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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. SEES offers are “single choice”, meaning accepting an offer will take you out of the selection pool for any unfilled seats at other SEES schools. https://go.cps.edu/elementary-school/selection
Kindergarten is typically the “entry year” for Selective Enrollment Regional Gifted Centers and Classical programs, and they do consider CPS Tiers during the selection process to insure a level of diversity in the classroom. Only Keller & Beaubien consider CPS Tiers for 1st grade entry. All other years do not consider CPS Tiers.
A single scaled score will be listed for RGC programs and two reading & math percentile scores will be listed for Classical programs. CPS will not post “cutoff scores” for RGC & Classical programs, but this is a great site for crowdsourcing so others may gain insight.
Please post your child’s score(s), tier, and what ranking they placed the school they were offered. Thanks and good luck!
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Reading: 99.8
Math: 99
Gifted: 128
Tier 2
Offered Edison, 1st choice, will accept
Good luck everyone!!
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RGC score was actually 129, must have misread it the first time around.
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Do you get decimal points for classical exam? I thought the highest is 99
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I think the last time they used decimal points in reported scores was in 2019, but apparently they brought them back this year. I’ve only seen 99.7, 99.8, and 99.9 reported by parents this year, so my guess is that 99.6(ish) and below are all just reported as 99.
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Classical Reading Percentile:99
Classical Math Percentile: 99
Regional Gifted Center Score: 149
Moving to Chicago, entering at 1st grade.Was only offered Decatur Classical, which was our 2nd choice. Our mind changed after the deadline, and would’ve much preferred our 3rd or 4th choices (Bell or Beaubien). Now we have to see if we’ll “gamble”.
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I’m sorry I wish I could edit that.
99, 99, and 142 for reading, math, and gifted, respectively.
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What was your first choice?
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Tier 4
141 Gifted, 89 math, 85 reading. Offered 1st choice Bell, accepted.
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What are everyone’s thoughts on SW?
99.9R, 98M and 125 RGC.
Offered at SW. No offers at the RGCs ranked ahead
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SW is excellent, among the best academically and in a safe area. – very hard seat to get. congrats.
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Isn’t there a new principal? i thought there were concerns the classical program would be deprioritized with her.
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There is a new principal. Dr Bush. She is a former Skinner trainee principal, then worked at a STEM school, and seems very in tune with the school culture so far. I have high hopes. But regardless of the principal, I have had 2 kids through Skinner classical and I really haven’t seen anything that compares to the academics of it. My middle schooler just got a seat at WY after coming out of there.
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Thanks ks!
Is that SN though? We ranked SW higher because its closer but we realize now that we actually prefer SN. Doh!!
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Classical Reading Percentile: 99.9
Classical Math Percentile: 86
Regional Gifted Center Score:122
Got Skinner North which was our first choice. Absolutely ELATED.-
May I ask What tier?
We are trying to figure out whether to wait for Round 2 on SN. our score is close to yours….
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Huzzah, may I ask which tier you are in?
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T3 96R 85M offered Bronzeveille classical. Anyone know anything about this school?
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Bronzeville is amazing. I was hesitant to send my daughter there because it is so new, but we love it there. All her teachers are fantastic. Students split their day between their humanities teacher and their STEM teacher and then are off to their essential classes. We are greatly impressed with how much our daughter has learned this year. The principal is wonderful and is always available. There have been at least 5 virtual “coffee with the principal” or “parent advisory meetings” so far where parents can just ask anything. The Friends of Bronzeville groups helps the school and there are many opportunities to meet parents or help out at the school.
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For those with an offer in SN/SW. I’m I correct that this is only based on the Gifted score of around 122-125?
Little one got a 127 (so proud of her). We got no offers since we only put down Bell and Edison. We have a great neighborhood school and so did not apply extensively
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SN and SW are Classical – different test. Gifted score has no bearing on that, what is your classical score?
127 will likely get you another RGC – for example NTA. you may get a letter from CPS to apply to those in a later round. It is a good score, just not an off the charts score.
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Tier 4 Entering K
Reading: 99.9
Math: 99
RGC: 136
Offered SN (1st choice)
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tier3
Reading:98
math:99
gifted:125
offer:SN
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Entering 1st grade
Reading: 96
Math:99
RGC: 132
Offered first choice at McPherson
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Can I ask why you chose McPherson as your first choice? We got an offer and there’s so little info out there given the program is so new. Thanks in advance!
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Son got McPherson acceptance too, but agree it’s hard to find info. Plan to go to a May 11th open house to at least see the building.
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Where did you learn about the open house?
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School’s website -> Contact -> School Tours (https://mcpherson.cps.edu/m/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=394057&type=d)
Page seems edited from earlier this week – specific dates taken down – but still says if you are interested in touring the school contact Marianne Turk (mturk@cps.edu)
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To clarify, it seems like a general tour, but like I said, you would get to see the facilities
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Our son is in the kindergarten RGC program at McPherson this year, entering grade 1 in fall. The school has been wonderful and has a lot to offer. Teachers have been amazing!
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Raj – do you still like your experience in the RCG program at McPherson? Our daughter was offered (and we accepted) a Kinder spot for Fall 2023 but can’t get much experienced info.
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You should join Parents of McPherson fb group! They are pretty responsive.
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Not Raj, but have experience there. We are leaving after this school year and opting for a magnate that has sibling preference instead. We got an offer in the initial lottery this year for the magnate and took it. Overall, we had a fine time. But, it is not a convenient location for us, and we are looking ahead to another child about to enter CPS. The RGC kids are really separated from the rest of the school and we struggled to find a sense of community. The program is clearly new and that shows as they have new teachers, are acquiring classroom supplies, setting up classroom space and having trouble filling seats. I imagine they will get things worked out and running better in time. Changing principals in an opaque process in the middle of the year probably didn’t help. We were never really excited about the school, but it was totally fine. We feel better knowing we can have both kids in one school together in the future and invest in that community going forward.
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Sorry to hear you are leaving the community. I can’t speak to your experience or other neighborhood schools, magnet schools or anyone’s commute. Our experience is very different. We rejected multiple magnet offers and a well ranked neighborhood school in favor of McPherson. Personally, we are glad we made that decision. Everyone’s circumstances and every child is different. We found a super welcoming community here, with lots of involved parents, lots of school groups around sports and activities, and great academics with the rgc + ib program combination. Our older child participates in activities in and out of school with and has friends in both the options and the neighborhood programs.
I think the early year or two of the options program might have had class sizes kept small intentionally to help the program get started (not sure about that but Ive heard staff say that). It also started during peak Covid times, so integrating across classrooms was really challenging. I could see how that would make the community feel limited ever though we didn’t feel that way. I have heard from the new principal that he is focusing more on that integration across classes and programs this coming year.
With multiple children and two working parents, we strongly favored an arrangement with our kids at one elementary school. So, we really liked that the McPherson neighborhood program gives sibling preference so it’s easier to keep all our children in one school regardless of how sees testing goes.
I also wanted to share a bit about the principal issue raised. While I don’t know a lot about it, I’ve attended some meetings and heard some things in the topic. It did seem like an odd way to handle things to me, but the LSC explained that issues going on with the old principal were really confidential and that she was on an unusual contract that ended in the middle of a school year. From what I’ve heard, some of the issues there seemed to involve interactions between the principal and teachers / staff. Regardless of how and why the old principal was ousted, the new principal seems fantastic. He’s open, kind, communicative, collaborative, always at school events, and inclusive. I’ve already heard teachers praising his approach in the little time he’s been there. I’m eager to see how well things are running this coming school year.
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Tier 2 entering K
Reading 95
Math 97
RGC 126
Offered Pritzker, our first choice
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Can you change your rankings to add another school for R2?
Based on my LOs scores, it looks like we have to change course completely.
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No, you cannot. You may get offers from schools you didn’t apply to – these are the schools who didn’t fill all of their seats.
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How do you receive those follow up offers? Via mail, email? We received no offers initially.
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I think, from what I remember last year, I logged in when Round 2 opened up (June 8th this year) and it said my daughter was accepted. So we had a week to decide whether to accept or not.
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Tier 3 entering K
Reading 99
Math 97
RGC 121
Offered SN (1st choice)
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Received a Decatur offer for kindergarten with 99.7 reading, 99 math, 139 RGC. Our older child attends Bell RGC and we were hoping they’d end up at the same school – we pref’d Bell as our first choice but got offered our second choice (and those were the only two schools we listed). Does anyone have insight re: chances to receive a second or third round offer from Bell with a 139 if we decline Decatur? Related – my understanding is that if we accept Decatur we won’t get any other SE offers even though it wasn’t our first choice (can someone confirm this?). Thanks!
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You are correct that if you accept your Decatur spot, you’re out of the running for a Bell spot. My understanding is that very few people decline Bell. So you’d have to be the top score of the group that is awaiting Bell. I was in your position last year with a 141. We opted to go with our second choice, because it felt too risky. I would only go to round 2 if you’re prepared to go with a neighborhood, private or magnate offer option.
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This spreadsheet is useful. Looks like 139 would’ve gotten you in in round 2 last year. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UMZlfdO41LIyS-ughAD06mwwcFFxj4ai4SfbDuiaXcI/edit
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Are you also on the sibling wait list for the neighborhood program? That would be another option for you. There was someone on here that was offered a Bell RGC seat but wavering (check around all the threads, including the choice schools threads) Maybe try to follow up with that person to see what they decide to do.
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Entering 1st grade
Reading: 99
Math:85
RGC: 128
Offered Beaubien, 6th choice
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Reading 99
math 85
RGC 105
got Decatur (1st choice)
what are your thoughts about the school?
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Congratulations on your offer! May I please ask which tier you are in? My son has same scores and we are in Tier 3, but did not get an offer from Decatur which was our first choice. My older kid is in Decatur, so we would love to have both in the same school.
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The school is great! My son loves it. He says they make learning fun! The parent community is very supportive as well.
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Hi
we are in Tier 3
this was the only offer she got and this whole process is new to me!
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Reading 99
Math 96
RGC 142
Offered Decatur. First choice, tier 3. Wanna know more about the school too. -
Congrats on the offer! Current Decatur kindergarten mom here. We’ve been very impressed with the quality of education and environment at Decatur. I feel like we hit the lottery of getting a high quality, well-rounded, free public school education and experience. Based on the reading levels and math work we are seeing from our kid, Decatur seems consistent with teaching 1 to 2 grades ahead. The kindergarten teacher is new this year and my kid adores her.
All grades take either Latin, art, music, dance and makers space each once a week. At K orientation, the principal said this offering of “specials” courses helps high achieving kids explore non-traditional academic areas, and gives the room to fail. I love that take on it. Decatur also has a robust social/emotional learning curriculum. My kid has learned so many skills as to how to deal with other kids and herself.
The school seems to have a strong community and there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer as a room parent, through the PTA or through various other fund raisers throughout the year. However, I still find the parent social network less active than I would have expected. Our class has had a couple handfuls of play dates and birthday parties, but I think the fact that this isn’t a neighborhood school plus still dealing with covid waves have made parent socializing and kid play dates outside of school difficult to navigate. I’m also not a social butterfly, so it’s very possible other parents’ experiences are different. After attended the spring gala, it’s clear that parents of older kids do have a strong bond amongst each other and the teachers.
My only negatives about our experience are more logistical and derive from covid-era staffing issues. We signed up for the bus, but the day before school started most of the bus routes were cancelled, including ours. The school/bus company did offer to reroute us to a neighboring neighborhood school, the district offered a stipend, and the PTA assisted with getting interested families in carpools. However, if the bus were an option, it’s probably not a viable one for many, as pick up/drop off is at your neighborhood school and given the early start time (7:45). We live 2 miles away (about a 12-15 min drive) and were given a 6:47am pick up time. This would mean having to leave our house to get to the bus stop at like 6:37am; not happening.
Also, J After School was understaffed this year, so we were unable to enroll in after care (we’ve been on the waitlist the whole year). The school did offer teacher or third-party, tuition-based after school special courses starting in the second semester, but that only extends the school day until 3:45, so it is not a substitute for after care. I have no idea what the status of busing or after care is for next year, but keep in mind that neither are guaranteed. Our family was able to make lack of transportation and after care work this year through hybrid work schedules and help from grandparents. It’s tedious, but I think it is well worth it for the education and experience.
I’m happy to answer any other specific questions!
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very interesting info thanks! We are Lincoln Sq based and considering an offer from Skinner North. If after care couldn’t be staffed and wasn’t available it would be a dealbreaker for us. The transportation is also a concern, but we could probably figure something out. Good to understand that there is a possibility you make a plan that’s dependent on after care or transport and you can be told at very short notice its not available.
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Thanks for all the great info. Specifically the info about aftercare is very important for us.
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We received an offer for Decatur Kindergarten and are thinking of relocating closer due to being fairly far away as of now. The best waitlist offer we have is 31 and I am unsure if that is a decent number or not as we are new to this whole lottery system. I am hoping Decatur will be worth a move. My question is about aftercare issues. Did you get a sense if it was improving in terms of availability? I didn’t see anything about waitlists for aftercare and obviously they didn’t suggest there were problems, so its concerning that the aftercare program isn’t as reliable as I was thinking it would be.
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Has anyone received any welcome emails directly from the school, or do any been-there-done-that parents remember when they received information about how to register? We received an email from Goethe (which we declined), but haven’t heard from Edison or any of the other schools that we were offered.
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We received a welcome email from our school last year around 10pm the day results were out, with instructions to check our email in June for the paperwork.
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From my experience, you will most likely not receive anything until after the May 15 deadline to accept so the school has an idea of how many parents accept and how many spots are left to fill.
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I received Welcome email within hours of the lottery results being posted asking if we would like to take a tour of the school.
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If you don’t mind sharing, which school was this?
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Anyone with 95+ in one and 75+ in another got into SW or SN? Any chance on round 2?
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We received a welcome email from SN.
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Anyone have insight into NTA? My daughter was accepted here. We ranked it #1 and then two classical schools but I don’t think her scores will get her into the 2 or 3rd schools we ranked based on her classical math or reading.
Tier 4, RGC: 141
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Is that the national teachers elementary academy? If so, great schools says English is 28% proficient and Math is 21% proficient.
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NTA’s RGC program is very good. The neighborhood program causes the low test scores but the RGC kids have their own class. I would recommend taking a tour and contacting the principal for more info.
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Reading: 99.8
Math: 99RGC: 160
Offered Edison (1st choice)
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My I ask what tier?
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We are Tier 3
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Anyone here try for a 3 year old Pre-K spot? We got waitlisted for Suder, round 1 and #17. We’re tier 2 and this is my first experience with any of this stuff. Do we stand a chance at an offer? Do waitlists actually move? Any tips appreciated, thanks!
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they do move, especially Suder. #17 is not bad. but it will be a wait. There may be another thread for PK – this thread is for K
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Congrats to anyone who got a Decatur offer! 8th grade Decatur parent here. Just paying it forward from the old days of CPS Obsessed and all the great info I got there when we I was in your spot. Here are some things to know:
Pros: Smaller school, so the kids and teachers all really get to know and support each other. 7th and 8th grade is fully in place, compared to when we accepted and it still only went to 6th grade. Strong dance and music (not band) program that is really developing into something special. Great art teacher. Latin is taken from K on. Adding more and more middle school sports as of this year. Overall a generally supportive administration (we are on our 3rd Principal in our 9 years there, so we have seen a few different leaders). Active parent volunteer community. Anecdotally it seems that a good number of the current 8th grade class (the first ever) did get into SEES High Schools or top privates for next year, and probably 2/3 of that group has been at Decatur since K or 1st grade. J at School is on-site for fee-based aftercare as well as different teacher lead after school programs throughout the year.
Cons: Smaller school – can go either way socially for kids with a smaller group of classmates. They do so much with what they have, but especially as kids get to middle school there may not be as many additional activities available compared to bigger schools. As an SEES school, a high number of kids are bussed or driven from multiple locations around the city, so it can be hard to manage kids wanting to play with friends or even getting to know other families. No language other than Latin.
Overall it was the right school for my kid in K and generally we have few complaints with our years there. As the first class to do 7th and 8th grade there, we have had some growing pains, but I have every expectation that will smooth out as they get used to having a full middle school and (hopefully) not having a pandemic.
Hope these are useful thoughts. I am happy to answer any specific questions, though I will say upfront many of the K-3 teachers are not the ones we had so I can’t give much insight there.
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Does anyone know about Lenart Regional Gifted Center? Specifically the safety of the community? I’m new to the city.
My kiddo got an offer there.
RGC:129
tier 4
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My daughter is currently in 5th grade at Lenart and we love it! Just like any neighborhood in Chicago, there’s safety concerns regardless of location. You may want to be more interested in the school community, challenging curriculum and where the kids go after leaving Lenart.
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So what’s the curriculum like there then?
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My daughter is in 2nd grade at Lenart, and we are very happy. She is challenged academically, and the school is very supportive. Lenart is a small school with 1 class per grade, which is a plus. The Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers are absolutely FANTASTIC.
My daughter along with the rest of the students play outside before, during and after school. There has never been any incidents that have occurred. I agree that no matter where your child attends school (North, South, or West) safety will always be a concern.
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This forum has been extremely helpful through the process. Thank you for all the info provided.
Our daughter was an early entry to Kindergarten.
Took early entry to K exam on 2/5 and was with the examiner for 60 mins.
Cognitive: 99.9/Math: 99.9/ Reading 99.9
Sat for SEES exam on 2/25 and spent 40 mins
Cognitive: 136/Math: 99.9/ Reading 99.9
Offered Skinner West (1st choice) ; Tier 3
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Is your daughter entering kindergarten with a birthday after September 1st? So will she be 4 when starting at SN? My oldest is an October birthday, she started kindergarten at 4. This was in the 2001, and at a catholic school. My youngest is an October birthday too. My son attends SN, I didn’t know we could test late birthdays. I definitely would’ve considered it for my youngest, if I knew that it was an option. Really feeling like I missed the messed up for not researching.
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Congrats! What made you go with SW as your first choice?
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Any insight into McPherson RGC? Relatively new program (replaced Coonley?). We only applied to RGCs and ranked Edison 1 and Bell 2…
RGC: 136 score
Tier 4
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Reading 99.9
Math 52
nada
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Reading 99.9
Math 96
RGC 126
Just received a welcome email from Skinner North.
Third kid of three, first two go to good neighborhood school on the northside. We like it, but teachers have been a mixed bag. Interested to hear any information from SN parents or parents who deal with the logistics of having kids at different schools far apart. Thanks!
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I would say you can always go back to your neighborhood school for 1st if the logistics don’t work out for your family, but it is much harder to get into SN at the higher grades, as there are only spots if kids leave. Also, if you live 1.5 miles to 6 miles from the school you may qualify for bussing – and in that case, possibly bussing from your Northside school site. The office of transportation is helpful in identifying which neighborhood schools are SEES bussing sites and what you might qualify for: 773-553-2860 I know Bell and Jahn are bussing sites, but unsure about other schools.
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Thanks very much, I appreciate the info!
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I’m a current parent of a 2nd grader at Skinner North. We love the school but do NOT count on bussing. It’s been a joke this year and we were never matched with a bus, despite asking the whole year and having been bussed pre-covid. The drive can get on your daily nerves so you have to consider whether it’s worth it. I also pick up a kid at Alcott so I’m quite the schlepper.
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Can anyone explain to me what the RGC number means?
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I believe it is out of a possible 160.
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Tier 3
reading:97
math: 88
RGC: 134
Got 4th choice of Pritzker. Bell was first choice.
Looking at the google doc for last years score cut off, it looks like we just missed it (Bell Tier 3 was 135).
Thoughts on holding off and taking the gamble? Any insight to Pritzker? New to all of this so rankings were done just off what info I could get from schools’ website.
Does anyone know how round 2 offers go? Do they offer by tiers or just by total ranking? IE: would we have to have a tier 3 spot to decline to possibly be offered a spot? Do we compete with all other scores in different tiers that are higher?
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would you be able to share the Google doc?
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They do not account for tiers for second round offers – you’d have to be the next highest score in the later rounds. Very few people decline Bell so unless you have an alternate magnate option that you feel good about if it doesn’t work out, I think it would be risky to chance it for Bell.
Pritzker has been a really good classroom experience for my kid in Kindergarten. Bell was my first choice, but I think we probably ended up in the right program for her. She is happy and thriving in her day to day. We’ve participated in a really fun school musical. There is a climbing wall at PE, a really amazing art program (she’s weaving on a loom, etc.), a great music program (she’s learning how to read music). And it is a really nice community of families.
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Thanks so much for the info!
We plan on going to the open house in a few weeks, but any additional insights you can share? Pros and cons?
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I will say looking at the spreadsheet further, it looks like they might be doing something a little funny with the Round 2 tiers. Might be worth a call to the office to ask: Call Phone Number (773) 553-2060
That is how I got my info re: no further tier preference last year, but the data seems to suggest that they may be reaching for lower tiers in some cases during round 2..
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tier 4
Reading 76
Math 86
RGC 141
Offer Bell (1st choice)
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Tier 2
Reading: 68
Math: 54
RGC: 129
surprised got an offer into Bell. I guess for the RGCs, they don’t look at the math/reading scores much and only care about the RGC score.
Didn’t do too much preparation for the test and have been horrible at taking the time to teach my child reading/math. Really lucked out here. Though I am curious what RGC score really is? Is it more along the lines of an IQ test?
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RCGs only look at the gifted score, and Classical schools only look at the reading/math percentile scores. We’re also Tier 2 with a 129 and were offered Edison RCG (and scores for Edison and Bell admission tend to be pretty comparable). Based on scores from previous years, I think we probably just made the cut. Congrats on your offer from Bell!
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Also, yes, the RCG score is more like IQ — according to OAE, it measures “higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills”. The Classical Reading/Math tests are meant to be achievement/attainment tests, whereas the RGC test is supposed to measure aptitude/ability.
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Tier 3
reading 99
math 99.8offered SN Kindergarten (first choice) – accepted.
younger child number 7 on waitlist @ Drummond.
Anyone do this commute? Both schools start/end at the same time (if we even get a spot).
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Congrats on SN! I can’t provide perspective on the commute, but you’re unlikely to get an offer from Drummond. My daughter was #1 on the Tier 3 PreK3 waitlist last year and no offer. I’ve heard from other parents similar results, unfortunately. The waitlist just doesn’t move.
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Hi all,
Our Kindergarten results are below. We got an offer from Morton School of Excellence – Regional Gifted Center (RGC) and waitlisted at several Choice Elementary schools. Am curious if any parents are familiar with the RGC at Morton. We are not familiar with the school and would love to hear from any parents with kids at the RGC at Morton.
1. Morton Regional Gifted Center – offered.
2. Columbus – waitlist #6 (NOTE she is attending Pre-K at Columbus now)
3. Drummond Montessori – waitlist #14
4. LaSalle II – waitlist #37
5. Disney – waitlist #51
6. Disney II – waitlist #86
All other waitlist numbers higher than 100.
We were not offered at any Classical schools or any other RGC schools.
Thanks everyone for your insights!
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My daughter is finishing kindergarten at Morton in their gifted program. We love it!!! Her class ratio was 10:1 and all the kids are reading chapter books as of May. Brand new classroom and playground. Most importantly she is engaged in academics and the community of the school. I can not say enough positive things.
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Thanks! We toured the school this week at an RGC open house and we were very, very impressed. I am very excited about it!
One question- do you have any safety concerns? The school is located near an area that experiences some crime and gun violence. Am curious if that was a concern.
Thanks!!
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We live about a 6-7 minute drive from Morton and drive past it on occasion, i.e. on our way to do gymnastics at Garfield Park. I personally feel very comfortable with the location of the school — it’s right between Westinghouse and a section of Sacramento that seems to be mostly warehouses/businesses. Franklin Blvd is nice and wide, and it has Metra train tracks right behind it, which sort of serve as a barrier. We would have probably ranked it higher if they offered aftercare (I couldn’t find any information about it and never got a response when I emailed to ask).
I know this isn’t exactly firsthand experience, but hopefully it helps some!
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Adding a reply for others who may find this thread later– Morton does have before and after-care available. For 2022-23 school year, it was available at no cost for RGC students.
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Congrats on offers, and good luck to those that are looking for second round.
Did you letter with your child’s score mention how many applicants there were this year?
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*the letter
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This is the only relevant letter that I could locate: Scoring Rubric: Selective Enrollment Elementary Schools – Google Docs
Unless I’m missing it, I don’t see any reference to a total number of applicants, only a mention that “selections are extremely competitive”.
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McPherson parent here! My child is in McPherson’s first RGC class (so currently in 1st grade). The lack of info on the school/program is likely due to how new it is. Our experience there has been great; even though both K and 1st were impacted by COVID the teachers and staff are great. My kid is happy and thriving in the program and they also offer after school programs (music, chess, now an art class). The community is also strong and committed to the school. The principal is great and it is clear that she cares a lot about all of the kids in the school and is committed to making McPherson a great school for everyone.
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Tier 4
Reading 99
Math 99
RGC 123
Offered 2nd choice Poe Classical; 1st choice was Lenart RGC
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Hello,
I’m currently going through this process with my second child and have always found this blog super helpful. Wondering if any of you have any experience with having one kid in a SES and having a younger kid selected for a totally different SES (it was my 2nd ranked).
I’m torn on whether to just accept or wait it out for another round with my choice 1 (where my oldest attends). Our neighborhood school is fine and so it wouldn’t be the worst if he stays for kindergarten but I know based on his abilities that he’ll need more challenge at some point. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!
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My sons are at different SEES schools, but I’m probably in the minority of parents that prefers it this way. The obvious advantage to them going to the same school is logistics. Also being a part of one school family could be considered beneficial.
On the flip side, I place a heavy emphasis on independence, so I like that my youngest is making his own mark instead of following in his brother’s footsteps. Plus, each school caters to their distinct interests.
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That’s definitely food for thought. We are trying to leave commuting out of the equation for now and just focus on what’s best for him. It just seems like a huge risk to turn down an offer and wait out the summer on a not so sure thing. Your perspective is helpful, so thanks for sharing that!
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My two children go to different elementary schools.
It is definitely a challenge logistically though it is kind of fun to have children talking about their very different experiences.
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They’re currently at different schools now, and I agree that it’s cool listening to different experiences. Just trying to decide whether to leave him where he’s at or take the plunge with this offer. But you’re right about appreciating the unique experiences. I’ll factor that in. Thank you!
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Good luck today everyone!!
For those of you who don’t receive an offer to one of your top choices in the first round and are considering gambling on second or later round offers, I wanted to link some data at the top that might be helpful in making a more informed decision:
https://bit.ly/2nd-round-sees (Scores highlighted in green are below the first round “cut score,” scores highlighted in red are above it, and scores highlighted in white are the same — I’m pretty sure this is fully updated with data from last year, but I haven’t quite finished adding data from the two years before that)
I also posted something similar to this in the Kindergarten applicant chat (so I’m now having trouble getting this to post because the forum thinks it’s a duplicate post). Hopefully it goes through this time!
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Tried to post this on Friday morning…guess it finally went through lol
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Our daughter was offered a spot at Ogden for K, we were hoping for Bronzeville Classical and unfortunately don’t have much intel on Ogden. Can anyone share feedback on their K-4 program? I keep reading about “mixed reviews” but not sure what that means, exactly. Many thanks!
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I’m really confused about round two. Looking at the cut-offs, my child was on the cusp from previous years for entry into the RGC we ranked as #1 (tier 3, 137). However, if you look at second round offers by tier the second round scores are higher than the first round. How is that possible? Offered second choice RGC, but sibling is at first choice. Called OAE and they were not helpful. Any insight?
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If someone received an offer in round two, with a score that was higher then the round offer scores… they probably received another offer in round one that they declined.
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*higher then the round one offer scores
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thanks, that’s helpful– but stressful! I guess it’s best just not to gamble, especially with some of the most sought after schools…
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For round one, they are taking the top scores from each of the 4 tiers, filling an equal number of spots for each tier. So depending on the numbers applying for each tier, a student with a higher score might not get a spot because their tier slots were already filled. In round 2 tiers don’t matter, and they are only selecting the top scores overall from anyone who either passed on a school or who didn’t get an offer.
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Hi all,
Is it worth rejecting a Skinner North offer to hold out for Pritzker?
RGC: 119 and Tier 4.
It’s a reach based on previous year cutoff scores but we love the school and it’s philosophy over the classical ones.
Feels like a huge risk and the neighborhood school is a bad option.
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I do not think that you will get an offer from Pritzker with a 119 in Tier 4. In Tier 4, you would have needed at least a 133 to get a late-round offer from Pritzker last year. Two years ago you would have needed a minimum of a 136. Three years ago the lowest score to receive a late-round Pritzker offer in Tier 4 was 127.
I would absolutely accept the Skinner North offer in your position. I think that when it comes down to the day-to-day of what’s happening in the classroom, you’ll find that there’s not really much of a difference between Pritzker RCG and Skinner North. Either way, your child will be academically accelerated and highly-qualified teachers will use strategies like leveled small group instruction, hands-on and project-based learning, etc. I guarantee that just because CPS bills Classical schools as more “traditional” than RCGs doesn’t mean that you’ll be entering anything close to a worksheet factory at SN.
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Tier 3
Classical reading 61
Classical Math 71
RGC 140
Offered Bell (second choice)
are we crazy for considering either LaSalle or Hawthorne instead of the Bell program?
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Do you have younger kids that you will want to go to the same school? LaSalle and Hawthorne are excellent schools that also offer sibling preference. It’s worth considering in my opinion.
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Bell is an amazing school speaking with parents with strong culture and community. Administration is very responsive and provides great communication. I was impressed with their tour and would seriously consider Bell’s Gifted Program.
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Hi Petra,
I’m new to this and considering to try late rounds. However, I’m confused with your cut off scores (Excell) for SEES.
1) For instance, why cut off scores are 113, 114, 116, etc. while the scores are 98r, 98m (total for this example is 196)?
2) For later rounds, do they still use tier?
3) Did Skinner North have seats for late rounds in the past?
Thanks!
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Hi! The cut scores for Classical schools are really just my best guess — it seems clear from the data that 99th percentile scores carry more weight, but I can’t figure out from the data alone how the combined Reading and Math scores are ranked. It seems like there must be some kind of scale score underlying the percentiles, and maybe those scale scores are combined and then ranked from highest to lowest when offers are made? The most straightforward thong that I could do is add the Reading and Math Classical percentiles and pick the lowest one as my “cut score,” but it’s not necessarily going to be what the CPS algorithm determined to be the lowest score, bc I have no idea how their sorting algorithm works.
The RCG cut scores are definitely accurate, though, because there’s only one scale score to work with. So Bell, Edison, etc. cut scores are all just one number between 100-160, but Skinner North, Skinny West, Decatur, etc. are the sum of the Reading and Math percentile scores (and I think I listed both percentile scores and their sum in the table).
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Just realized that I totally missed your last two questions.
I believe Tier is still used in Round 2, but in later rounds (my guess is round 3), it stops being used.
Skinner North made 18 offers after Round 1 last year, though most were in Round 2. They made a comparable number of 2nd+ round offers two and three years ago, too.
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Hi,
By Round 2, are you referring to the “official Round 2” where schools note the open seats and parents need to reapply?
After a long conversation with OAE, they refer to R2 as an official process.
OR are you referring to this unofficial R2,R3,R4 that seems to be talked about in the forums (it was like pulling teeth to get info on this process from OAE). I am seeing a R2,R3,R4 in the cut-off score documents that happen and students are automatically entered to those stages if they reject their current offer to any school.
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I’m referring to the more unofficial “Round 2”. I could be totally wrong, but I THINK that post-Round 1 offers tend to be made on the same date as the official Round 2, Round 3, etc. happen, as I recall posters in previous mentioning receiving SEES offers on the posted “Round 2” date. At some point I think offers are more of a rolling thing where you get a phone call, have 48 hours to decide, and if you decline, they move to the next person on the list.
I do know that Round 2 is going to be different than it has been in the past this year. It’s going to be more of a rolling wait list situation and less of an actual application. I’m not sure how that will impact subsequent SEES offers, or if it will at all.
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Got it thanks!
I’m curious for the official R2 process, it seems like this is the only opportunity for parents to add new schools that weren’t originally on their list of 6.
But schools offering spots in R2 are only doing so if they have the seats ie. even after the unofficial rounds. So it’s unlikely that the top preferred schools like SN will even be in R2. Is that right?
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Right, schools like SN will not make offers to anyone who didn’t originally apply to them in Round 1 (although I wonder if there may be a few exceptions for students who were unable to take the SEES exam in Round 1 due to factor like illness). If there are SEES that have exhausted their list of applicants and are still unable to fill all their seats, then I think it may be possible to apply to those (even if they weren’t in your original 6) in Round 2.
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96/85 for T3
Do we have a chance at SN for 2nd round? Does anyone know if there were more, or less applicants this year? Based upon last year Round II it looks like this score should be close….but maybe last year it was a weird year with Covid
To stay on the list for 2nd round, we have to decline another SEES spot, but the other spot is far away for us w/no bus.
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Can I ask how you found out that the other SEES school doesn’t have bussing? I also know bussing isn’t super reliable.
We’re in the same boat of deciding whether to accept our current offer or decline and hope for an offer at SN. It all seems like such a gamble!
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It could just be that the previous poster lives outside the school’s bussing boundaries (i.e. South of Fullerton for Decatur).
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We found out by emailing the Principal. There was a certain cross street beyond which they don’t bus, and the ‘6 mile’ is as the bus goes not as the crow flies. Also had previous very bad experience w/unreliable bussing so hard to fathom putting my K kid on a bus….
currently learning toward declining and sticking with Waitlists [#5/6] closer to home, or 2nd round getting something. It is scary to decline a good seat and we hope not to regret it later. Non-entry years don’t do tiers and are way harder.
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It’s scary, but I’d decline given the unreliability of buses and general fatigue after years of commuting. Alternative would be to see how flexible it is to do before or after care. Also if you take it, network quickly with other parents to cover each other in case of last minute traffic delays etc.
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KG Entry – Tier 3
Reading 87
Math 67
RGC 129
Round 1 Offer – NTA
For our daughter, we ranked NTA as 2 on our application, and we ranked Bronzeville Classical as 1. I checked out some of the spreadsheets with prior year scores here in this forum, and I’m surprised to see that there were component scores in the 60s that were offered a spot in Round 2 for many schools (Bronzeville Classical included). Does anyone have a sense of the likelihood that we would get a Round 2 spot at Bronzeville Classical with these scores?
Our son is currently in 1st grade at Bronzeville Classical. We’re not sure if we have a better shot of him getting into NTA for Round 2, or our daughter getting into Bronzeville Classical for Round 2. Our son scored 127 on the RGC test for 2nd grade entry.
I would also love to hear anyone’s thoughts on NTA vs. Bronzeville Classical generally.
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Bronzeville classic has a fantastic principle and outstanding parent group support. BC also has great teachers and there is alot of excitement within the school. NTA gifted program teaches at 2 grade levels above in the gifted program. BC is classical teaches one grade level above.
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I think Round II is ‘reasonably’ likely for BCS with that score but it all depends who declines. I do feel like early entry and end of Covid has increased applicants this year vs last, but who knows. NTA is top notch, at least for lower grades. We had a kid attend there and it was amazing. The K teacher [at the time] Ms Both was the best teacher we have ever had and my child, who came in as not reading much, ended the year at Level J. As far as Round II NTA – when I once tried to get my kids together, my older one got a Sept 30th [!] offer at NTA with a 125 I think in “round 10” which means it was late and a bunch of people declined…. Sorry…tough call….. do you have a backup for your younger if you decline NTA and BCS doesn’t pan out? At least with the older you know the child has a spot already while they wait…..
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Thanks for your input, ks! It looks like NTA now has Ms. Both as the RGC Coordinator rather than teacher. I appreciate all you shared about your experience at NTA. It does seem like a special place. Unfortunately, for our younger daughter, we don’t quite have a solid “back-up” choice. So I think we’re going to accept her NTA RGC spot for KG…and then cross our fingers and hope our son gets a later round offer for NTA RGC for 2nd grade entry. Here we go…!
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Decided to decline Edison. We toured the school this morning. The place was lovely and the tour guide students are very impressive. Wish we could figure out the daily transportation (45-50min) without moving 🙁
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I just want to say that I think you made a good choice. These SEES programs are great, but not the end all be all. That commute sounds unsustainable. Your child will be fine because they are clearly bright and have parents who care! 🙂 signed – someone who has agonized over similar decisions.
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Agreed
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Round 2 advice
137 RGC, Tier 4
offered McPherson – toured it yesterday and was disappointed.
Thoughts on holding out for Bell?
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There was a thread on here with data from the last few years showing tiers and scores for offers at all the selective enrollment schools. It looks like 137 RGC, tier 4 would not have received an offer from Bell in any round in the past three years according to that data. But, the cutoff Bell scores have moved a lot lower over those years, so maybe there’s a shot this year if they keep dropping. Good Luck!
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Last year offers did go as low as 138, so it’s not totally outside of the realm of possibility, but I wouldn’t risk it if you don’t feel that you have a solid neighborhood/choice/private backup option.
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Just curious, why did you think it was disappointing? It is a new program and we were also curious about it given that is near to where we live.
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School itself seems to have less of a community feeling (Eg most kids get bussed in versus in our neighborhood school we don’t have a bussing program), underfunded (they don’t have an art teacher or a technology teacher) and their resources seem stretched (Eg besides the RGC they also are trying to qualify their primary years program for IB, they host 5 prek classes, they also bus in diverse learners, and they have another program I forget the name of – something cluster). Seems like a lot for one school that is also trying to get their RGC off the ground. They also couldn’t guarantee that the program would continue (that is they’d continue to add classes so it could be a start and phase out) and the program is currently not fully enrolled. Not 100% deal breakers but just somewhat disappointing given all I’ve read about RGCs generally.
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Parent of kids at two RGCs including McPherson here. Just wanted to clarify a few things that I think may be misperceptions. CPS downtown makes decisions about programs at the schools, not the individual schools. So, the decision to move the RGC from Coonley to McPherson was not a Coonley or McPherson decision but a CPS one – those Coonley LSC meetings were kind of brutal when that was happening. I don’t think any school can guarantee that a program will continue, only CPS can do that.
A lot of schools are running multiple programs along with the RGC (e.g., Bell, Coonley). We view that as a positive way to make sure our kiddos have a wide perspective. It is definitely one of the reasons we preferred the RGC programs that aren’t stand alone programs. The view from my end is that the IB program added in makes the school a pretty unique spot with a combined IB and RGC.
Last I heard, the Principal is working on a plan to bring in a dedicated arts teacher next year. Right now there is an occasional art teacher and afterschool art programming. There is a great music teacher along with an orchestra program coordinated with the local high school and the CSO. And there definitely is a technology/STEAM teacher. She’s a fun character that my kiddo there loves and coordinates with the DeVry Academy across the street.
The SEES model (and the cluster program too) brings kids for that program in from around the city. That’s an inherent challenge in community building. But, compared to our other RGC and talking to even other neighborhood parents, the community of McPherson stands out as incredible from our experience. Very welcoming and full of life and activities. Yeah, the RGC kids live farther apart than neighborhood kids, but I think they and their families are super tight, supportive and social.
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No
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How do round 2 offers work? Do I need to do anything to make sure we are still being considered?
[We declined our first RGC offer]
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No reapplying needed (as long as you listed your schools first round) just keep waiting. If you get it they will call you and hopefully send an email also.
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Anyone get round 2 offers yet or is it June 8? I did inquire with OAE if 2nd round is still going by Tiers and they said yes (for K). Ie if someone from a particular tier declines a spot they open that spot to the next best score in the same tier.
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Hi!
98Reading 66Math117 RGG
no SE or RGC offers (yet)
holding out hope for late Bronzeville offer.
Any insight of our odds greatly appreciated!-
The minimum threshold for classical is 75. 66 in math makes you ineligible for Bronzeville. You still have a chance for an RGC offer with the 117 score.
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This is not correct. While CPS does note that students with scores below the 75th percentile may not be eligible for a Classical school offer, they will make offers to students with scores below this if the school still has available seats. Last year Bronzeville made third round offers to students with scores of 86R/66M and 96R/57M. There were second round offers made to scores of 91R/67M and 90R/68M. I think it’s possible that you will receive a second round offer at Bronzeville and probable that you will receive a third round offer.
Hope this helps!
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Petra,
Thank you so much! Maybe a long shot, but good to know it’s still a possibility. Much appreciated that you take the time to do the research & share with the rest of us, especially once your kiddo has already secured a spot 🙂
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Thanks for the insight! We received offer for Bronzeville (our 1st choice) this morning & happily accepted.
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Tier 3
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I have a kid going into K next year. We currently have accepted to LaSalle II but now have waitlist for SEES at Pritzker and Bell with a 114 score. From I gather we are Tier 2. Is there any chance we would see a Pritzker acceptance with that score? We really are unsure if we would accept or keep LaSalle II. Very new to all of this.
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Our kid got an offer from Bronzeville (we applied in Round 2) but we have declined.
Things are still moving!
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Anyone have any insight into LaSalle II vs. Pritzker RGC?
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Hi, any insights into curriculum advancement at Beaubien RGC? Is it one grade or 2 grades+?
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Just got an offer from Edison but seriously considering to decline since we already feel like we wont the lottery with getting into Hawthorne. Does anyone else have a similar experience? Such a hard decision to make with less than 48 hours.
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Rhetorical qs – Does the location affect your decision at all? Do you have younger siblings you would want to prioritize for the same school and Hawthorne would be beneficial?
Hawthorne is highly recommended and successful school, but as I understand it’s a chance lottery for entrance, there’s no testing requirement or selection of the students enrolled.
If your child qualifies for Edison and shows signs of giftedness/need for acceleration in the classroom, you may want to see if Hawthorne can support them in that regard. I know, it’s next to impossible to determine what to do based on a one-day pulse check of a 4-5 year old…
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@meg – can I ask what your child’s scores were that just got you an offer at Edison?
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Not who you asked, but I believe Edison is currently making offers to scores in the mid to upper 130s.
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Thanks that is helpful
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Does anyone know anything about Galileo Scholastic? We just received an offer to the magnet school after being on the WL.
We already have an offer to a classical program but Galileo is a short 6min walk from our home.
Is the discrepancy in education that far really? Test scores seem to indicate so but that’s not everything.
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Hi, Can anyone please send me(kiyokoli@hotmail.com) the current bus transportation Route Schedules for Pritzker? Couldn’t find it anywhere. Thank you!
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Please support this petition: CPS Needs to Get Selective Enrollment & Magnet Students Back to Their Schools
https://chng.it/CrLYYQWGyW
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