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GoCPS will release 2022-2023 Elementary school results on Friday, 4/29/22 at 5pm. Families have until 5/13/22 to accept or decline any offers received during this Round 1 application. Choice programs are offered independently, so a child can receive multiple offers but can only register at one school at a time. https://go.cps.edu/elementary-school/selection
For non-entry years of Magnet programs, all grades of open enrollment (neighborhood schools that are not your own) and magnet cluster programs (neighborhood schools with a focus area), feel free to post your child’s grade and offer(s). Thanks and good luck!
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I haven’t see any posts on this board yet! Anyhow here it goes for Kinder:
Sheridan Tier 3 – WL #6
STEM [proximity] – WL #84
Galileo [proximity] – WL #31
World Language [proximity] – WL #70+
All the rest, even more awful…. what’s up with proximity lottery this year? was surprised by the high numbers….
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We plan to accept Hawthorne and therefore decline Galileo, which will bump you at least one!
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Our child was selected for Bell selective enrollment however we have a younger kid and don’t want to do separate schools. We were waitlisted on all magnet lottery results with low waitlist numbers on each.
if we accept bell will we keep on the waitlist for the others. -
Dumb question – but how do you all know if you are proximity or tier waitlisted? Or are you just saying proximity if you live within 1.5 miles?
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this year it did not say, but I knew from older kids that we are in the radius. Past years it was labeled. It is irritating they took that info off. I believe that for example if you are WL 30 that could mean “WL 30 for tier 3” not just 30 overall. So 30 from your tier would have to turn it down to get a spot.
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Anyone have thoughts on community 4-5 miles to Hawthorne (our current planned school to accept) versus choosing a school closer to home (we’re decently low on the waitlist for Mitchell open enrollment which is very close to us)? I know Hawthorne is amazing so struggling with how we’d decide if we end up getting a waitlist offer to something physically more convenient.
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We are on same boat, but it depends if you have other children at different schools, that really makes it more difficult; this is our situation. If only one kid, IMO, 5 Miles is doable. On the other hand it’s nice to have a good neighborhood school where you child can meet up with friends easily. It’s hard deciding what to do.
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Younger kid got offer RGC, but older kid waitlisted:
Hawthorne, waitlist 22
Stone, waitlist 4
Waters, waitlist 4
Any chances?
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Weird – we are waitlisted 4 on Stone too.
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Sounds like your children are in different grades. Each grade has its own wait list.
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And proximity and each tier has their own waitlist in K. I didn’t know that.
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Offered: Stem, Disney, Healy, Holden, and McClellan; and have narrowed down to STEM & Healy.
Any thoughts between the two?
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STEM’s strength is its academics, esp math science. If you need aftercare I am not sure if they have it or not anymore, worth asking. It has a small school feel, nice older building. Do not know about Healy. Congrats on the offer.
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Any thoughts on Hawthorne 14 for 1st? Was enrollment down this year for k? Also very low WL #s at Lincoln, Bell and Audubon but know they often don’t accept off the waitlist. Offered Alcott.
On commute, we currently commute 4 miles for 2 to school – it’s not that bad as long as both are in same school (you should have sibling preference), but other kids do after school play dates that are somewhat out for us because of distance.
Selective enrollment acceptance won’t take you off waitlists for choice.
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Hello!
Like many other caregivers this morning, we are trying to get a better understanding of what WL numbers may mean. Thanks in advance for any feedback on the likelihood of the following. Did not include high WL numbers.
Lasalle 2- 24
Disney Magnet-34
Tubman-20
Alcott-36
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You will probably get a call from Disney. The school is huge.
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Thanks Daddo for your response. We look forward to learning more about Disney and the other schools should they be options. Learning this morning that the WL numbers are in tiers?…which is different than I originally understood it (thought our number was the number overall). This is our first time around so learning as we go…
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There were some comments about Disney on here some time ago. Not sure if this link will work but it was a conversation about Ston v Disney
Disney has a gifted program for which kids may qualify for, it’s only 1 class per grade and kids are selected based on grades and before pandemic on MAP scores.
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If it helps, we were #24 for LaSalle II for Kinder last year and just missed it — I think we ended up at 1 or 2. Disney II moved about 30 slots.
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Hi LSM,
Yes, this is super helpful. Sounds like we are in a similar place as you were last year with some schools. Can I ask you if you were on the proximity or general wait list? I don’t think we are within 1.5 miles of either Disney or Lasalle or Alcott…etc and wondering if our number means they will go through the proximity wait list first (if I understand this all correctly). TIA for any thoughts.
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We were Tier 3 waitlist at LaSalle II. From the tour I did, the principal said the proximity waitlist moves the least of the waitlists — but I’m not sure to what extent.
In terms of order, each waitlist is separate. So to get a proximity spot, you’ll need 24 students in proximity to decline.
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Tier 4 – Kindergarten (no other siblings in CPS currently)
Offered: Disney and Lasalle II
Waitlisted 19 schools: Disney II (2), Hawthorne (6), Sheridan (6), Beaubien (11), Chicago World (17), Stem (29)…others not worth sharing in the 100s or 200s.
Any thoughts on these schools? Interested in learning more about Lasalle II, Disney II, Hawthorne and Sheridan.
For the waitlist (if I understand correctly) in order for us to possibly get an offer at Disney II two children in Tier 4 have to decline.
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We almost went to Lasalle II for K last year. They offered tours around this time which I highly recommend. It seemed like a great school with a really healthy school culture–the security guard who welcomed us to the tour was pumping it up, all the teachers seemed wonderful and knew the sibling kid who was on the tour I was on. I have somehow stayed on the principal’s email list although we didn’t end up there and she seems to have handled the challenges this year with aplomb. We ended up staying at my daughter’s Montessori school for K year because in August CPS was not saying anything about COVID plans and her dad and I both work in person and frankly need reliable in person school, but that was lack of trust in the central office, not the school. The school seems great.
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Oh, sorry for the multiple posts, but just FYI: I missed this in the online tours, but Disney is apparently, because of their building, basically like an open office setup. So all the K classes were in one room just separated by dividers. Having worked in that setup as an adult it sounded like hell to me, so, although we had an initial offer there I turned it down.
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Thank you! We plan to do Lasalle 2’s tour this month. We got an email on today, Sat April 30 from both Lasalle 2 and Disney inviting us to a tour.
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Anyone use the CPS bus system for travel 4-5 miles from their home to their choice school? Thoughts? Having a hard time deciding on something more academically rigorous far away versus an ok neighborhood school and curious how well the bus works out. (note: I am aware that this may be limited option right now with the bus driver shortage but hoping issues get better in the future).
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In a very similar situation, found the post from LSQMom recently on this thread pretty helpful – https://chicagoschooloptions.com/forums/topic/spring-2022-sees-kindergarten-results/#post-13970
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RAVENSWOOD-Magnet Cluster-Fine & Performing Arts 7
SKINNER-Magnet Cluster-Fine & Performing Arts,Technology 71
LASALLE II-Magnet-World Language 37
COONLEY Open Enrollment – General Education 30
LINCOLN-Open Enrollment-General Education 42
CPS MAYER-Magnet with Boundary-Montessori, Fine & Performing Arts 19
CPS HAWTHORNE-Magnet-Scholastic Academy 28
CPS LASALLE-Magnet-World Language 30
PRESCOTT-Open Enrollment-General Education offer
CPS ALCOTT ES – Open Enrollment – General Education 26
BELL – Open Enrollment – General Education 59
CPS COLUMBUS – Open Enrollment – General Education offer
BURLEY – Magnet Cluster – Technology 22
HAMILTON-Magnet Cluster-Fine & Performing Arts 20
CPS BURR – Magnet Cluster – World Language! Offer
CPS PRITZKER-Magnet Cluster-Fine & Performing Arts 41
grade 2 . We got 3 offer from prescott burr and columbus.-
Hi! Wondering if you can share if your LaSalle I ever moved? I have it for K this year and hoping it does! Thanks!
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Did bus last year and was great! There was an aide and a driver for just a few kids. This year could not get a bus…. $500/mo stipend instead to drive. If you CANNOT drive the child, bus may be an issue because I think they’re reconsidering the promise of universal bussing. But if you can get one, it’s great.
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How do you apply for the driving stipend?
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Offered Ogden and Murray. Murray is our ideal location. Is Ogden worth the commute?
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For FIRST grade, if anyone’s interested:
Offers:
NettelhorstNewberry
Von Linne
Goudy
Waitlists:
Drummond 3
Galileo 2
A bunch of others–Lasalle II, Burley, Peirce, Alcott, Suder, Prescott, Hamilton): in the ~20s (which puts you totally in contention for K offers, but for 1st would be, like, a whole class leaving).
Several (Sheridan, Mayer, etc) not even offering wait lists.
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Also, I would swear I saved our final placements last year for just this occasion, but I can’t find it right now. And I do think with the effects of people pulling their kids out due to COVID that each year is a bit idiosyncratic right now, but, again, if it’s helpful, last year, from memory, we had:
Initial offers: Disney, InterAmerican, Tubman, Nettelhorst, Talcott
We were initially WL #9 for Lasalle II (which seems like an AWESOME school and was one of our topic picks). Got in off the WL in early June and were all set to go there, then ended up pulling out when it was August and the middle of the Delta wave and CPS was offering no COVID plan for the year.
I also remember we started decently high on Lasalle Language Academy (40s? I can’t recall exactly) and got an offer the first week after school started and got one or two other offers from schools where we started in the 20s. So 20s are definitely within reach of moving…higher it might depend on the school. If I ever find the doc I thought I saved I’ll post detail…..
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First grade results:
Prescott: Offered; accepted (for now)
Brentano: 5
Goethe: 6
Coonley: 8
Mitchell: 10
Burley: 12
Burr: 14
Drummond: 14
I welcome any thoughts on Prescott, since I’m not too enthusiastic about it (got some weird vibes from the administration during the tour — but am going to try again this week), or others. We also may just continue private.
Any general ideas on how far first grade waitlists move? I asked on one tour (Franklin Fine Arts) and the response was that they had gotten to 12 on the waitlist the prior year.
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Hi! Is there a school tour this week at prescott?
Thought 2nd Tuesday of each month?-
Yes, Prescott emailed and there are two tours: 5/3 and 5/10 at 9am. I’m going to try to make one of them. The last I tour I did was virtual in late 2020.
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Update: Received offers from Prescott, Mitchell, Burr, Drummond, and LaSalle II. Accepted Drummond and withdrew from all other lists. SO very happy to be done, after two years of this! Best of luck to everyone.
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Whoa! That’s a list of awesome choices. I am shocked how much waitlists moved for first.
We also got into Drummond for first grade and are considering our options so we may see you there!
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Are there any Oscar Meyer families who can weigh-in regarding the school? I plan to tour after receiving unexpected offer but would love an insight on the older grades. Is it an appropriate curriculum if your kid is high-achieving academically yet socially adept? Do you like the teachers and staff?
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Sorry!! That should say Mayer!
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I don’t have personal experience w/ Mayer but toured in the fall. The upper grades are IB (1-3 are formally Montessori, 4 & 5 are not formally called that b/c they had to choose between putting 6th w/ IB to get that cert vs. keeping it w/ 4&5 to get the EL2 Montessori cert but it still feels very Montessori, then middle school is IB). MS seemed very academically appropriate and also class sizes are, at least currently, tiny at those grades. They said 15-20, which is basically private school sizes. Seemed pretty good!
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Also, they do offer Algebra in 8th and if kids are really ahead they may go over to Lincoln Park HS for some classes.
(Also, if it matters to you, which it did to me, no required HW until 3rd grade, which is more in line with current education/developmental thinking)
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Thank you, Kat!
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We received offer from Oscar Mayer for first grade. Out little one is at Disney magnet for Kindergarten. Thinking whether to keep her at Disney which is STEM focussed or move to Oscar Mayer which is Montesorri + Performing Arts.
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Mombie- how did you like Disney for kindergarten?
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so far no complaints but not challenging enough either. My little one is cruising, did not get offer from SEES which would have been better for her.
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Franklin – 7 (proximity)
Prescott – 14 (tier 3)
LaSalle – 32 (proximity)
Hawthorne – 86 (tier 3)
All other results are waitlisted lower. Accepted at Bell RGC but we don’t want to split kids up and it’s far. Any chances on these? LaSalle would be most preferred.
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Steve,
LaSalle 32 i would think you have a very very good chance of getting an offer, my older one is there now and our little one just received offer (siblings) but 32 is a very good number.
and send the principal Mr Graves an email to let him know if LaSalle is your preference. Last year, there were spots opened up in the first week.
Agnes
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Thank you so much! We really hope it work out
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Steve, one more thing, we have school tours coming up soon and playdates to meet current families. If are interesting, please do come to the tours, our principal usually leads the tours.
Check out http://www.lasallechicago.com for details.
Agnes
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Offered and accepted Hawthorne K for Tier4.
Turned down Pritzker RGC.
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Hi Meg Were you at the open house this week? do you know any other families in tier 4 that have or will accept Hawthorne for kinder?
Danny
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I was at the Open House on Monday. I know of one other family in Tier 4 that have accepted their offer. They were also at the open house. Where are you on the waitlist?
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Thank you Meg for sharing. Yes, I was at the open house on that Monday. Hoping to hear back during the waitlist period.
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Grade 1
Waitlisted #4 for Blaine
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Grade- kindergarten
Disney -81
Disney 2- 6
what chances do you guys think we have for Disney 2. Disney I’m sure we won’t be called that’s a pretty low number.
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What tier are you in? Or are you waitlisted in a 1.5 mile radius from the school?
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Hello we should be in tier 1? We are .7 miles from the school. I’m not exactly sure how to figure out the tiers. But we are real close to the school.
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In order to find your tier enter your home address at the link below.
https://schoolinfo.cps.edu/schoollocator/index.html
If you live .7 miles from Disney 2 then you are likely in the Proximity Tier waitlist. There are five total waitlists for magnet schools.
1. Proximity. Your child lives 1.5 miles or less from the school.
2. Tier 1
3. Tier 2
4. Tier 3
5. Tier 4
In order for your child to get an offer from Disney 2, 5 families from your specific tier need to decline if they are contacted with an offer. Then the school begins to call people on the waitlist in order.
If Disney (or any school) has 2 Kinder classrooms and say there are 30 spots, 60 total (2 Kinder class x 30 spots). 60 spots divided by 5 tiers is 12 students across both classrooms per tier. So at a #6 waitlist, you have a good chance of getting an offer. Will all 12 families in your tier who got a first offer from Disney 2 accept? Will the first 5 people on the waitlist in your tier accept or decline Disney 2 if they get a call with an offer. I wish we had a crystal ball to know. 🙂
We are visiting Disney 2 next week to learn more about the school. I have heard and have had positive interactions with the administration so looking forward to learning more.
Best of luck in the school choice. Hope your child finds a school that is a great fit.
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We attended a tour this morning at Coonley, and we were told by the principal that the school will accept only kids from the neighborhood, and no open enrollment kids will be accepted for Kindergarten. We are waitlisted there. Also, they said that the kids are 22 per classroom in the Kindergarten classes. This is so frustrating, and such a waste of time.
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Why do they even have the lottery as an option? Also, I thought they were in the news recently due to budget cuts and declining enrollment…
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They were saying that pre-COVID they were running out of space, during COVID the enrollment went down and now they feel like they are at the perfect capacity. This is what OES send me:
“Our application is universal in that we have every single school on there, no matter if they will take students or not. Schools then provide us with a capacity number after the application closes so we do not know for sure if they will accept students at the time of the application. If the admin at Coonley say that there will be no out of boundary students accepted at the kindergarten level, it is highly unlikely that you will get off of their wait list. There are few other overcrowded schools that also do not accept students.The term “Open Enrollment” means that it is a neighborhood school that does not have a theme (like our Magnet/Magnet Cluster schools do). It does not necessarily mean that they always accept students from outside of their boundary.”
I just do not understand what difference does it make for the schools to notify the administration in October rather than in December, so we can avoid going to tours and open houses in schools where they do not have open seats. Also, why would they put us on a waiting list when in December they told them no seats…
The Principle is new, coming from the network…So frustrating!!!
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We experienced this same thing when my kid was waitlisted at Disney years ago. No offers. We later found out the school does not accept students after second grade.
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By the way, Disney may call you in summer (even though high number). I think they have 2 K classes.
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Tier 1. Torn but will decline Hawthorne and go for the neighborhood school. I heard Hawthorne is good but figured the commute will be tough for the little one. Good luck everyone
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Does anyone know when we will see waitlist numbers change? I can’t even view mine right now.
we are proximity for all
Galileo #33
World Language #84
Stem #93
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Those seem to have moved now check again….
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We received an email from the principle of LaSalle II that stated that the waitlist will most likely be updated today.
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Still cant see waitlist changes 🙁
Can anyone see it?
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Nope. WL are apparently moving because I got an offer from Prescott yesterday (which was unexpected because we were #13 on the waitlist for first grade) and their email said we should have been able to see the offer on the portal yesterday and we’re supposed to go in to accept/decline asap (5/19 deadline) and…still grayed out.
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Scratch that–now I can see results. No other WL numbers appear updated (which is what I remember from last summer, they actually updated in the portal very irregularly, even when the WLs were moving), but I can at least see results again and the current offer.
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I can see them now! We have moved
Galileo 33 to 29 (this does not feel hopeful)
World language 84 to 46
stem 93 to 48
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STONE or GREELEY!?
We loved Greeley and the fact that it offers such strong Spanish language program but hear that STONE has strong academics as well but just do not know much about the school.
Greeley is close to home, STONE would be a more complicated/longer commute and definitely not on our way to work (downtown).
Appreciate anyone’s input in advance and good luck to everyone
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We were WL 55 for Disney and now we are WL 22 and yesterday we got a call that we have a spot and today I see status shows “offered”, so we have until May 20 to accept or decline. We will decline because the open walls for K would not be ok for our child and it is at least 20 min drive for us, so hopefully we will help the waitlist to move 🙂
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With the news today, I am sure Disney will not have a waiting list this year. We just declined their offer.
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Agreed 🙁
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Does anyone see any movement on waitlists? How often will the waitlists be updated? I have not seen any movement on ours since May 17…
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We are impatiently waiting. Round II starts June 8 so I doubt any movement yet….
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Wow I stand corrected I looked and some have moved! Others have not…..I think some schools updated and others didnt
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My recollection from when we applied for K last year was…not as often as you’d like! Kind of irregularly, some schools seem to more than others. The good news is sometimes they don’t update even when the list is moving and you’ll be, like, in the teens on the waitlist shown on the portal and suddenly get an offer. Doesn’t keep me from obsessively checking the portal, though 🙂
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We received two additional offers. Waitlists did not move for either (position 5 and 27…)
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Hi Kindermom – do you mind sharing where you got an offer?
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First we were offered Disney & Greeley
Then followed by: Stone academy and eventually also Nettlehorst and Prescott
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We got three additional offers from Lasalle II (#1 on the waitlist), Stone (#4) and Galileo (#7). We are K Tier III
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We are waiting but no call yet. Did they call, email, or did # just change on Cpsgo?
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sorry I am referring to the Stone offer, how did they notify you of offer?
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It was on the portal. Nobody called or emailed. It is so frustrating since we have only 48 hours to accept. Basically, we need to check the portal daily.
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I see. Thank you for sharing. Will you take Stone? My kid is WL for higher grade there.
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We are still considering. The principle is leaving, the school is small and looked overcrowded. I was not very impressed with the tour but I understand it has great reputation.
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Curious if anyone got in to Galileo, Stem, or World Language from the proximity wait list and what their numbers were?
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Yes, we were offered at World (proximity) and Stem (maybe proximity but we live 1.7 miles so could have been Tier 4).
World – 17 originally. then offered immediately during week 1 of waitlist and it changed from 17 to “8 (offered)”
Stem – 29 originally and then moved down to 17 on May 17. Then offered Saturday 5/21.
We declined World for another school but the principal is great and its a strong school community. Nice building.
We declined Stem after some feedback received from former families. Happy to discuss offline because the school might be a fit for many.
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Thanks! would love to talk offline, but don’t want to waste anyone’s time until we get an offer. Right now we are:
Galileo 29 (originally 33)
World language 46 (originally 84)
stem 48 (originally 93)
I’m surprised Stem and World Language moved so much and Galileo so little.
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We are still on all 3 of those schools too for proximity, all with still high numbers [28/29/42]. So frustrating. In past experience there was a big waitlist shuffle in last week of August / first week of school so I am guessing we may end in this boat, but those are still pretty high numbers.
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We gave up our spots at World Language, i called them after we received an offer and asked if we can tour the school. The answer was “we are very short staffed and won’t be offering that”
When i asked about thurs K registration night and if i can tag along and see if i can at least see the school. They said no.
I found that extremely disappointing and quite frankly a huge red flag. They seemed to think they are too good for anyone.
I was happy to give up that spot.
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Hawthorne sent an email to low wait list parents that they are full and won’t be offering any seats at this time. Said if something changes over summer they will reach out.
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We received the same email. We were hoping for the waitlists number to move but not sure if we should be hopeful. We are #6 (Tier 3) at Hawthorne. Anyone have any experience with Hawthorne waitlist from last years?
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We’re #5 for proximity and got the same email. When we did the tour, they talked like they expected to get to 10+ on the waitlist.
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So World Language just moved….a lot ….and we got a proximity offer.
Huge sigh of relief. And some hope for those of us who struck out first round!
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Congratulations! that’s wonderful! would you mind sharing what your original number was? we were 84 and we are now 46. i know we are lower than that now. I’m obsessively checking this website hahaha
this is for Kindergarten too, correct?
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Yeah we were #41, Proximity
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Anyone receive offers off waitlists? I don’t see any movement on my kids WL numbers :/
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– some waitlists are not updated regularly by the school. if there is one you really want, and are not too low down, would recommend calling to see what the status is. sometimes they respond.
– after June 8, when SEES 2nd round comes out, and people take some of those seats, I would think there will be some movement. After that, probably not much more until August.
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Who do you call? I’ve seen a couple people recommend this and the one time I tried last year I reached an office clerk who was quite uninterested in fielding my question or relaying me to anyone who could. We’re single digits on one waitlist that would change our moving plans if we got off it so I’d love to find out if there’s any kind of chance or if it’s a “we’re not taking anyone from the waitlist” situation. It would be nice if there was a chance of finding out even that level of info…
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I reached out to schools via email or the ‘contact us’ forms on their website and received replies. First one, that no spots are open for my kid’s grade and with 20+ WL, prob would not receive a call at all (I heard this school has little movement in WL bec families do not move). Second one told me my kid has good chance to receive an offer with a low single digit number, but couldn’t tell me when I would receive a call. From what I understand, schools may not know how many kids are leaving until families actually tell them. So here we wait….
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Thanks!
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Most times the principal has their email on the school website. Not all of them will respond but some will. Also sometimes the main office [by phone] can at least tell you who to contact.
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I am now fully discouraged after reading about the tier (proximity) structure. We are within 0.5 mile of Disney II waitlisted at 17 for Kindergarten, so that may be the only one we may have a chance at getting.
Also, we have had zero movement on any waitlists and are now considering private schools – fun times!
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You might have a better shot at other schools on your list — some schools go through hundreds of names and even exhaust their wait list, the Disney 2 proximity list really doesn’t move because those are the people least likely to give up a slot.
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Regarding private schools – recommend to consider in advance about whether you’d take a last minute offer if you get one. This does happen with CPS, usually in August or the first week of school. Many private schools have deposits and even contracts that make it [understandably, from their point of view] hard to leave once you sign up, especially depending on the date you withdraw. Others are more flexible. Good luck!
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I do not want to give anyone false hope but please do not get discouraged by the numbers.
Lots can change and many families that I spoke with (who went through this process in past years) have gotten positive news later in the summer as well as during first weeks of school. And those families who did not end up getting an offer at the school of their first choice mention that getting an offer elsewhere ended up being “a blessing in disguise” and all are very happy with the outcome.
At the moment we have an offer to a school which we are definitely happy with but for our first choice school we are #35…
Hang tight and wishing you all best of luck!
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we just got an offer at Galileo, which we will accept. We were #33 on the waitlist for proximity.
wondering if anyone has any insight on the culture/community at Galileo, world language and stem?
We are currently at south loop for preschool and i really love it, but that’s a neighborhood school, so it has a very nice community.
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We were #31 proximity and just got an offer today. Weird…. we may accept, not sure. But why did they call #33 first? we are sure we are proximity.
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We just toured Galileo and found it impressive: K-2 has 3 classes of 20 kids each [!]. They combine at upper grades into two larger classes. They have science lab in addition to common core science. They have a new maker space, a nice auditorium, library, two options for Aftercare [park district and YMCA in the school, til 6pm]. The principal also said that while all full class instruction is to grade level, they do also focus on differentiation in small group work to teach kids at whatever level they are ready for, and they offer 8th grade Algebra as well as some afterschool algebra enrichment. They will offer Spanish starting this year, prioritize having field trips, and have a partnership with Old Town school of Music as well as other organizations.
On community: our experience from living in the area for many years is that it appears that Galileo has a strong parent group and I know CWLA does too. I believe both have long-time, local families that really support the school. Each school caters to ‘their focus’ area. Our experience at STEM with my older kid was really nice diversity, great families, academically strong, but the school seemed to have less resources [and motivation?] for extra curriculars / afterschool programs / partnerships and therefore less family involvement. Families tended to be more scattered across the city. But parents who wanted to be involved did have opportunities to do so. STEM does do an 8th grade class trip and used to [pre pandemic] have events like Movie night, 2 week summer camp, and pot luck.
Hope that helps…. recommend looking at school newsletters and websites for more info.
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Hi everyone, maybe this will help someone who is hopeful for a spot in these schools. We were offered spots in these schools but declined:
Columbus (WL#16)
Disney (WL#22)
Galileo (WL#18)
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Can somebody explain how Round 2 works? Is it only for schools that have exhausted their wait list?
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yes
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Mitchell vs Lasalle?
Hi my daughter entering kindergarten in Fall. Currently has spot at Mitchell. Just received call for Lasalle (not 2) spot. Such a quick turnaround on waitlist decisions, any insight / advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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I don’t have any specific insight, and my guess is that you probably already received this video since it was sent out to both offered and waitlisted parents, but in case you missed it, here’s a link to a virtual school tour for Lasalle: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pCvt9JO49VESL48ESJXziGnoaPIeDTKK/view
Other than that, I would probably mainly consider logistics in making my decision: location, transportation, school start/end time, aftercare availability, etc.
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If you have questions on lasalle, let me know, happy to answer them. I have a 2nd grader there now and my daughter is going to start kindergarten there next year.
Agnes
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I don’t have personal experience w/ Mitchell (it was one of my top choices for K but we didn’t get a spot). I attended an open house in 2020 when they were virtual and I was so impressed with it. It still sticks with me how the principal asked each of us our child’s name and what grade they were going into–it was a very personalized experience. I liked the small school aspect and I remember I was really impressed with the thoughtfulness of how they talked about their curriculum, especially their approach to history & social studies. They also learn Mandarin, I believe? It seemed like a bit of a hidden gem.
Again…I haven’t actually had a kid there so I don’t have an insider perspective, but you can see how much about the place has stuck with me through TWO rounds now of doing the CPS open house-lottery ringer!
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I’ve toured both 2x (once virtual and once in person) and both are solid options. LaSalle definitely has a more academic feel and is larger. Mitchell is smaller and seemed like a good mix of social emotional learning / academics. LaSalle does a great job segmenting classes for s group learning, but Mitchell has smaller class sizes. Both principals were super engaged and friendly. I think for me, it would come down to how important language acquisition is for you, and the commute/logistics.
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For LaSalle, we have 2 classes per grade and my son’s 2nd grade classes both have 28 students and 1 teacher and an aid. Language obviously is a focus here and we have Mandarin, Italian, Spanish and French classes every day (each student is lotteried into 1 language) and will have language classes every year for 9 years there.
Parent community is very strong at LaSalle, I feel that most parents know each other even with different grades.
Our field day is next Tuesday and all prospective students and families are invited to join at 3pm. And if you want to have a school tour, definitely reach out directly to Mr. Graves our principal and he will give you a private one even if we have already done the schools tours already.
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Thanks so much to all who responded, very helpful!
I loved the tour at Mitchell, liked the smaller school aspect & was impressed with the principal and the kiddos we encountered along the way.
My daughter has been in a language immersion preschool (spanish & french) so leaning towards Lasalle , although I know a gamble b/c we may not get either of those languages. I wasn’t able to tour Lasalle, so will check out the virtual tour tonight. Getting notified on Thurs, at least gives a tiny bit more time to research. I really hope to land somewhere with a strong parent community. Will see if we can swing by for field day.
Thanks again
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Hi Kindermama,
I mentioned to our principal Mr Graves about your question, and he asked me to see if you want to email him at cgraves3@cps.edu and he would love to show you the school if the schedule works out. Today is our sock hop after school (year end dance for the entire school so he will be there after school for quite a while) so definitely reach out today and you might be able to stop by and see the school this afternoon if you like.
Agnes
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Wow, that was such a generous offer! Unfortunately I didn’t see this until today. Speaks volume about principal Graves : ) Thank you so much Agnes. I think we’re going to accept. Just have to make sure my husband on same page.
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Kindermama,
If you decide to join LaSalle, we will be hosting summer playdates so let me know and I’ll make sure you receive the invites.
In addition, LaSalle is going to have “kick off to kinder” summer camp to help the incoming kindergarteners adjust to school. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll send you more details on it.
Agnes
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Thanks Agnes,
Accepted the Lasalle spot this morning! Would love to get info for summer play dates & kick off to kinder summer camp.
Full disclosure if we get SES offer we will accept. This CPS process isn’t for the faint of heart!
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Hawthorne vs. NTA
We have received the following offers for K over the past few weeks:
Hawthorne – initially offered and accepted
Jungman #3 – offered/offer expired
Franklin #5 – offered/declined
Burr #57 – offer/declined
World Language #18 – offer/declined
NTA #34 – offered today
Does anyone know anything about both schools? I do not know much about NTA, but it sounds like they have all the specials and are bringing swimming back. They are both equidistances from our house (about 5 miles each), but Hawthorne has a bus. I don’t know which one I should choose.
Thanks! (and let the 48-hour anxiety challenge begin)
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Would anyone be able to confirm that open enrollment schools (such as Prescott, Brentano, etc) do not have tiers associated with their general waitlist? I believe I heard somewhere that tiers only apply to magnet, magnet cluster and SE schools. Trying to determine WL number viability and a tiered number as opposed to a straight up number would feel very different. Thanks in advance.
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Hi Kindermama,
Welcome to LaSalle!! Why don’t you send me email to agnesfong74@gmail.com and I will forward you kindergarten info directly.
talk soon!!
Agnes
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Hi all,
Murphy or Belding?
I am wondering if anyone is a parent at either Murphy or Belding Elementary schools and has advice in deciding between the two schools. Murphy is our soon to be neighborhood school, and we ended up getting into Belding via the lottery. We’re having a tough time deciding between the two and welcome any advice.
Thanks!
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Hello!
My child is WL #10 at Disney for kindergarten from 2nd round waitlist. We have moved up 2 spots in 2 days…whats the likelihood we could get in?
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Hi,
So many variables. We’ve gotten offers from schools we were 37 & 38. I don’t see our waitlist #s budge at all on GoCPS. Was hoping they just weren’t updating & we actually are moving up. Are you seeing your waitlist spots move on GoCPS?
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Ours have moved. 2 days ago we were at 12 and checked last night and we are now 10. Maybe promising? We have another son in that school but missed application deadline and now are hoping they take us through the waitlist if the appeal I submitted doesn’t pass.
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And yes, through gocps/schoolmint website.
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Hi Kindermama-
Our WL numbers haven’t moved at all on GoCPS since 5/16 despite getting offers. I keep wondering when they will update and and now am wondering if they will update at all!!
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Same!
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Yeah the updating of numbers seems very spotty, certainly not the majority of schools updating them and not every week. We got offers from ones in the ’20s and ’30s – and one from Mitchell at #56.
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Do you know who is responsible for the updating at this point in the game-is it OAE or the schools themselves?
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It’s OAE. If it follows last year, the waitlist numbers in GoCPS should start updating soon and then weekly thereafter. The schools can tell you where you are on the waitlist, if you are really curious.
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Hi LSM-
Thanks for this info-super helpful. Was your experience last year that most schools were updated pretty regularly after a certain point? I would be excited at this point to see just one number move to know it’s possible!
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Yes. It was weird. They updated right after the initial offers, then not for about 7 weeks (I went back and checked, in my own impatience this year!), and then updated weekly through the start of school.
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Galileo vs World Language?
On the fence….I guess maybe we should base it on Math vs Language priority?
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Waitlists haven’t moved on portal since 5/16. CPS caregivers who have done this in previous years-have they usually updated by 3 weeks from the start of school? Logging in daily in hopes of seeing some last minute shifts. TY!
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My recollection from last year was they did update a few times during the summer. This summer it seems they’re not updating at all. But they are definitely still moving–we got an offer last week and so did a friend of mine (both for 1st grade kids). Last year they continued to move even through the first week or two of school–I can’t remember exactly when, but I know we got a call or two for Kindergarten spots after school had started. You can always try contacting the school if there’s one or two you’re really interested in.
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Thanks @Kat! That’s helpful info. Good to know that things are moving and will continue to do so. Disappointing that we can’t watch the waitlists move this summer, although I know that wouldn’t change anything, even my obsessive checking!! Best of luck.
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@chimomma LaSalle I’s K waitlist does move, but i recommend you reach out to Principal Graves cgraves3@cps.edu and let him know your desire to have your child to join LaSalle I, he can tell you where you are in the waitlist.
Let me know if you have any other questions!!
Agnes
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Does anyone know whether you have to stay at the same physical address if you got into a magnet school as a kindergartener (Stone Academy, Hawthorne, etc.) If a child got in because of his tier initially and then he moves with his family to a different address that is not within his initial tier, can he still continue attending that lottery-based program? Or is his spot dependent on his initial address/tier and his seat and his siblings’ seats are guaranteed only as long as he and siblings stay at that address?
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