have 2 high schoolers in CPS (one went to those fancy schools, one didn’t) and they both have gotten an excellent education. Also, Chicago is the coolest city in the world and can be a fun place to be a teenager!
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