All SY 24-25 CPS preschool seats are a part of the Chicago Early Learning application process.
APRIL 9, 2024 – Application Period Opens
APRIL 30, 2024 – Application Period Closes
MAY 21, 2024 – Initial Offers Released
May 22, 2024 – Live Selections Opens
From Chicago Early Learning: During this initial enrollment window, families will be able to submit early applications to help increase their chances of getting into competitive early education programs across the city. Completing the application will begin the enrollment process for their child’s early education enrollment for the 2024–2025 school year at all CPS Pre-K programs and city-funded Community-Based Preschool and Early Learning programs.
Because there are so many schools, programs and options for schooling in Chicago, parents who apply to multiple programs may receive more than one offer. Because a student can only attend one school at a time, there actually can be a lot of movement in program availability throughout the summer and into the new school year. Both public (CPS) and private (parochial and independent) schools fill those changing seats by utilizing waitlists before school starts, and sometimes into the new school year.
For private schools, an unfilled seat is a missed tuition and similarly, each student at a public school comes with a per pupil funding amount (until the 20th day of school). Families can add or remove a student from a waitlist if desired during the Rolling Admission cycle.
Preschool (PK3 or PK4): Chicago Early Learning students can get up to one offer out of 5 ranked choices and will be waitlisted for any higher ranked schools they did not qualify for.
Elementary (K-8th grade): CPS applicants can get multiple offers at various Choice (non test-based, non-selective) programs in addition to up to one SEES (test-based, selective enrollment) offer, in addition to a guaranteed neighborhood K-8th grade seat.
For CPS 9th graders (high school), students can get up to one offer each for SEHS and Choice programs as well as a guaranteed neighborhood 9th-12th grade seat.
Private school applicants can get offers for multiple schools at once, too, but a student can only attend one school at a time. Therefore, public and private waitlist movement happens throughout late Spring into Summer and even Fall.
All CPS preschool, elementary, and 9th grade high school programs are using a rolling waitlist system as of late May 2023.
CPS’s new rolling waitlist is meant to simplify what was once a separate transfer process for K-9th grade as well as a separate late application. All CPS applicants can view their GoCPS portal to see which remaining programs have immediate seats to accept (green), which have an open waitlist to join (yellow), and which are full or have a low likelihood of an offer (red). Your student will only be shown programs they are eligible to receive an offer for based on whether they participated in any required admissions screenings and if they met the threshold.
Original waitlists are those programs that you applied to in the Initial Application Process (was open from 9/21/22-12/8/22) and if an offer was not received, students either were automatically waitlisted for any programs that were listed above their offer (for ranked applications such as preschool, selective enrollment or high school) or they can be on multiple, independent waitlists for K-8th grade Choice programs. More info HERE.
Rolling waitlists (updated nightly) will run through the summer into the 20th day of the new school year for Selective Enrollment (SE) programs, through January 2024 for K-9th grade Choice programs, and until Spring 2024 for Preschool programs. You can only be on a Selective Enrollment waitlist if you have not accepted any SE offer, and you can remain on the waitlists for up to 20 Choice K-9th grade programs. Applicants can choose to remove schools from a waitlist if they are no longer interested or can add themselves to a waitlist if desired. Waitlists will re-sort every evening and those based on a point system can cause a student’s waitlist position to go up or down depending on the scores of new waitlist students. Slidedeck about Offer/Waitlists HERE and more info on rolling waitlists HERE.
Because CPS is funded on a per pupil spending model and their budgeting is set by the 20th day of school, most waitlist movement is seen at the end of the summer, just before school starts. Neighborhood & magnet cluster schools typically refrain from calling waitlist families until close to the start of school (Aug 21) and that can affect all other waitlists as well. Families should be ready to accept or decline a spot within 2 business days from receiving a call.
Families may need to stay patient, but much movement happens toward the end of the summer as public & private waitlists become more active at that time. Good luck to all families and don’t be surprised if your child is offered a spot at the start of the school year.
Families of 3 and 4 year olds by Sept 1st: The citywide application opens April 11, 2023 for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. Explore your options for CPS Pre-K programs and Community-Based programs, including Head Start and Early Start programs! Universal Free Pre-K for all 4 year olds is included, as are Suder, Drummond & Inter-American CPS Magnet schools. Families will have a few weeks to apply during the priority application window and then real time availability will be shown via a rolling waitlist. Families should rank their top choices and will be offered the highest ranked program for which they qualify. Visit Chicago Early Learning
All CPS Preschool programs will now apply via the Spring Chicago Early Learning website. Families looking to apply to Suder & Drummond CPS Montessori Magnet programs for PK3 & PK4 will need to wait until Spring 2023 to apply via the Chicago Early Learning site. This was not “announced” so much as “revealed” when the GoCPS application opened on Sept 21 and families could not apply to either school’s preschool programs through the main GoCPS elementary application. Look for more info this Spring. You can still apply for their K-8th grade seats via GoCPS.
If your child will be 4 by Sept 1, 2022, then get ready to apply to FREE Universal PreK at ChicagoEarlyLearning.org starting at 9am on 4/19/22. Parents can choose up to 5 program sites. (Families of 3 year olds can also apply but these programs are mostly hosted by community based organizations and not housed in schools.) The application will be open for an Initial Application Period until mid-May. Then a single offer notification will be sent to parents upon which they can decide to accept or reject the offer. Families will stay on a waitlist for any program they listed higher than the one they were offered. Families who did not participate in the Initial Application Period can apply on a rolling basis starting mid-May.
Up to 5 program sites must be ranked in order of preference
Families will receive a single offer only
Placement based on priority points for need, siblings, neighborhood & proximity
4 y.o. programs hosted mostly at CPS sites, 3 y.o. programs at community sites
No more tuition based preschool, all programs free or minimal fee by income
Most programs are Full day (7 hr/day) and follow the CPS calendar (see below)
Students at a 4 y.o. site may be given priority for Kindergarten via GoCPS app
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.
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.
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.
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.
