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Wow, not one wait-list position changed this morning across 5 SEES and 7 Choice programs. Seems weird? Anyone else see any movement for that rolling wait-list opened this morning? Maybe it’s only after this first round goes out that numbers change
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It’s early and the rolling waitlist just opened. I’m guessing there are a lot of families that haven’t actually re-added their kids to the waitlists if they let offers expire. I don’t know how many students actually do the later exams and join the waitlist at this point in the year.
Not sure when of the offers start going out now that rolling waitlist has begun. I feel like in the past it’s been Tuesdays and Fridays so maybe as soon as tomorrow?
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Oh that makes sense. I think I remember seeing Tuesday’s and Fridays too. Thanks for replying!
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We actually moved two spots backwards. Did that happen to anyone?
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We moved backwards and then back down. If my DD had stayed at her original number, she would have made it in to her Academic Center
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How much do lottery magnet schools tend to move vs SEES and magnet clusters? We’re new to Chicago and #7 and #8 on two in the top 5. TIA
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Hi
Any one on waitlisted for skinner north kindergarten tier 4? can you please share the waitlist number and score please?
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Also, my daughter took the SEES Assessment on 7-April. We can’t apply for RGS yet, still waiting for scores.
Any idea when that’ll happen?
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My son has scored 233.8 points( 99.5% in reading and 97% in math). He has been offered our second choice which is going to be a hard commute for us. wanted to checkin if the kindergarten waitlist for tier 4 at Skinner North moves? and also if someone with this score has gotten into skinner north via waitlist last year or so?
Thanks
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Last year one offer was made from
WL in T4. The total points (cut off score) last year was different that this year, so you can’t compare. Your score looks pretty strong, maybe others in t4 who already got the offer can share their score to give you an idea how close you are to those who got in. The main question: do you have a plan B if you don’t get an offer from SN, will you regret declining current offer? Good luck! -
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Based on experience from last year under the new waitlist format, is the Kindergarten waitlist expected to move much for schools such as Carnegie, Morton, and Lenart?
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Why I don’t see any movement in waitlist? I thought some people on the waitlist are going to be given an offer.
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Anyone got an offer yet?
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I just got an offer for a choice school. It was a reminder to go remove myself from the choice school waitlists as I had forgotten. From previous years, I remember the waitlist numbers not moving until the day after spots were sent out. If a spot was offered today, the waitlist numbers should change in the morning. Offers tend to go out between 10 to 11am.
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Tier 4 SN Waitlist #2, 233.8
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I think at least Morton moves a lot since it’s new and people worry about trying a new program. I have no personal experience, but my sense from reading last years’ thread is that there’s a lot of movement on waitlists for K for schools that are not on the near north/northwest side (minimal Bell, SN, Edison movement but good movement elsewhere).
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No offer and no waitlist movement for us today either. Maybe this Friday first offers go out?
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I have been very confused with performance across the different classical schools and was wondering if there are any parents that may be able to offer some advice / share their experience.
Based on Kindergarten SEES entry testing, it looks like schools such as Bronzeville, Decatur, McDade, Poe, Skinner, etc. all have relatively tight min scores in the 190-220 range (https://cdn.bfldr.com/MXCD21SV/as/mkmrqmsqm385h9k6wg8kc4kn/OAE_GoCPS_626408_SEESPointTotals_EN_V1).
However, when looking at US News report on student proficiency over the long term, there seems to be significant disparities across the schools.
Schools like Skinner North and Decatur are at the 80-90% proficiency level, but schools like Bronzeville, McDade, Poe all hover in the 50-60% range. Is this a reflection of the schools that cause the gap to widen over time? If so, what are the drivers? Quality of teachers, amount of school resources, something else?
Poe: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/illinois/poe-elementary-classical-school-238012
McDade: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/illinois/mcdade-elementary-classical-school-237329
Skinner: https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/illinois/skinner-north-elementary-school-233903It was also interesting to see like neighborhood schools such as Lincoln Elementary have proficiency scores in the 70%+ range. It seems odd to me that a neighborhood school with broad intake / no testing requirements would perform better than classical schools that had an intake of selective, high performing students. Would it suggest that Lincoln does a better job of turning B/C students into A students, or perhaps McDade/Poe actually cause A students to slip to B/C students?
Would this suggest we would be better off sending our child to Lincoln Elementary instead of McDade or Poe?
Sorry to ramble and I’m sure I’ve made some incorrect assumptions somewhere. Going through this for the first time with our child and would really appreciate any advice from the community!
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I think this is probably a take that others may not agree with but several studies show that the number one predictor of a child’s academic success is who their parents are.
Lincoln and other schools such as those tend to attract kids where their parents have higher rates of education, and thus are likely to have the privilege to prioritize strong educations for their kids. So while there is no testing requirement, it’s not pulling from as broad of a pool as you may be imagining.
I think the other thing is that some of the schools you’ve mentioned that don’t fare as well on tests have lower thresholds for their students. That paired with the issues of testing 4 and 5 year olds means that while many of the kids are probably very bright, they’re all probably not A students. And wouldn’t be whether they went to Bronzeville or Lincoln or anywhere. This is not to say they’re not amazing schools, I don’t know enough about them to comment one way or another, just that the intake of the kids means that there is probably a wide range of abilities.
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Thanks! I appreciate the response. To clarify (and in response to your last point), it seems the starting point (at age 4-5) for these children based on testing scores is pretty similar, so the same argument that kids who test well at age 4-5 may not ultimately grow up to be A students would apply across the board (e.g., whether Skinner or McDade).
So I assume the disparity in results many years later is driven by what happens during those intervening years vs. the initial selection / starting point. You raise a good point about parents / demographics as a potential contributor.
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I think parents are the number one factor. And agreed, the inaccuracies of testing young children are probably universal. But because the cutoff scores are much higher for some schools than for others, it’s probably more likely the kid getting 99.5 percentile is slightly more likely to get As than the kid getting 85 percentile. But that’s just an assumption and may not hold water.
But the above point of some neighborhood schools holding up well was a reason we chose to stick with our neighborhood school. The academics certainly won’t be as rigorous as selective enrollment but if kids can ultimately do well and still grow and you don’t have to worry about some of the other challenges, it may be worth it for your family.
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Thanks. Assuming I as a parent am committed to giving full time support to my child, would that still favor a SEES environment over neighborhood school?
I guess what I’m trying to think through is whether the difference in parental support / pace change how schools approach their curriculum and resource allocatio. For example, as the student performance gap widens, would a school like Poe focus more on the students who are lagging behind and therefore divert away resources for the top performing students (and thus over time provide less of a SEES curriculum and more of a standard curriculum), or would they continue to focus on pushing the high performing SEES students and find alternative options for the students lagging behind?
What’s the general philosophy at a school like Skinner, Edison or Poe? Is it to give the top performing students the support and resources to push ahead, or is it to make sure no one falls behind and bring up the laggards?
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I called CPS since a lot of people on here were talking about no movement, and another poster above said they hadn’t received results of the Spring testing yet. Got me curious.
Turns out, no selective enrollment offers will go out until May. Date TBD (or at least person I talked to didn’t know) but it will be after the Spring RGC test results come out.
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Thanks for the update. We had our WL spot at Galileo go down 6 spots, but had our sport at NTA RGC go up 2 and Lenart not move at all.
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I think people will see their waitlist position move higher as people add themselves to more waitlists for SEES. Probably not everyone added when it opened yesterday.
For choice schools, they are making offers starting today.
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From OAE: To ensure fairness for all applicants, the Office of Access & Enrollment will not make any Selective Enrollment Elementary School (SEES) offers until spring testing families have had the opportunity to view their scores and join waitlists.
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Hi curious did you end up joining the waitlist and what number waitlist are you for skinner north?
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thank you. Score breakdown please Reading vs Math
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thank you for sharing your composite score. Could you please share your kids score Math score and Reading separately? Really appreciate it.
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what has changed in the waitlist process? Kindly advise
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My daughter on #2 at Edison Tier 2 WL for (K) does she make it. this is our first time so excited Any idea how much it moves? Thank you.
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We’re #1 listed at Beaubien and #5 at McPherson for first grade. The neighborhood school is Coonley. Debating what should we do. Would love McPherson since it’s closer, but not sure if it the list will move.
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Thanks! Any insight on timing for this?
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We have accepted offer from another school but our kid has the same composite classical score of 233.8. I am wondering how multiple kids can have same classical score. Just curious
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It said “some time in May”, my prediction by the end of the next week, but who knows.
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anyone knows of parents who will be decline skinner north? Tier 4 kindergarten offers?
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Hiya! Our rising second grader was waitlisted #2 at Beaubien and #3 at McPherson. Do they have an actual chance at getting in to either school?
Last year’s waitlists (different rankings) seemed to have little-to-no movement. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge with these schools?
Thank you in advance!
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We are trying to see where our kid would fall in the waitlist for Skinner north kindergarten admission if we decline our current offer. Could someone please share your kids individual Math and English score and waitlist number. Would be a huge help because if we decline we don’t have a backup school option.
thanks
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@confused parent If you’re asking the community for help, it would be really helpful to also share your scores/tier. This way, others can better understand your situation and offer more meaningful guidance.
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RGC 222.5/ Classical 226 Tier 3 admitted to McPherson and declined
#3 WL at both Edison and Bell, hope this helps! Added Pritzker, then removed bc was curious, and was #2
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Hi,
My daughter is a rising second grader also hoping to get into McPherson. She’s #1 on the waitlist and will likely accept. We’re counting on it for a couple reasons.
My son is at McPherson now (4th grade RGC). He got in late in the summer before 2nd grade. They clearly had quite a bit of movement, as there were several new students that year and each subsequent year. I’d approximate that there were about 5 new kids in his class each year because of either movement or expanded class size. This year, many of the students were transferred in during the first week of school, so a lot of this can happen quite late.
McPherson has gotten much more popular, so I have a feeling it’s tougher to get a spot, but I still have a feeling there would be at least 3 spots that open up each year.
Unless our daughter’s waitlist number changes after the spring test takers are added, we think it would be a lock. I hesitate to say this because I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong, but I have a feeling you stand a very good chance. Good luck and maybe our kids will be in the same class!
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our kids classical score is 233.8. Reading 99.5 percentile and Math 97 percentile. tier 4 kindergarten. Accepted Decatur
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If you look at the cut scores for skinner north, 233.8 is the cut score for kindergarten tier 4. Therefore you would likely be at the top of the tier 4 waitlist since you’re right at the cut score.
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The cutoff for T4 is 238.8, so you would be 5 points below cutoff score – IMO it’s too risky.
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If you were at the cutoff score as CPS parent said, then you had a solid chance to be at the top of the WL list.
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We took a similar risk when one of ours was top of waitlist at both Skinners, but a magnet we loved just down our street was backup.
The risk was do we wait for the nearby (1 mi) Skinner to open a seat for our tier, or accept the invite from the other Skinner (25 mi drive across two expressways). We accepted the invitation in hand. Last year’s admissions data shows we wouldn’t have received an invite to the Skinner close to us, there were no more waitlist invites that went out.
Being T4, you need someone to decline their T4 invite AND for no spring testing student to have jumped ahead of you in T4. OR you need four families to decline their rank seat, which would then be issued to the next on the waitlist for T1, T2, T3, T4 in that order. And priority, so they say, goes to the lowest tiers which also have fewer enrolled students vs the other tiers.
To me that’s a giant risk.
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Oh woops! I was looking at skinner instead of skinner north.
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and we knew exactly where we were on waitlist, with a backup, with an invite in hand…
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Same exact score for my kid (except 99 math and 98 reading) and was #2 on SN Waitlist before I took us off!
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Tier 4 to clarify!
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I know one decline, tier 4
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Would you happen to know the tier 4 parent who decline the offer was offered by rank seat or by tier? Or would you know their score? Thanks!
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so you are not on waitlist anymore @ new cps mom?
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also what is your individual score for reading and math? that would really help us decide. thank you so so much
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@pa what was your score last year? Since we were WL 1 last year and we got the offer. We had a cut off score
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Are there new offers going out today?
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not for me, we’re on the WL #1 tier4 keller
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just had an interesting conversation with the office of access and enrollment. i was told selective enrollment offers are currently on hold because spring testing results are still being processed. someone else posted this here, i know – i’m just confirming that again. when i asked about spring testing (it was NOT an option when we applied in the fall), i was told the decision to offer this additional testing opportunity was made early this year. applicants will be folded into the existing waitlists as their results are processed. we might see selective enrollment waitlist movement next week. seems like quite the mess. i was told the office might send out an email with additional clarification. i wish we could have known spring testing would be an option for the 2026-27 academic year. i definitely would have waited.
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I find this quite unfair as we chose the last appointment that was available (February) to give our daughter as much time to develop and prepare, in late march after seeing how quickly she advanced in reading and math since she completed her evaluation for kindergarten we would joke that if only we had a couple more weeks. She would have had the opportunity to score much higher. Now we’re seeing that we have to wait for parents who applied and had their child take the assessment during a much later date, and their scores will place their child in the current waitlist and possibly knock down the children who took the assessment during the original window, and some of those children could be one waitlist spot away from getting into their top choice. This does not seem right.
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i completely agree. i’m really disappointed. we asked if our child might have been able to re-test in the spring (had we known the opportunity was there) and were told no – applicants could only test one time per application cycle. our son’s birthday is two days before the CPS cutoff, meaning he was a young 4 during fall testing and he’ll still be 4 years old when kindergarten starts this year. we’re really frustrated.
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we were told that in the fall, yes, but after seeing how this application cycle and admissions process has been managed i don’t feel terribly compelled to take their word for it.
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this waitlist system is a nightmare
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1000 percent
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Quick question I think I know the answer to but has been bugging me.
We moved down on the waitlist to the top two schools (Bell and Edison). We have zero faith that she will get into either of those at this point.
Would there be any advantage to making McPherson her top choice? She’s #1 on the waitlist, and at this point, we really want this to happen. Or, will she get an offer if/when a spot opens regardless?
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No need, you’d get the spot no matter what, there’s never a need to rank kn anything other than your actual preference order.
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Have to agree here. This is a major point. I think K entry is too early for gifted in an ideal world. And single subject acceleration starting in 5th grade seems far too later. The only reason I can think of for single subject acceleration being so late is the requirements are based on IAR testing, which seems to only start in 3rd grade?
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How did you not made it in the first round if you had the cut off score? Did you decline a spot at other school and rejoined the waitlist for skinner north?
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There can be ties. If there’s one seat left and multiple students with the same score (let’s say 238.8), it goes to a tiebreaker. In this scenario, 238.8 becomes the cutoff score, but some students with that score (the ones that lost the tiebreaker) end up waitlisted or offered a school they ranked lower.
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Meeting the cutoff doesn’t guarantee a spot. There are only 50 seats: 30% go to rank, leaving ~35 seats split across tiers, so each T gets only 8–9 spots. When multiple students have similar scores, CPS applies tiebreakers: first comparing math scores over reading, and then using a lottery if needed.
In our case, we didn’t receive an offer even with cutoff score, but we knew it will place us top/high on the waitlist. That’s why IMO being 5 points below the cutoff (and having math score lower than reading) is quite risky. -
thank you! what tier were you?
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T4
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Just to give you perspective: the NewCPS mom had the same overall score as your child, but a higher math score, so she ranked above and was #2. Since she removed herself, you’d now be #2 on the waitlist.
That’s a strong position, but you’d still need at least 2 of the ~9 Tier 4 offers to decline (which does happen: historically T4 gets at least one WL offer), or for #1 to accept another school (also likely). So it’s worth trying, but only if you have a solid backup (neighborhood or private), like we did.
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Spring testing folks would join as well. secondly like you said more kids might have the same score, may be with 98 math and 99 reading.. still may not be #2 on the list… thoughts?
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I wouldn’t do it, you have a great offer in your hands. Next year SN will have 6 extra spots – you can always try again if you don’t like your current school/or commute is too long. Our situation was different, we had a private school lined up and didn’t count on any offer.
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makes sense. thank you!
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My last thought: if you decide to go for it, I wouldn’t worry too much about spring applicants, it’s a much smaller pool (probably up to 20 kids) compared to the thousands who apply in the fall.
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thank you so much! we will just stick with Decatur. OAE mentioned on Friday, skinner north hasn’t come back with any open slots as of now. which means even WL 1 might not move. Thank you so much!
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Congratulations! That sounds like the right call. Your child will do amazing there
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Wow I did not know they even offer a spring testing! That’s definitely not fair, though my child still got 99.9% on both reading and math and very high on gifted scores too, but this whole system is not fair.
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Thanks for sharing, so what does this mean? They haven’t released any second round offers until they get the spring testing results? Thanks!
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1. Does anyone know any family declining an offer from SN or SW tier 4 from the initial round of offerings?
2. We are thinking to decline an offer and join a waitlist for another school. Can we still do that? Did they offer second round offerings yet?
Thanks! -
Not too late at all, no offers have gone out for SEES yet. With your scores, you will be at the top of any waitlist. That said, add yourself to the waitlist before or on the same day spring results are released, before the first round of offers goes out.
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I had called OAE on Friday and they said SN has no opening as of now.
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1. Someone above noted that one T4 offer at SN will be declined. Historically, SN and SW T4 waitlists see about one or two offers come through. Last year SW had more than 1 offers from a waitlist.
2. Not too late at all — no offers have gone out for SEES yet. With your scores, you will be at the top of any waitlist. That said, add yourself to the waitlist before or on the same day spring results are released, before the first round of offers goes out. -
May I ask what tier you are in and your final decision on SN vs Hawthorn? Thanks!
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No, I did not join the waitlist for SN, I took the offer from Edison
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Has your waitlist number for SN changed as of today? Thanks!
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Have they declined already?
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also were they ranked or via tier admission because rank decline would go to tier 1.
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I would you ask OAE if someone declines a rank seat, can it go to a rank seat qualifier or would it go to T1/2/3/4? Since you qualify for a rank seat as well.
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Hi,
I am super confused. I called the OAE to ask about the waitlist process and what happens if someone from tier 4 declines an offer. They said it is equally distributed in all tiers. If a tier 4 student declines it’s not a guaranty it would come back to tier 4. If there are 4 acceptances form tier 4 and 2 from tier 1/2. It would go to those tiers which has lower acceptance. It’s just so confusing. Anyone knows the exact process here?
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What I heard from OAE this morning is that if someone who received a tier offer declined their seat, then it would go to the corresponding tier; if someone who received a rank seat declined their offer then it would go to the tier that has the least tier acceptance. I feel like whenever I call in the representative told me something different lol, I wonder if they all have the same understanding lol.
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You should email them – they are really good in responding and explaining everything
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There’s 3 openings T SN. I talked to the principal recently.
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This is what they responded to us for waitlist. Hope this helps
Good afternoon,
Thank you for reaching out. We cannot guarantee that you would receive a new offer to a program once a seat has been declined. Please be advised that many schools make more initial offers than they have available seats, as they anticipate a certain percentage of families will not accept. For example, a school may issue 28 kindergarten offers for only 25 available seats. If 27 of those initial offers are accepted, the program would still be over its class size cap of 25 even if you were to decline your seat. In this scenario, the program would be at capacity and no waitlist offers would be extended at all.
There are many variables that impact waitlist movement for selective enrollment programs, and these factors are dynamic and subject to change at any time. Because of this, our office does not provide likelihood estimates and cannot make predictions about individual student results.
I hope this helps provide some additional clarity, but if there is anything else we can assist with, please let us know!
Sincerely,
Office of Access and Enrollment
Equity. Access. Customer Service. -
Over-offering would explain why it’s not as simple as a declined tier 4 offer always going back to tier 4 (but also probably not a nuance the front line reps are necessarily all familiar with). If SN made 53 offers (they did last year), but they only have 50 seats, not all the declined offers are returning back to their tier…because some of the seats that were offered in the initial round are not being opened again.
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Over offer means offer more than available spots. No wonder waitlist don’t move in that case. That’s very possible though since they do that for academic centers for sure. No waitlist clears for Whitney young and Lane given they over offer to begin with.
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which tier again?
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On the training they said similar to what chimom300 said. Tier offers stay in tier until that tier list runs out or all spots in that tier are full. Rank seats cycle through tiers starting at tier 1 since (as shown in foia data posted here by others) tier 1 and 2 are generally under represented.
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Openings for which grade?
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We have no offers and are waitlisted #6 for Bell. when will the offers be extended any idea? any chance for 6 to clear? Advice: To those who have an offer keep it because there are so many who didn’t get any. good luck!
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My child, Tier 4 received a composite Classical score of 290.5 (99.9th percentile in both Math and Reading) for Kindergarten, and an RGC score of 268. We have received an offer from our first choice RGC, Bell. However, we are considering declining the offer to join a classical school waitlist due to personal circumstances our family has. I am hesitant because the CPS waitlist process seems to be super unpredictable. I am dreading to even think about having to join the waitlist and to give up a RGC that’s well respected for a classical school that according to OAE might not even have a spot. I would love to hear your thoughts. I am thinking waitlist process may be risky with the spring testers as well.
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Congratulations on great scores! Your classical score is high enough that you will likely be #1 on whichever school you choose. BUT that only matters if they have declines. I would recommend keeping Bell if you can make it work.
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That’s a tough call Proud parent. Although your classical score is very high, you don’t know for sure if you’ll be #1 on the waitlist if you add your child’s name on the waitlist. It also depends on which classical school waitlist you’re looking to join – Skinner North would definitely be the most competitive. During this time of no offers being sent out, I wonder if this plan would work… Decline your Bell offer, but that same day, add the classical school waitlist, as well as rejoin the Bell waitlist. You’ll be 99.99% sure to be #1 on the Bell waitlist. But this way you can also see the classical school waitlist spot as well. Risky and not sure if it will work, but that may be one logical way to see your classical school waitlist spot.
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I personally would take the Bell spot and go for SN next year. With a score that insanely high, it seems reasonably likely your kid would score highly enough to secure a SN spot next year, as I believe a handful of spots open up for first grade. I wouldn’t take a risk with the waitlist – it sounds as though it’s a complete gamble as to whether a spot for SN Tier 4 would open up.
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I honestly think your chances are very strong. With your score, you would likely be at the top of any waitlist. Your total points are even higher than some scores people shared with 99.9% (you almost got a perfect score), so it would probably be difficult for any student to surpass that overall, especially, during spring testing, which is usually a much smaller group of kids that are not necessarily prepared (like a lot of kids in fall).
And looking at the historical data for SN, T4 has consistently received offers each year. Of course, there are never guarantees with this process, so there is always some risk, but being #1 on the waitlist would still be a very encouraging position to be in.
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Agreed. You could turn it down and then immediately add bell back. You know you’ll be #1 there and likely be #1 at Skinner North too.
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Their seat would go to tier 1 if they decline given it’s a ranked seat at Bell. Not sure how much it’s worth to take the chance. Edison and Bell are consistently ranked and specially Edison, no one leaves it once they are in. I have heard amazing things about both those RGC’s. Plus with the scores your kid has studying 2 grades ahead in RGC’s would make more sense than 1 in classical. Why do you want the anxiety of waitlist?
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We don’t really know if it would go to Tier 1, since the RGC score has nothing to do with the Classical score. It could have just as easily been a tier offer.
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Which classical are you thinking of?
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Hi proud parent CPS,just curious if you decided to get on waitlist for SN and if you got in or not. Thanks!
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Does anyone happen to know when the Spring testing period ends and when offers are released?
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Spring testing concluded on April 19. “Sometime in May”…
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Spring results are released!
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Did you call or get an email confirming this?
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I got email
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I am new to the forum and curious about the frequency of 99.9 percentile scores. Our child achieved this in both subjects Math and Reading(composite score 285.5), but with the ‘COVID-year’ cohort, it seems cut-offs have hit record highs and I saw at least 2 more families have whose kids achieved 99.9 percentile have posted here.
We are in a bit of a bind because of an application error that left us with only one selective enrollment choice. Since our older child will be attending a private high school near Skinner North, our current placement is no longer feasible. We plan to decline our current offer, add more schools, and hope for a spot on the Skinner North waitlist. We have a back up private lined up if skinner north waitlist doesn’t open/clear.
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anyone see their spring test scores on the portal?
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Page 15 in this deck shows you where scores are: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1K5-1kC62nrgG9dERsH08VGaLDlHXxmitBlOKPAsXnU4/edit?slide=id.g32dda23b43b_0_1047#slide=id.g32dda23b43b_0_1047
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Been seeing a lot of waitlist movement today (getting bumped lower), so I assume that may be due to spring test folks moving into waitlist.
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We were on the Tier 4 waitlist for RGC 1st grade entry. Missed direct offer score by 10 points. July birthday. Last week we were bumped down a spot and today yet another spot. Some here are saying that spring test takers don’t make much of a difference, but in this case we went from being on the line (offer was possible) to likely not having a chance now. Is this new for 2026? Our first born was a direct admit so we didn’t have to deal with this waitlist purgatory (hell?); anyone know if any SEES offers have actually gone out yet?
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Which school? It might have been us – will remove myself from a waitlist, we won’t be changing school. Let me know if you will go up by a 1 spot.
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Exact type of situation that makes late testing unfair for the bother parents
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parents please don’t join the waitlist unless you are really looking for your kid to go to that school. People here actually need schools for their kids and are waitlisting to be offered. Would highly appreciate if you can remove yourself from the waitlist if you don’t plan on going to the school you are waitlisted for. Thanks!
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Does anyone know any family declining a SW K offer from tier 4?
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Spoke to someone at CPS Office of Access & Enrollment today. They confirmed SEES waitlist offers will start tomorrow (Tuesday 5/12) and go through the “20th day of school.” They also confirmed, which was my original question, that if a student in TierX says no thank you to a rank score offer, that offer goes back in the pool for TierX only waitlist purposes and is not redistributed among all Tiers for equal re-distribution.
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They are distributed across the Tiers. That being said Tier1 rarely gets any applicants because they live far, and just a few for Tier 2.
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What school are we talking about being far from Tier 1? Skinner West is only about a mile away from Tier 1 addresses.
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Only East Garfield Park, all the rest are pretty far: Back of the yards, Little Village, South Shore etc
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13th and Loomis is tier 1. 3 blocks north on Lookis at Grenshaw is tier 3. Both locations are within a mile of Skinner West. Tiers change literally block by block.
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this is not what they shared with me in an email. I believe it’s just different people giving different responses.
From OAE:
The ranked declines are equally distributed across the four tiers. -
Is anyone on the Tier 2 waitlist for POE, or does anyone have an offer for POE that they plan on declining?
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Specifically for kindergarten
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Just curious — has anyone received an offer from the waitlist yet?
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today after 10am will be the first waitlist cycle
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Not seeing any change to the waitlist yet…
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For those waiting for SN 1st grade offers – there are will be more spots
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We got a waitlist offer (#2 general) from SN 1st grade, will decline it and stay with Decatur.
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still nothing, right?
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Same. No movement on my end.
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no changes seen. Does that mean no offers are available to those on waitlisted. Hands down worst system ever.
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no changes seen. Does that mean no offers are available to those on waitlisted. Hands down worst system ever.
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Hands down worst system ever.
Lol, I guess you don’t remember the days when waitlists existed, but SEES waitlist positions weren’t visible. Or when there was no set schedule for offers, and schools made or didn’t (make offers at their whim). Or when waitlists DIDN’T exist but they ran like 20 rounds of offers and you just sat around waiting all summer for a call…
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Does one typically see movement when offers are given out or when they are accepted? I’m trying to understand when I’ll actually see movement.
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just received waitlist offer, so hopefully for everyone else now too
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which school, tier and waitlist number?
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it moved, we got an offer
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which schools? kindly advise? tier and waitlist number you were on?
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keller, #1 tier4 WL. but I may decline it. that’s too far. I want beaubien tier4 offer, we’re #5 on beaubien. any ideas how possible can we get it if we decline keller.
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thank you! @pa may I know which school did you get the offer for and what waitlist number and tier?
thank you
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hi,
can parents please post what all offers they received from the waitlist, which tier, waitlist number and if they will be accepting or rejecting.
Would be really helpful.
thanks.
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Tier 2 WL #2. Just accepted an offer to POE!
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@cps waitlist Received an offer from Morton for 1st grade again (after being admitted during the initial offer process). We were #3 on the WL. Still deciding whether to take it, as it’s too far from us. Hoping for Beaubien’s offer, where we were #6 on Tier 3 WL prior to Morton’s WL offer.
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WL offer accepted to Bronzeville Classical, Tier 4 for kindergarten.
We were originally WL #2 when results were first posted, but were bumped down to #5 after the rolling wait-list opened and the spring results posted so we were very nervous we wouldn’t get a spot, but thankfully we did!
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Hi ORS Mama – we are in the same boat as you for Bronzeville. Would love to connect if you are open to it!
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Hi Ames, yes sure! Not sure what the protocol is here for sharing contact info.
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I’m not as tech sophisticated as CC to figure it out, but piggybacking off of his great idea, maybe we both send a message to his temp email to see if by chance he could connect us?
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Actually, I figured it out.
Here’s my email! simplelogin-newsletter.fastball117@simplelogin.com
Look forward to connecting @ORS Mama !
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Was pleasantly surprised to receive offer for Bell 1st grade. Was waitlist #2. The info they sent said the class grows from 25 in K to 29 in 1st, which may explain the offers as opposed to folks leaving.
Would love to connect to Bell parents, if any are on this thread, to learn more!
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cc_chicago.atom022@simplelogin.com
I asked ChatGPT how to make an alias email to be able to post it in a public forum, so here goes!
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any skinner west tier 4 offers?
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Tier 3 WL#3, got an offer from Beaubien. Any one has more details about the school? Our kindergarten is currently in a very good neighborhood school. Would love to hear more! How rigorous is it in Beaubien or RGC in general?
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In the same boat, we’re in Coonley, but I think we will take Beaubien also. I read great things about it on here. It was either that or McPherson. The only thing with Beaubien for us would be a 20-25 min commute one way.
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Commuting 20-25 minutes one way really adds up when you have to drive 4 times per day! Speaking from experience. If your neighborhood school is solid, or you have other options closer to home, strongly consider those. We had to switch back to our neighborhood school mid-year after commuting to a higher-rated school became unbearable during rush hours. Also consider the community factor in this. It’s hard to connect with other parents, attend after-school events, and be active in school when you live farther away. Just my 2 cents!
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I have no opinion on Beaubien vs Coonley, but I’m going to second the consider the commute suggestion.
We did a test drive to our chosen school and it took an hour garage to garage in the morning.
And we were late compared to the school start time. That didn’t even include parking to walk kiddo to the door, or managing the drop off line.It’s often more than just the beginning/end of school. We last week we were at school for the k-2 science fair (mid-day) and the art fair (after school). If you want to do any in class volunteering, field trip chaperoning, PTO work, etc… you have to get to the school for all of that.
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What’s your decision on Beaubien?
After we toured the school, we are inclining to take the offer. Overall feels very good except for the drop off process. There’s no kiss and go lane and they don’t seem to recommend leaving the 1st grader kids in the lines and wait for the gates to open. Gates open at 7:42. They recommend parents to stay until then. We have another kid at a different school, so the drop off process will be challenging.
The homerooms of their option program all look wonderful, clean and spacious. Kids in homerooms were quiet and orderly doing their work. They value a lot on the projects they do every year. The school seems to have space and classrooms for all the subjects. All specials classes (music, science, Spanish/Art, etc) have their own rooms, which is a huge plus for consistent teaching. Library is small but very cute. The librarian used to be their options program teacher.
As for the curriculum:
ELA is Savvas Myview
MAth is illustrative Math
Science is Amplified science
Social studies is Savvas Myworld
SEL is second stepGrade 1-3 class size 28. Currently the second grad has 29 kids but they also has an aid in the home room.
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As a current Beaubien parent I just wanted to clarify that it’s the doors that open at 7:42 and that before that kids and parents mingle and kids then line up by class to go in. I know for second graders and beyond many parents do leave prior to the kids going inside. There is no kiss and drop but parking a couple blocks away and walking is pretty easy. Of course commuting adds up and that’s for everyone to figure out what works for their family. Our kiddo was bored and unhappy at our neighborhood school (which is a solid school) so it’s been worth it for us.
To answer the above question You can search Beaubien on this site and find lots of info about Beaubien. Regarding rigor, it adheres to the standard RGC accelerating a year ahead to begin (and they do just start with 2nd grade material in 1st grade) and then eventually it advances up to two years (I believe). They accelerate for ELA, Math, science and social studies. Specials and lunch etc are with the neighborhood classes of the same grade (eg all 2nd grade). They have science as a special in addition to the classroom science which is great if your kid loves science.
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Any insight into McPherson? We are debating between the McPherson RGC and the neighborhood program at Bell for K. Our eldest attends Bell RGC, and we’d love to have our kids in the same school (both for convenience and because I know they would like to be in the same school), but our youngest is not likely going to make it off the waitlist for Bell RGC, so the neighborhood program would be our only choice if we want to have both at Bell.
We are also trying to weigh the inconvenience/logistics of having kids in 2 schools against what we may be depriving our youngest of by sending them to a neighborhood program instead of an RGC, plus whether the overall school experience would be better at Bell vs McPherson. We are happy with Bell and don’t know a lot about McPherson apart from what I’ve been able to find in these forums and on their website. We are touring on Friday, but would love to hear from other McPherson parents or anyone else who has dealt with this type of choice.
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We were in the same boat at one point, and now one of my children is at Bell RGC, while another has started in the neighborhood K program. We have not regretted it for a moment. Bell is such an amazing school with the best community, and it has a tremendous amount of resources (primarily due to families who contribute a lot). Both my RGC child and my neighborhood program child are able to take advantage of these resources – Chinese language, Lookingglass Theatre performances, a poet-in-residence program, Second City improv classes, multiple field trips, etc. You definitely cannot get this at McPherson. I don’t want to be biased, but I honestly think there is no other school in the city where you can get this combination. The administration is young, and the kids love them. Academics are strong, though I’ll admit we supplement a bit for our neighborhood program child, but it’s manageable and doesn’t take much time or money. If a holistic approach is important to you, Bell is the right choice, and you can’t beat the single-drop-off advantage.
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I have a bit of a different perspective, though the points above are all valid. We switched from Bell (neighborhood) to McPherson RGC and have been very happy with the change. The rigor of McPherson has been great for our son who definitely was not challenged at Bell (he switched after 1st grade). Since then, his test scores have skyrocketed, and he’s even gotten an offer to Edison this year with a perfect score on the RGC test. He’s very happy with his classmates. They are an energetic bunch who seem to stick together well, and I know he’s going to miss McPherson after this year. The two school drop off wasn’t an issue for us, but, to be fair, McPherson was on my drive to work. Our daughter is in 1st at Bell and will likely switch to the McPherson RGC this year (she’s first on the waiting list). I wish I could tell you more. I know it’s a tough choice, but I do feel like you should consider doing what we did. Good luck!
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We are in the same boat. One kid in Bell RGC and one in K neighborhood. We are accepting the offer from another RGC for our kindergartener.
Bell is a great school with strong parent community. To clarify, the extra curriculum experiences are one experience for each grade, for example second city for 6th graders and theatre residency for 3rd graders I think. And these are all funded by donations. Kindergarten teachers are ALL so nice and great and caring. As for academic rigor, I heard by fifth grade, ELA is using the same materials. RGC is doing more in-depth teaching. We wanted more rigorous program for our kid. And our child’s current testing level is not competitive enough for Bell’s RGC in the next two years, giving the limited/almost no spots. That’s the main reason we will switch to another school. Hope my child will have a better chance in the higher grades.
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Thanks for your insights, @Michael Cullinane and @DDM. It sounds like what your kids experienced in the neighborhood program at Bell is what I’m afraid of if I send my younger kid there. I have no doubt Bell is a great school overall, but I do have a worry about shortchanging my kid by choosing neighborhood over a (different) RGC program. I appreciate your perspectives, it’s definitely giving me more to think about. Overall it sounds like any differentiation done in the neighborhood program is probably not going to be sufficient.
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@Stewart Thanks for your reply – do you mind telling me what you do to supplement for your neighborhood program child? Did you start doing this because they were bored in class or just because you felt like they could handle more than what was being taught in school? Do you have a sense of how much differentiation happens in the neighborhood classes? This is one of my worries about neighborhood, that if they are not being taught at a level/pace commensurate with their abilities they will actually do worse in school because they are bored, develop bad habits, etc. Of course, very hard to predict whether this would apply to any particular kid at all until they are actually in school for a while.
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Hi – we went the opposite path and chose to keep both of our kids at the neighborhood school vs sees.
I’ve said this in other convos but it’s a very personal decision and I don’t think there is one right answer.
For our family, having friends in the neighborhood, walking to school, keeping our kids at the same school, and fostering community were what tipped the scales. Our kids likely would have ended up at the same school this coming fall but would have been in different schools for this current school year. We haven’t really looked back.
Here is my candid experience: now that I’ve seen how it unfolds, I’m FAR less worried about differentiation. My kids both love learning and aren’t disengaged in school, which I think is the underlying fear. Yes math and spelling are easy, but they’re still learning history and science and new concepts that keep them engaged. They both love school and having a bit of academic breathing room has fostered their communication and problem solving skills, built their confidence, and helped them try new things. Their percentiles on standardized tests continue to be as high as they were, so they’re still learning and growing even if they enter the grade ‘knowing’ the math.
Differentiation isn’t targeted at our neighborhood school but each of our kids are assigned books at their specific reading levels and our older one does a math class outside of school. We have also explored summer camps and other clubs that focus on stem and have them do some workbooks as us.
Lastly, starting in fifth you can move up a grade in reading and in math at most neighborhood schools.
Kids from our school fare great in the high school admissions process, and end up side by side with SEES kids. All of the above plus the fear of pressure/burnout that can (but isn’t certainly) present in SEES environments have made us confident in the decision.
Just wanted to offer a different perspective. But take a moment to be proud. What a great problem to have!
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Is anyone considering or have information on Pulaski’s EL RGC? We have other offers from a top RGC and our top choice school, and are not considering our neighborhood school. We like the opportunity to continue fostering both languages at school as well as at home, but the commute to Pulaski would be significantly longer.
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To respond to the above question about enrichment, we are doing tutor in ELA and Mathnasium for math once a week.
Quick question about the new class sizes? Can someone clarify? My understanding is that K is capped at 25 kids, and then 1-4 grades are capped at 28 kids, and 5-8 grades are capped at 30?
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I also saw some news recently about CPS cutting budget ($700M budget shortfall) and considering increasing class sizes. Would that impact these numbers as well? (e.g., would K increase back up to 28-30 kids?)
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I could be wrong, but my understanding is those class size limits would not change, since they are negotiated with CTU. However, my understanding is the funding formula CPS uses to allocate core classroom teachers could be increasing slightly.
These are the formulas for last year with OI standing for opportunity index. Those schools with greater need (depending on number of students) may receive additional teachers beyond what is needed to staff within the class size limits.
OI less than or equal to 26: 1 teacher for every 26 students
OI 27 – 37: 1 teacher for every 24 students
OI greater than or equal to 38: 1 teacher for every 22 students
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Have you seen any movement on the SEES waitlist today? All of my positions remain the same as on Tuesday afternoon.
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Looks like there has been movement now, with WL adjustments after the Choice Schools WL reshuffling.
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I noticed that my child was previously #1 for our top-choice Classical school and is now #2. Does this mean that someone with a higher score was added after the spring testing? Or could it be that someone was offered a seat elsewhere, declined it, and then rejoined the waitlist for this Classical school? It’s a bit confusing, but I understand that these things happen.
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It could be either of those, but if your position only changed today, the second option is probably more likely, since the spring testers were already able to add themselves on Tuesday.
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Which classical school and which tier @jay did the waitlist move down?
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Sorry I meant to address to Stewart. Which school and tier did you see the waitlist bump down?
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It is a non-entry grade for SN, so tiers does not matter here.
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You should get an offer later on in the summer, not everyone submitted the transfer forms yet
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