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If you have been waitlisted to a private school, feel free to let them know you are still extremely interested in them. Just a quick note or email to say that should you get an offer, you would enroll your child, etc. It doesn’t need to be long, it just needs to convey the fact that you are still eager to be considered should room open up. Private schools do not reveal where you are on their waitlist, as most don’t number their waitlists the way CPS schools do. Nor do they typically let families know how they base their decisions, as it is more holistic than just a numbers game.
If you are waitlisted for a private school, send a note about your continued interest and then it becomes a waiting game as CPS notifications come out later and families do indeed drop private school offers even after sending in deposits because in some cases, free tuition is hard to beat. Private schools want their class sizes filled so waitlists can definitely move, but sometimes not until mid to late summer.
This is hot off the Go.CPS.edu website: https://go.cps.edu/learn/news
“Round 1 High School Offers Available March 30
First-round high school offer notifications will be released on Friday, March 30, 2018.Online Applicants
If you applied online, offer notifications will be posted in your GoCPS account at go.cps.edu.
Paper Applicants
If you applied with a paper application, a notification letter will be sent to the primary address on your application via U.S. mail.
In addition, an online GoCPS account has been opened for you, and your notifications will be posted there as well.
Families will have until Friday, April 13, 2018, to accept or decline their offer. Please note that you must accept or decline the offer by this deadline or your seat will be forfeited.Please look out for additional announcements and tutorials in the coming weeks and please feel free to contact us with any questions.”
Private schools typically give about 10 days or so for decisions. This year, Latin, Lab and Parker will notify on March 2, 2018, and allow a few days for families to visit again and then submit deposits to hold their place. CPS elementary notifications won’t come out until early April this year, and also allow about 2 weeks for families to revisit schools before returning their first round decisions. Families who apply to public & private schools may have to sacrifice a deposit as they decide which to accept. Make sure to carefully read the enrollment contract to see what the private school’s policy is on withdrawal of acceptance.
I think that came through a Freedom of Information Act request FOIA or it was a result of an article that one of the local reporters or WBEZ had written. That would be great if someone can pursue that again and post updated info.
Can you post the link from the 2012 chart and then maybe it will inspire someone to pursue? Thanks!CPS doesn’t seem to disclose that info, but if you search the topic of SEHS Tie Breaker on this site, you will see:
“To differentiate between students with the same final point score, tiebreakers are used. These include areas such as the core percentile on the entrance exam, and the individual sections of the exam. The specific order of the tiebreaker is as follows:Core Total
Math
Reading Comprehension
Vocabulary
Language Arts
Utilization of this method allows us to rank students who have the same final point score.”This leads us to believe that they try to score all sections equally but they do weigh sections in that order in the event of a tie score.
For the time between when you found out and when you need to notify of your decision, families try to visit schools, talk to other families, and see what feels right in their “gut”. Location, school hours, homework expectations, extra-curriculars, etc. can all come into the decision. It is very personal, and families do turn down SE offers to stay at their current school for a wide variety of reasons, including feeling confident that your child is getting great differentiation and needs met at their current school.
This is wonderful, Montessori Mom!!! Thanks so much for pulling it all together. Hopefully families will see this and give you some more insights and feedback.
One thing perhaps can be added is whether the SEES program is standalone or within a neighborhood school, in which case, what subjects, if any, do they have with non-SEES students. For example, Bell & Coonley RGCs are one class per grade within a neighborhood school but for subjects like music, art, gym, etc, they may have students from both programs mixed in one class.
CPS typically allows about 2 weeks or so for first round offers to be accepted or declined. Families even have time to tour again or visit for the first time. Then 2nd & 3rd round offers go out and sometimes those have a week or so turnaround. Then 4th round, etc and with each round, the turnaround time can get shorter, whereby at the end of the summer, you often hear that phone calls are being made with 2 hour answer windows (or shorter). By late August or even into September, many families are decided or started school so the list moves fast and a school may just call families in quick succession.
Testing for selective enrollment programs happens through early March, so that is part of the reason for the wait. It is interminable.
Private schools are used to seeing kids in all states of being (happy, nervous, excited, apprehensive, energetic, tired, shy, bored, etc) so you shouldn’t worry too much about how your (long) interview went. As long as no one came away with scars, chances are they have seen many kids react similarly.
You can interview spectacularly and indicate you will pay full tuition but if they don’t have room for boys with your child’s birth month that year, then you still may not get a spot. Or, if they need your child to balance out the classroom dynamic and they have need based funds they are committed to using, then it could all be in your favor. Unfortunately private schools are not required to disclose why they denied (or accepted) someone’s enrollment so it’s speculation but it could just come down to the right mix coming together at the right time or the complete opposite.
As for putting down more money to “continue” the application (which is odd), you may be able to request a fee waiver if you are applying for a need based scholarship anyway. Definitely talk to the admissions personnel and they are often very helpful in next steps.
The CPS School Quality Rating Policy listed for a school is for the whole school, so it can definitely be skewed as you expected when there are multiple programs in a school. Bell School actually as 3 programs: one RGC class per grade, several neighborhood classes per grade, and deaf classes that span grades. The SQRP listed for that school, however, includes metrics from all 3 programs.
As for the schools with Comprehensize Gifted Programs (gifted tracks within a school), check out page 142 of the CPS Options for Knowledge Guide.
