Early Entrance To CPS Kindergarten Available for Fall Birthdays

CPS automatically allows entry to Kindergarten for students who are 5 by September 1st, but families with students who turn 5 by Dec. 31 can request an Early Entry to Kindergarten this Fall. The evaluation process would allow a fall birthday student to start at their neighborhood school (or any Choice or selective enrollment program with available space) if the student is deemed academically and socially ready by CPS.  Required to implement ISBE’s Accelerated Placement Act, CPS has outlined a new 6 step policy for evaluation. The application is open from July 1-19 and FAQs can be found here. The six steps are:

  1. Visit a CPS Application Site by July 19.
  2. Complete the application & developmental survey.
  3. If student scores above 91% in kindergarten readiness, the academic test will be scheduled.
  4. Academic & cognitive testing to be done at one of 4 centers.
  5. If student scores above 91% in academic testing, then potential sites are offered.
  6. Enrollment at school and Memorandum of Understanding w/parent outlines communication schedule.

Non-CPS Students: Register for 5-9th Grade CPS NWEA Testing

Non-CPS students who are interested in applying for 5th-9th grade CPS programs for Fall 2020 should be sure to take the CPS administered NWEA Map tests.  CPS requires this qualifying test of reading and math to be taken by all non-CPS students applying to selective programs in those upper grades. Students can register by August 30 to take the tests on Sept. 21, 22, 28, 29 or Oct. 5 or 6.  All students who test by those dates will be able to use the online GoCPS application system.  All current CPS students will have their spring NWEA Map scores used for qualifications and rubric calculations. GoCPS applications are open 9/30/19-12/6/19.

2019-2020 Chicago Early Learning Preschool Applications Now Open

Families with 3 or 4 year olds by Sept. 1 can apply for sliding scale tuition full or half day 2019-2020 preschool programs in Chicago. Choose up to 2 program sites and find out by June if you were placed in one or on a waitlist.

Three steps to apply: 1. Create on online account; 2. Fill in family info including address, household size, employment & income; 3. Fill out info on your child and choose your top 2 program sites.

www.chicagoearlylearning.org

Some sites are based in CPS schools but unless it is your assigned neighborhood school, there is no guarantee that you can continue at that school for kindergarten. It is a great way to get to know a school, however, to see if you would like to put it on your application or attend it if it is your neighborhood school.

Spring 2019- CPS Elementary Notifications & Links

First round CPS elementary school notifications were released at 5pm on Monday, April 22.

Academic Centers (accelerated 7th/8th grade programs in high schools) have cutoff scores published here: GoCPS AC Cutoff Scores 2019-2020

All other elementary Gifted or Classical School programs do not publish cutoff scores. These offers are “single choice” and you can only receive one offer of SEES (selective enrollment elementary schools).

Magnet, magnet cluster & open enrollment schools are strictly lottery based and will have waitlist numbers published. These are multiple offer programs so you can be offered multiple schools and accept one yet be offered another option later and can change your acceptance then.

GoCPS 2019-2020 Elementary Selection & Notification FAQs

Spring 2019- CPS High School Notification Links

Results finally came out after a jam in the online notification portal, but here are some relevant links to study at your leisure.

Round 1 SEHS Cutoff Scores: https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/GoCPS_Cutoff_SEHS_2019.pdf

Round 1 Choice (Non-selective) Cutoff Scores: https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/GoCPS_Cutoff_Choice_2019.pdf

SEHS Principal’s Discretion Handbook (this allows an SEHS Principal to select 5% of the freshman class via a holistic admissions method): https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/PrincipalDiscretionHandbook.pdf

SEHS Principal’s Discretion FAQs: https://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/gocps/PrincipalDiscretionFAQs.pdf

GoCPS also has some helpful videos to aide in understanding how to interpret the results: https://go.cps.edu/high-school/selection

Good luck to the 8th graders! Wherever you end up, make the most of your time there as high school breezes by so quickly!

CPS ES Notifications for 2019-2020

CPS Elementary notifications will come out on April 22 via the Go.CPS.edu portal or if you applied on paper, via mail. This includes first round notifications for the 4 magnet preschools, hundreds of elementary open enrollment, magnet, magnet cluster and several selective enrollment schools including Academic Centers. Good luck to all!

Round 1 Offers

APRIL 22, 2019

Round 1 – Offers Posted

MAY 6, 2019

Round 1 – Accept/Decline Deadline

MAY 10, 2019

Round 1 Waitlist Process Opens

48 BUSINESS HOURS AFTER ACCEPTANCE IS OFFERED

Waitlist Accept/Decline Deadline

If families do not receive news of offers or missed the application deadline of December 2018, there is another opportunity to apply via an “End of Year Application” process:

End of Year Application

MAY 22, 2019

Applications Opens

MAY 29, 2019

Applications Closes

CPS HS Notifications for 2019-2020

CPS recently announced the date for 8th graders to hear about first round notifications. This is considered the “Selection” phase per GoCPS and here is their info:

The first activity in the Selection phase will be the release of Round 1 high school results on March 29, 2019.

Families who applied using the online application site will receive their results via their online GoCPS account. Families who applied with a paper application will receive a letter via U.S. mail. Paper applicant families will also be able to receive their results via an online GoCPS account that was created for them by the Office of Access and Enrollment. Notifications will be sent between March 25 and 28 to provide instructions on how to retrieve results.

Below is a complete timeline of dates related to the Selection phase for ninth grade applicants.  It has also been posted in the ‘Important Dates’ section of the GoCPS home page where you can monitor for future updates.

·         March 29: First-round results released

·         April 12: Deadline to accept or decline first-round offers

·         April 17: First-round waitlist process opens

·         April 29: Second-round application process opens

·         May 6: Second-round application deadline

·         May 31: Second-round results released

·         June 7: Deadline to accept or decline second-round offers

·         June 12: Second-round waitlist process opens

Good luck to all expectant 8th graders!

First Round CPS 2019-2020 Applications Close 12/14/18!

Don’t miss the 12/14/18 deadline to apply to a wide range of CPS options for Fall 2019.  Paper applications must be RECEIVED by 6pm at CPSOAE (see below) and online applications need to be submitted by 11:59pm via https://cps.schoolmint.net/signup.  Only families who have a CPS Student ID can use the online application.  All others need to use a paper application.

Submit elementary or high school paper applications to the Office of Access and Enrollment, 42 W. Madison St., Garden Level, Chicago, IL 60602. DO NOT SEND YOUR APPLICATION TO THE SCHOOL(S) TO WHICH YOU ARE APPLYING. Applications must be RECEIVED by December 14, 2018 by 6pm. Note that this is a RECEIVED BY date, NOT a postmarked date.
Applications received after December 14, 2018, will not be processed.

Researching schools? Check out the very informative GoCPS Search tool which can quickly show you school locations based on program types (magnet, selective enrollment, IB, military, CTE) or program group (fine & performing arts, STEM, academic centers, etc), sorted by grades or ratings, etc.  Clicking on a school’s name will show a bounty of school data.

Second rounds for any programs that still have space typically begins in April for high school and May for elementary schools.

Good luck on your CPS school search!

CPS 2019-2020 Applications are Now Open!

From now until Dec 14, 2018, you can go to www.go.cps.edu and learn about applying to CPS programs from Preschool to High School.  The applications are open and you can apply to schools and schedule testing or admissions screenings until the December deadline.

Lots of helpful info at the following links:

PreK FAQs

Elementary FAQs

High School FAQs

Remember, you can apply for up to 6 Selective Enrollment (test based) schools but must rank your choices and you will get a single offer.

You can also choose up to 20 non-selective (now called “Choice Programs”) lottery schools but elementary has no ranking and multiple offers while high school you do need to rank and it is single offer.  Good luck!

Note: CPS Tiers also change each year on October 1st, so check your tier by entering your address at https://go.cps.edu/search.  They can go up, down or stay the same each year.

Hidden Gems High School Fair THIS SUNDAY 9/30/18

Live in the city and have middle school aged (6th-8th grade) children? Come to the 7th Annual “Hidden Gems” Chicago High School Fair THIS Sunday, September 30th from 1-4pm to meet representatives from over 35 public and private high schools (and several resource vendors) that have terrific programs and more holistic or realistic admissions standards. 7th and 8th grade can be a stressful year for you and your students – take the pressure off by realizing all of the great options in the Chicagoland area.  See our frequently updated list of participating schools online.
 
Register today for discounted early registration pricing: HS Fair Registration
Details for Hidden Gems High School Fair
The schedule for the program will be as follows:
Doors open at 12:30pm, but Disney II tours are available starting at 12:15pm.
  • 1PM:  Introduction from Chicago School GPS and Amundsen High School (sponsor) in the auditorium
  • 1:05PM-2:00PM:  Brief 1 minute presentation from each school (historically the most enlightening portion of the fair)
  • 2:00PM-4:00PM:  School exhibitor booths open
  • 2:30PM-4:00PM:  Half hour Information sessions for parents:
    • High School Admissions for public & private schools
    • Entrance Exam Testing for SEHS, HSPT & ISEE
    • Scholarship Ins and Outs
  • 2:30PM-4:00PM:  Half hour participation sessions for middle schoolers:
    • Peer to Peer forums – high school ambassadors (one per school) answer questions from middle schoolers
    • Middle Schooler workshop- tips on writing a high school entrance essay
    • Executive Functioning Skills workshop
  • 4:00PM:  Fair ends  
Come learn about wonderful high school options and reduce your family’s stress about their high school search!  Register NOW! (Fee waivers available)