GoCPS Account Activation is Available Now

Families seeking to apply to CPS schools for 2019-2020 can begin the process to open an online GoCPS account.  While the website references mostly high school (https://go.cps.edu/apply/activate), the activation process should be open for anyone interested in applying to the 4 CPS Magnet PK programs (Suder, Drummond, Mayer & Inter-American), and CPS elementary and high schools.

CPS applications for 2019-2020 officially open on October 1, 2018 and close on December 14, 2018, but there are a few things to do prior to that depending on what your status is.  From ChiSchoolGPS’s latest newsletter:

“Unless you are enrolling in your assigned neighborhood school where no application is necessary, you can try for a seat at almost any other CPS school as long as you apply for a spot one year ahead of time.  The first place to start that process is the CPS online application portal at go.cps.edu.

If you are applying to PK-4th grade:

  • And are NOT already affiliated with CPS, first request a GoCPS Student ID # HERE.
  • And are already in CPS, simply create your GoCPS account here and have your child’s CPS ID # on hand.

If you are applying to 5th-8th grade:

  • And you would like to try for a selective enrollment (Classical, Gifted or Academic Center) seat but did notattend a CPS school last year, then apply for Fall NWEA MAP testing HERE by September 7th to take the MAP eligibility exams in September.
  • And you DID attend a CPS school last year OR you are a non-CPS student who only wants to apply to magnet or open enrollment schools, then simply ACTIVATE your GoCPS account.

If you are applying to 9th grade:

  • And did NOT attend CPS in 7th grade but would like to apply for selective enrollment, magnet, IB, military or CTE programs, then register for NWEA MAP testing HERE by Sept. 7th to see if you qualify for those programs.
  • And you were a CPS 7th grade student last year OR you are a non-CPS 8th grade student interested only in Charter or programs with no academic minimums, then simply go ACTIVATE your GoCPS account.”

Non-CPS Applicants for 2019-2020 CPS High Schools to Register for MAP

CPS will be administering the Reading & Math NWEA MAP tests to rising non-CPS 8th graders this September.  Check out more info HERE: https://cps.edu/sitecollectiondocuments/gocps/GoCPS-NWEA-NonCPSRegistration.pdf and online at GoCPS.

From the pdf:

“Dear Non-CPS School Parent:

As you may know, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) currently utilizes the Northwestern Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP) for the eligibility/selection process for students applying to schools with academic requirements, including, but not limited to, CTE-College and Career Academies, International Baccalaureate High Schools, Magnet High Schools, Military Academies, and Selective Enrollment Elementary and High Schools.

The NWEA MAP will be offered free of charge for students who did not attend a CPS school during the 2017-2018 school year, are not currently enrolled at a CPS school, and will be applying for the 2019-2020 school year to grades 5-9 for schools with academic requirements.

The test is a two-part assessment: math and reading. Typically, the test is administered on two separate days; if you like, you can indicate your preference to have your child take both sections of the test on the same date. The test will be administered on September 15-16, 2018; September 22-23, 2018; and September 29-30, 2018. There will be two sessions offered on each of these days.

In order for students to be scheduled to test, the registration form must be received by the Office of Access and Enrollment no later than September 7, 2018. The test will be offered at four sites: Curie Metropolitan High School, Lane Tech High School, Lindblom Math and Science Academy, and Westinghouse College Preparatory High School. Students will be scheduled for the test location closest to their home address. PLEASE NOTE that your child cannot be considered for any school with minimum eligibility requirements if he/she does not take the NWEA MAP that is administered by the Chicago Public Schools system.

Please complete the attached NWEA MAP registration form and submit it to the Office of Access and Enrollment, indicating your preferred test weekend, as well as whether you want your child to take the test on one day or two. Note that indicating your preferred test weekend does not guarantee that your child will be scheduled for that weekend. Students will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. CPS will put test notification letters in the U.S. mail, to the home address on the registration form, one week prior to the student’s first test date. Reminder notifications will be sent as well, via robocall and email.

Please carefully review the NWEA MAP application and related material. Should you have additional questions after you review this information, please contact the Office of Access and Enrollment at 773-553-2060 or [email protected].”

Helpful FAQs can be found here: https://cps.edu/sitecollectiondocuments/gocps/GoCPS-NWEA-FAQ.pdf

CPS End of Year Citywide Options Program

From go.cps.edu

END-OF-YEAR CITYWIDE 
OPTIONS PROGRAM

Families who are still seeking elementary school options for the 2018-19 school year will have another chance to apply to elementary schools during the End-of-Year Citywide Options Program. This paper application process will feature high-quality magnet, magnet cluster and open enrollment schools, including three new STEM Magnet schools at Claremont, Jungman and W. Brown; as well as one new STEAM Magnet program at Southwest Chicago (Sor Juana). You can still apply during this application period if you have already accepted an elementary school offer or are on any elementary school waitlists.  The End-of-Year application will be available from May 28 – June 1, 2018.

End-of-Year Applications Click HERE.

CPS Round 2 High School Application Deadline 5/4/18
 WHAT IS ROUND 2?

Round 2 is a new application period where only the high school programs that still have available seats after Round 1 will be available. Families can select and rank up to 20 Non-Selective Enrollment programs and up to 2 Selective Enrollment schools (if the student took the Selective Enrollment High Schools admissions exam AND received a total point score of 600 or higher). The student could receive a single best offer to one school in each category if they are matched.  For full instructions on this round, please download our Round 2 Application Guide.  Check out the Round 2 Program List.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT MESSAGE

PLEASE NOTE: If you accepted a first-round offer, you should ONLY apply to programs in the second round if you want them MORE than the first-round offer that you accepted. If you receive a second-round offer, you will AUTOMATICALLY forfeit the first-round offer you accepted. Do not apply to programs in the second round unless you are certain that you want each of them MORE than the first-round offer you accepted. If you accept/accepted a waitlist offer, this will not be affected by the second round application.  If you submit a second-round application, be sure to rank your choices in the order of your preference (put the program you want MOST as number 1, the program you want next as number 2, etc.).
WHEN SHOULD I CONSIDER ROUND 2?
Round 2 is ONLY recommended for families that:
  • Moved to Chicago after the Round 1 application deadline. 
  • Did not participate in Round 1 and would like to try to be matched with a high school program of their choosing.
  • Declined their Round 1 offer and found program(s) they would prefer to attend available in Round 2.
  • Accepted a Round 1 offer, but found program(s) they would prefer to attend available in Round 2.
  • Were ruled ineligible to apply to a program in Round 1, but are now eligible to apply to that program in Round 2.
CAN I REAPPLY TO ROUND 1 PROGRAMS THAT I DID NOT GET INTO?
You cannot re-apply in Round 2 to any programs where you are already on a waitlist. Round 1 applicants have been automatically added to the waitlist for all programs that they were (1) eligible for selection in Round 1 and (2) were ranked higher than the one they received an offer from.  If you are on a waitlist and a seat becomes available for you, you will be notified by the school.
You can, however, reapply to any programs ranked lower than the Round 1 offer you received. And in certain cases where a student is now eligible to apply to programs they were not eligible to apply to in Round 1, they can apply in Round 2.

ARE YOU READY TO APPLY?

If you have read through all the background information on Round 2, have thoroughly evaluated all your options, and feel that participating in Round 2 is the right thing for your family, log into your GoCPS account to start applying today.

Chicago Early Learning Preschool Applications Open 4/30/18

The Chicago Early Learning online preschool application opens on 4/30/18 @ 8:30am! Follow these easy steps to get your child enrolled in preschool:

Step 1) Visit ChicagoEarlyLearning.org to create an online account for your family

Step 2) Fill in information on your family, such as employment and income, information on your child, and then apply for your top choice preschool site

Step 3) If your child qualifies (you may find out immediately), you will receive an email on June 1st with information on how to verify your child’s preschool seat

If you have questions, please visit ChicagoEarlyLearning.org, or call the Chicago Early Learning Hotline: (312) 229-1690.

***********

It appears that these applications are “first come, first serve” so apply early for any particular site you would like.  See the forum thread for more info.

These programs were formerly known as “Ready to Learn” or “Preschool for All”.  This site does not cover magnet preschools or Tuition Based PK.  Please review the FAQs for more detailed information.

 

Enrollment Process

Search Locations

Find and compare Chicago Early Learning programs to find the right one for your child. Get Started!

Apply to Program

Narrow it down to your top two picks. Create an online account, fill out family information, and a child application to preschool sites. If your child qualifies for an offer, you will follow next steps verify their placement. If your child remains on a waitlist, stay tuned for more information from the Chicago Early Learning team.

For CPS Site Offers: Verify placement through a Family Resource Center

Within two weeks of receiving your offer, bring proof of your family’s income, address, and your child’s birth to one of 12 Family Resource Center sites across the city. Click here for more information about Family Resource Centers. See below for more details about what documents you will provide.

OR

For Community-Based Site Offers: Verify placement through your community-program location

Within two weeks of receiving your offer, bring proof of your family’s income, address, and your child’s birth to your assigned community-based program location. See below for more details about what documents you will provide.

Enrollment at CPS-Program Location

Visit your child’s preschool to complete the enrollment process. The school may have more specific enrollment directions that they will communicate.

OR

Enrollment at Community-Program Location

When you visit your child’s community-based site to verify your child’s offer, your site will communicate any additional expectations they have to complete the enrollment process.

Go to School!

If you have questions, please call our Chicago Early Learning Hotline: (312) 229-1690 or visit a Family Resource Center near you.

Spring 2018 CPS Elementary Offers

It’s that time!  Here are some tidbits gleaned from GoCPS Elementary FAQs

GOCPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL APPLICATION PROCESS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS

1. How will families find out the results of their applications to preschool through eighth grade? Online applicants to the four magnet preschools (Drummond, Inter-American, Mayer and Suder) through eighth grade will receive their first-round results on April 27th via their online GoCPS account. Paper applicants will receive a notification letter sent via U.S. mail to the home address on their application. In addition, paper applicants can view their results on an online GoCPS account that has been opened for them by the Office of Access and Enrollment. All applicants will receive more information on this process the week of April 23rd via email and robocall. Results will be posted on April 27th between 2 p.m. and 11:59 pm.

2. Will the Non-Selective Enrollment letter and the Selective Enrollment letter appear on the same screen online, or will families have to navigate to two different screens to accept or decline a seat? The results on the online account will all be on the same screen, along with a button that allows families to also download and print a hard-copy Non-Selective Enrollment letter and a Selective Enrollment letter. The letters that are mailed to the home address of paper applicants are two separate letters, one for Non-Selective Enrollment programs and one for Selective Enrollment programs.

ACCEPTING AND DECLINING OFFERS

3. How do families accept or decline an offer? Online applicants will accept or decline offers via their online GoCPS account. Paper applicants can accept or decline offers by submitting a paper confirmation form that they will receive with their paper notification letter or via the online GoCPS account that was opened for them. Applicants will have until Friday, May 11th to accept or decline an offer.

4. Can a student accept both a Selective Enrollment offer and a Non-Selective Enrollment offer, and decide which one they want later on? No. Students can only accept one offer.

5. Can students change their mind about accepting or declining an offer if they want to change it before the decision deadline? If a student DECLINES an offer, they cannot go back and change that decision once it is submitted. If a student ACCEPTS an offer and later decides that they want to decline it, they can do so.

6. What time is the deadline to make a decision on May 11th? The deadline to accept or decline offers is 6 pm on Friday, May 11th if the applicant is submitting a paper confirmation form, and 11:59 pm on Friday, May 11th if the applicant is making their decision via their online application account.

7. Will the families receive an email confirmation after they have made their decisions to accept or decline offers? No. Families will see a confirmation page online after they submit their decision. For their records, they should either print this page of save it to PDF.

SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

19. Do Selective Enrollment schools have sibling preference? No.

20. When will students receive Selective Enrollment test scores? Selective Enrollment test scores and total points, if applicable, will be on the students’ notification letter that is released on April 27th.

More awesome FAQs at http://cps.edu/AccessAndEnrollment/Documents/FAQs_Elementary_ApplicationProcess.pdf

Spring 2018 CPS High School Offers

The 2018-2019 CPS High School notifications were released on Friday, March 30. The “First Round” deadline is April 13, and then families can enter into a “Second Round” for any leftover available spaces.

It’s a new process this spring so along with the release are some informative videos and information from GoCPS as well as the following, cut and pasted directly from the websites linked below:

FAQs: High School Application Process

Information regarding the GoCPS high school application process can be found in the High School FAQs. If you have additional questions, contact the Office of Access and Enrollment at 773-553-2060 or [email protected].

Principal Discretion Process: 2018-2019 School Year

Principal Discretion is a process that allows Selective Enrollment High School principals to fill a designated number of ninth grade seats, outside of the regular selection process, based on information provided through application packages submitted by students.

Applicants to ninth grade can apply to a Selective Enrollment school through the Principal Discretion process if they (1) did not receive a Selective Enrollment offer, or (2) they received a Selective Enrollment offer but would like to be considered for a different Selective Enrollment High School. (You do not have decline an offer in order to apply for Principal Discretion).

The Principal Discretion application period for the 2018-2019 school year begins at 9 am on April 9th and ends at 6 pm on April 20th. The application will be posted beginning on April 9th. Click the links below to access the Principal Discretion Handbook and Frequently Asked Questions. The handbook provides step-by-step instructions for submitting a Principal Discretion application package and contains the guidelines and requirements for the process.

If you have questions after you review these documents, contact the Office of Access and Enrollment 773-553-2060 or [email protected].

Cutoff Scores

Click the links below to access the cutoff scores for the 2018-2019 high school selection process:

CPS 2018-2019 School Calendar

Always an exciting time when CPS releases the next school year calendar.  Here are some of the important dates for the 2018-2019 CPS school year:
First Day of School – 9/4/18, Last Day of School – 6/18/19
Academic Quarters – Q1 – 11/1/18, Q2 – 1/31/19, Q3 – 4/4/19, Q4 – 6/18/19
Parent Teacher Conference Days – 11/14/18 (ES), 11/15/18 (HS), 4/10/19 (ES), 4/11/19 (HS)
Winter Vacation – 12/24/18 – 1/4/19, Spring Vacation – 4/15/19 – 4/19/19
School Improvement Days – 11/2/18, 2/1/19, 4/5/19, 6/19/19
Please note: Veterans Day will be observed on Monday, 11/12/18.
 http://cps.edu/SiteCollectionDocuments/SY18-19Calendar_English.pdf

Filling the Void and Growing the Community

With the retirement of the indispensable and incomparable CPSObsessed blog that helped Chicago families for almost a decade, a sudden panic seized Chicago parents on where they would turn to soothe their obsession of tracking scores, tiers and offers for CPS admissions or learn about changing application processes or hear about new or up and coming schools, etc.  While CPSObsessed was the place to visit for all things CPS, many parents were also weighing private school options or wondering about special need supports and a myriad of other school related topics.

Out of this gaping void came the genesis for ChicagoSchoolOptions. This new website aims to be a crowdsourced destination for the next crop of anxious Chicago parents looking for answers.  It will only be as useful as those who contribute to the site make it, so please feel free to login and post to the School Forum or email us if you would like to help improve the site, be an editor or contributor (this uses a WordPress platform) or have any advice on increasing the user-friendliness.  Currently it is maintained by someone with more passion for the topics than technical savvy about the platform.

We welcome your help to make ChicagoSchoolOptions the “go-to” site for sharing Chicago area school knowledge. From preschool to high school, public and private, general, gifted and special ed, this site is meant to help fellow parents gain a better understanding of all their school related questions.  Contact us if you have anything to share and help us grow our community!

CPS High School from Fall 2017: Continuing the Discussion from CPSO

GoCPS is adding features to be a great resource for Chicago families.

For those looking to discuss the 2018-2019 application cycle for CPS High school options, feel free to check out the threads at CPSObsessed- High School Application News Fall 2017 and continue your thoughts either in the comments below or on the School Forum pages.