Lottery Elementary Letters Part 2 – 2013 (Magnet cluster, neighborhood schools)
So OAE says that starting today the letters for acceptance for open enrollment schools (Magnet cluster — which btw have no magnet component and should probably be renamed, neighborhood schools, and any other open enrollment schools (whatever those might be) sometimes have room for kids outside their boundaries.
Up until a few years ago, this was all unregulated and one could buddy up to a principal to earn a spot. Those days are over, since Chicago is trying to be a little more fair about things, so these spots are now allocated based on the lottery drawing.
Each school needs to work down their list for each grade.
Keep in mind that they schools seem to handle this list-calling slightly differently so you want to make yourself available by phones from now until… basically the first week of school as you never know when you’ll get that call. If there’s a particular school you’re interested it probably can’t hurt to call occasionally to check in and let them know your strong interest. If they miss you with a phone call they may be more motivated to try again or extend your call-back time another day or so.
Schools that are up-and-coming can be a great place to get in on the ground floor of a school with growing parent involvement, programming, activities, etc. These schools don’t always fill their classes and so they’re eager to take extra kids to fill the place up.
Post your news and questions here…
College Post #1
Someone who commented in a previous post highly recommended this book.
Well, I can’t say when I started this blog 5 years ago as my son was starting 4th grade I ever dreamed I’d be making a post about college. But… we obsessors need to start thinking ahead, right?
So maybe we start with just a general discussion of some questions and answers and things to think about in terms of gearing our kids towards the best/right college?
My college application experience was kind of weird. As I may have mentioned, I had a knack for standardized test (that if my son is lucky as a CPS student he’ll inherit.) My SAT scores got me lots of mail from good colleges, but my grades and activities didn’t really match the test scores. Nor did I have any inclination to leave the state. And my parents didn’t really push the issue at all. Basically I was allowed to choose from Purdue and Indiana University. I knew I’d get in so I recall preparing my application for IU and getting pizza sauce on it and not really caring.
So… I imagine the process will be a bit different than that for my son. There seems to be so much pressure these days to be amazing and a leader and interesting and smart and studious and committed academically. I mean, there are still colleges in Illinois where kids who aren’t all that academic can go, right? And how high do we reach in terms of price/reputation? So many questions but I’ve got years to figure this out. At least I’ve calmed down a lot about the high school process.
Share your questions and thoughts about college applications and we can discuss.
Also, Chicago School GPS posted about this upcoming seminar:
I encourage anyone curious about pre-college to come to a FREE seminar about “College 101- Making the Most of Your High School Career” on May 22 @ 7PM at Lakeshore Sport & Fitness. Sponsored by NPN and primarily presented by Lighthouse College Planners, it is all about the fact that frankly, what our kids do in high school definitely affects their smooth transition (or not) to college.
http://www.npnparents.org/events/1149
It’s geared toward not only incoming freshmen or sophomore parents but anyone curious, including middle school parents starting to wonder about paving a smooth path to college.
Disney II High School (and other schools still open)
The application period for Disney II Magnet High School is opened. I didn’t realize it will require Stanine 5 in Reading and Math (although now I think I recall some of you mentioning this. True, it’s not a SE level cut-off but it certainly should set the school apart in that every student will be average or above.
Will there be a proximity lottery and tiers as with other magnets? I assume so… And we’ve heard that Disney II elem kids will get automatic entry to this school, regardless of stanine, correct?
Who do you think the school will initially attract? I feel like most kids have made peace with their high school decision so this is probably a good year to get in… when other people have already made up their minds about other schools.
I noticed that there are charters that are still taking students. I guess they can’t pull any off the 10,000 kid waiting list? (or whatever that number was…)
http://www.disneyiimagnet.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=194329&type=d&pREC_ID=391864
FROM CPS.
Disney II Magnet High School
Disney II Magnet School will expand to the high school level in fall 2013. The program will offer a college prep curriculum with an emphasis on fine
arts and technology integration. Located at 3900 N. Lawndale Ave., Disney II Magnet’s high school campus will open at the ninth grade and add one grade each year until it serves grades 9-12.
Students will be selected through a computerized lottery; to be eligible for the lottery, students must have minimum stanines of 5 in both reading comprehension and total math on their seventh grade ISAT (or another acceptable standardized test). Students with an IEP or 504 Plan must have seventh grade reading and math stanines that equal at least 10.
Click here for an application. Applications must be mailed or hand-delivered to the Office of Access and Enrollment, 125 S. Clark St., 10th floor, Chicago, IL 60603, and must be received no later than June 7, 2013, at 5 p.m. (If you mail your application, it is strongly recommended that you enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard/envelope with your application. The postcard/envelope will be returned to you as a receipt.)
CTE-College and Career Academies
Several CTE-College and Career Academies are still accepting applications. Programs offered by the schools include Early Childhood Education, Business, Pre-Engineering, Culinary Arts, Game Programming and Web Design, and many others! Click here for a list of schools still accepting applications. Call the schools directly for more information.
Nobel Charter Schools
Four campuses in the Nobel Charter School network are still accepting incoming ninth graders:
Auburn Gresham College Prep: 8748 S. Aberdeen St.
Contact Ms. Ayala at 773-729-3400
DRW Trading College Prep: 931 S. Homan Ave.
Contact Ms. Loving at 773-893-4500
Johnson College Prep: 6350 S. Stewart Ave.
Contact Ms. Delgado at 312-348-1888
Rowe-Clark Math and Science Academy: 3645 W. Chicago Ave.
Contact Ms. DeJesus at 773-242-2212
For additional Noble campus enrollment information, contact 773-278-6895.
Other Charter Schools
A limited number of additional charter and contract elementary and high schools throughout the city are still accepting applications. Click the links below for more information!
Pre-School for All – Surprise! New process for applying, starting TOMORROW!
Thanks to Christine Whitley for alerting me to this new PreK application process that starts tomorrow! Wow.
This new central process for Pre-School for All will be in affect for all kids entering as 3 year olds next year. Current 3 year olds in a program will have a guaranteed spot in their current program, but can still apply to others without losing their current placement. Some key information below. I can’t figure out how they select who gets in where. Age? Location? At-risk-ness? Tier? Lottery? I don’t see that information anywhere.
Applications must be submitted IN PERSON at one of their special sites from April 3 – May 3.
APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED SO FAR DON”T COUNT.
YOU CAN SELECT 3 SCHOOLS TO APPLY TO.
NOT ALL THE SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED YET.
DECISIONS WILL BE SENT IN EARLY JUNE.
THE PROGRAM IS NOW SLIDING SCALE BASED. (I can’t find the calculator, but Christine reports that some says up to $400+/mo for top income households.)
http://www.cps.edu/SCHOOLS/EARLYCHILDHOOD/Pages/EarlyChildhood.aspx
More information and list of 2013-14 awardees coming soon.
This year, the Office of Early Childhood Education has a new application process for preschool programs in Chicago Public Schools. Thirteen centralized Chicago: Ready to Learn! School-Based Preschool Application Sites will be open from April 3-May 3 to accept applications from families for the 2013-14 school year, and traveling teams of Application Representatives will be available at local elementary schools on designated days. Applications will only be accepted by Chicago: Ready to Learn! Application Representatives. The following links provide the information you need to apply for a school-based preschool program for the 2013-14 school year. Sites and schedules are for the application submission process only.
Application sites:
http://www.cps.edu/Schools/EarlyChildhood/Documents/SchoolBasedPreschoolApplicationSites.pdf
CPS Schools Closing: 54 to close, 61 buildings to be shuttered
I’m copying this from RYH who has the lowdown on the closing and continues to challenge CPS on some of the tough questions (including — what really constitutes UNDER/OVER utilization.)
FROM RYH:
CPS has never closed more than 13 schools in one year and the district has a master facilities plan that is due in October yet they are proposing this move without any research or evidence to back it.
Here’s the list:
http://www.suntimes.com/19008230-761/cps-to-close-54-school-programs-61-school-buildings.html
Interactive map from Sun-Times:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/news/2013/03/map_scho.html
CPS must hold three hearings for each school before the May 22nd Board vote on school closings. The Board will vote on these closings but Board members did not attend any of the community hearings.
We will be on Chicago Tonight this evening talking about the closings at 7pm.
Parents4Teachers will be doing a banner drop around the city tomorrow to oppose the closings. Meet at City Hall at 4pm to participate or email info@parents4teachers.net.
2013: SEES Gifted and Classical Letter Thread
C’mon mail – where ARE you??
Last year’s threads if you want to see some cutoff scores:
http://cpsobsessed.com/2012/03/25/2012-giftedclassical-letters-post-news-here/
http://cpsobsessed.com/2012/03/23/elem-gifted-magnet-letters-have-mailed-post-news-here/
2013: Academic Center Letters
In anticipation of the mail delivery.
Post your news about Academic Centers here. AC’s are for 7th grade students. They require a special test for placement that is taken during 6th grade along with ISAT scores and grades from 5th grade.
The beauty of getting an AC spots is that you have a guaranteed high school spot at that school.
Cutoffs scores for ACs from last year are posted here:
http://cpsmagnet.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=72695&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=203928
2012 AC thread is here:
http://cpsobsessed.com/2012/03/25/2012-academic-centers-post-news-here/
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