Archive for September, 2009

Attendance won’t count for Selective Enrollment High Schools any more

Wow, second big news item in CPS recently!
A couple people have sent me the following announcement:

Revised Attendance Policies for GEAP Schools and Selective Enrollment High Schools!

In light of the H1N1 virus that affected the attendance of a significant number of students, a notification was issued during the 2008-2009 school year stating that application procedures for Selective Enrollment and GEAP schools would be revisited this year in order to consider the extenuating circumstances. As a result, it has been determined that, beginning with the upcoming application process for the 2010-2011 school year, attendance will not be included in the criteria for the selection of students for Selective Enrollment High Schools, Academic Centers, and International Gifted Programs (formerly International Baccalaureate Preparatory Programs).

The selection of students for these three school types was previously based on a 1,000-point scale. The revised process will utilize a 900-point scale, consisting of points for previous year’s standardized test scores in reading and math (300 points); final student grades in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies (300 points); and student performance on the admissions examination (300 points). A revised rubric illustrating the specific assignment of points will be developed and available within the coming weeks.

If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Academic Enhancement at (773) 553-2060.

This is huge.  I never thought CPS would change this (nor did I think they were capable of making a policy change so quickly.)  In the past, attendance during a kid’s 7th grade year counted as 1/10th of their score for getting into the Selective Enrollment High Schools.  Of course you get the point, you want kids who are really committed to going to school to get those spots.  But I’ve seen the numbers – the kids who get in miss something like 1-2 days (on average) during that important year.  So one can conclude that a lot of sick kids are trudging to school in the middle of flu season.  It finally took a potentially deadly flu strain for parents to stand up and protest.
I really like that CPS responded.  I had just been ruminating about this obsessive focus on attendance that CPS has.  The goal for each school is 95% attendance, which means each kid can miss about 1 day per month during the year.  That is probably doable if your child doesn’t get seriously ill, but one bout with flu, lice, or pinkeye can knock out a week, easily.
Attendance is important for the schools because they get funding based on it, AND the principals get “graded” on it.  Our principal has REALLY stressed attendance repeatedly so far to the point that I will feel guilty if I let my son miss a day for a minor ailment.  Or add an extra day onto a school vacation.
So I get why CPS wants my kid there, but wouldn’t it be better for parents to err on the side of caution when it comes to sending a sick kid to school?  Then to top it off, the kid are sharing pencils (which they all bite or chew the erasers,) crayons, scissors, etc during the day which send those devious little germs hopping happily from child to child.
So all in all, I’m pleased that CPS got rid of this requirement for high school.  I can see eliminating kids from consideration who have excessive unexplained absenses, but really is a kid who missed only 1 day that much better than a kid who missed 4 days during a whole year?
10 points to Ron Huberman.

2 comments September 28, 2009

Big News – Consent Decree Overturned

There is big news in CPS, news that could actually make a major impact on the system depending how it plays out.

The Consent Decree has officially been overturned.

To review (in my own words which are probably around 75% correct,) the Consent Decree was put into place a couple decades ago when desegregation was the big thing for schools.  It basically mandated that certain “top” schools (magnets, gifted, classical, selective enrollment high schools) would guarantee a certain number of spots to minority applicants.  The definition of “minority” that is used in CPS is any non-Caucasian person and a child’s race is self-identified (meaning a biracial child’s family chooses to identify as Caucasian or Non based on how they identify.
Caucasian students are given up to 35% of the spots in these classes which is actually hugely generous given that only 9% of CPS is white (surprised?)  The thing that throws a monkey wrench into this balancing is the level of geographic segregation in Chicago.   Achieving these numbers requires kids to be bussed in criss-crossed directions.   So the goal is admirable but the means are inefficient.  I’ve toured Stone and Hawthorne and the classes have such a range of different kids – it’s like Chicago at its finest mix.

I was surprised to hear last year that the Consent Decree was up for review.  I have no idea what prompted this.  Certainly racial (or socio-economic) equality has not been met in CPS by a long shot.  I don’t know if the effort is too costly for CPS (keeping track of race, keeping 2 lottery lists for each school, bussing for sure) or if there was some political reason or if they really want to go to an income-based method of balancing.

But in the meantime, there is great uncertainly among parents as to how this will play out.  I’ve been reading the NPN message boards where there’s been a lot of interesting discussion about what will happen.  Some speculation includes:
- CPS moves so slowly that they’ll ask the judge to keep things in place for 1 more year while they figure out what to do
- Each school decides on their own how to balance and some schools are already planning to continue to ensure a mix
- Schools may actually be RESTRICTED from using race to select students
- CPS will switch to an income-based system for the lottery (which is actually a truer indicator of test scores)
- The income-based system would never work because CPS doesn’t have the time to check everyone’s income
- CPS is trying to save money on bussing
- Schools will start to reflect the actual geographic makeup of the neighborhoods around them (or rather the makeup of families who test/enter lottery which as we can guess will skew higher income)
- This stinks and isn’t fair
- This is good and is more fair

As you can see, it’s anybody’s guess right now how it will play out.  I would bet many of the schools don’t even know about it unless an obsessed parent has brought it up.

The big question for parents applying for schools for 2009/2010 is whether that little race box on the forms is going to make a difference this year.  The truth is many white families now stand a better chance at getting a spot in those coveted schools while minority families have lost an advantage.

You know what I would personally love to see?  I’d love for several schools in mainly minority neighborhoods get together and flood a school like Hawthorne with applications so that they get the majority of the spots (statistically they should get the same % as the % of applications they submitted.)  OK, OK, I know that is a bit twisted but let’s face it… CPS sets this up like a game and parents can try to use their best tactics to master it.

Please add comments with opinions of if you have heard anything about what will happen next!

30 comments September 27, 2009

Nettelhorst book launch party this Saturday

If you haven’t heard the news yet, there is a new book out about the turn-around of Nettelhorst school.  The story of this school is a bit folkloric among those of us who have been working on improving our neighborhood schools in the past several years.

Even a short 5 years ago, most north side public schools were considered a place where you would never send your child.  Nettelhorst was one that parents didn’t even notice or consider.  However a group of parents took a chance, walked in one day to talk to the principal and thus began an amazing and successful project:  The shift from an undesirable local school to a highly (and I mean HIGHLY) sought after elementary school with a gorgeous building, involved parents, community support and national recognition.

Above all else, this shift gave many other north side parents the incentive to do the same.  The methods devised by Nettelhorst were used by many other schools to “market” themselves to local parents and have helped create a community of thriving, growing schools.   (So all you parents of babies and toddlers need to buy a copy of the book as a “thank you” to the person/principal who started it all!)  I haven’t gotten over to Barbara’s Bookstore yet to buy the book, but I can’t wait to read it.  For anyone who’s witnessed the excitement of parents’ involvement in CPS in the past few years, it’ll be a great read.  To any parents who are trying to grow their neighborhood school, it’ll be an inspiration during those times you are ready to give up and move to the suburbs.

Here are the details of the launch.  Trust me, these people put on kick-ass events (and make sure to wear your flower power garb.)

How to Walk to School’s
Psychedelic Book Launch Party

With the fabulous Go-Go Revelettes &
A proclamation by Governor Pat Quinn

Saturday, September 26, 11am-12 pm
The Lakeview East Festival of the Arts
Aldine & Broadway
Face painting • treats • book signing • Flower Power attire highly encouraged

In case of rain, we’ll be dancing in Nettelhorst’s new auditorium.

Unabridged will be selling books with a special Nettelhorst cover designed by Nettelhorst students both at the launch party, and throughout the fest at the corner of Melrose and Broadway (by the kid’s activities). And get this: Unabridged Bookstore will be giving 50% of the profits of every book sold at the Fest and at their store to the Nettelhorst Community Group!

Enjoy a free Bambino Paciugo Gelato with every purchase! Hope to see you there!

For more information, check out www.howtowalktoschool.com

1 comment September 22, 2009

A visit from CPS

I was at home today… Sunday and somebody knocked at the door.  The person was wearing a CPS badge.  The guy was from some department called Child Outreach or something like that.

He inquired as to why my son hasn’t attended school yet this year.  I said “Oh my God, you’re the TRUANT OFFICER!”  If you read any old kids books (such as the Beverly Cleary series) you hear a lot about truant officers who come and check up on absent kids, but I thought that was an outdated position.  Actually I don’t think this guy claimed to have any authority but rather was serving to remind me to send my child to school in case I’d been having him play Nintendo DS for the past 2 weeks while I watched soap operas.

I explained that my son did miss the first day of school due to lice (always good for getting someone to take a step back from you) but that he’s been there every day since.  He seemed to believe me.

Those in CPS are probably familiar with the method for informing parents that their child is absent.  You get a recorded message from your child’s school (that somehow distorts the voice to sound oddly scary) well after 1pm on the day they’re out.  If you’re the parent of a little kid, chances are that you know your child’s whereabouts, but if you have a teenager they may have gotten into all kinds of trouble before you find out that they never made it to school.  Gone are the days when Mrs. Horlick from my high school office would make a stern call to the parents early in the morning to find out where you were.  She knew every parent’s voice and could immediately detect a fraud.  Bah.

6 comments September 20, 2009

Learn to obsess about Academic Centers

A reader contacted me recently about CPS’ Academic Centers, thinking readers might be interested in learning more about them.  I’d heard about the Whitney Young program briefly when I toured Decatur.  Since that school only goes up to 6th grade, they do their best to try to get their students placed in these centers. Besides that, I knew nothing about them, but was thrilled (ha ha) to learn that there is yet another step I can obsesses about before High School application time arrives.

Academic Centers: Hidden Gems

What’s an Academic Center? And why might you care?

One of Chicago Public Schools’ best kept secrets are its Academic Centers. These are middle schools that offer accelerated programs for 7th and 8th graders and a guaranteed path into their associated high schools.

Four of Chicago’s six Academic Centers rank among the top 50 middle schools in the State of Illinois.  On average, students from all six Academic Centers scored 35% above national norms on the EXPLORE test, a predictor of ACT performance.  These Academic Centers are: Harlan Community Academy, Kenwood Academy, Lindblom Math & Science Academy, Morgan Park High School, Taft High School, and Whitney Young.

Two of these Academic Centers (Whitney Young and Lindblom) are associated with a Selective Enrollment High School. So if your child is admitted to the Whitney Young or Lindblom Academic Center, he or she automatically gets a spot in the High School. Nice…

Many parents are relatively unaware of Academic Centers. Since most elementary schools run through 8th grade, school administrators often do not proactively provide parents with information about these schools. Surprisingly, in some cases information generated by these schools themselves is sparse.

Admission to these programs is based on 5th grade ISATs and grades and a special entrance exam that is given in 6th grade.  Some schools (those that only go up to 6th grade) give the entrance exam at the school whereas other families need to apply and go to a central testing location.

For more information about Academic Centers and the Academic Center admissions process, check out:

http://www.selectiveprep.com/6th-academic-center-overview

(Selective Prep is a company who can help kids study for the entrance exam they take in 6th grade.)

From me: So is it worth the stress of trying to get a 5th grader concentrating on their grades and having them take an entrance exam in 6th grade?  Well, if you’re looking to get into Whitney Young (and who isn’t) it probably makes sense to have your child take the test and give it a try.  You always have another (probably more competitive) chance going into high school.

If your child is in a school that you feel isn’t academically challenging but they haven’t tested into a gifted program, this could also be a chance for more accelerated classwork and better preparation for high school.

The tough part, of course, would be deciding whether to move your child in 7th grade if you’re happy with your current school (and possibly facing the wrath of an angry pre-teen.)

11 comments September 15, 2009

Tuesday night TV: A Principal Story

Late notice, but this looks good… a PBS documentary about the challenges principals face in turning around low-performing public schools and raising student achievement (including a CPS principal.)

THE PRINCIPAL STORY portrays the challenges principals face in turning around low-performing public schools and raising student achievement. This intimate, emotional one-year journey is seen through the eyes of two dynamic principals: one in only her second year in the Chicago Public School System; and the other, a seven-year veteran in Springfield, IL. The film reveals the struggles these leaders face as they keep their focus on improving teaching and learning amid the competing demands of managing their staffs and engaging their students and communities.

On Tuesday at 9:30 pm and Saturday at 3:00 am (better set the Tivo for that one.)

http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principal-story/Pages/default.aspx

1 comment September 15, 2009

New web site for Office of Academic Enhancement

If you’re an obsessed parent who is looking into possible schools right now, you’ve probably already seen this spiffy new web site.
One cool feature is that they have a calendar of Open Houses (at least for the month of September.)  You can’t plan your whole Gifted/Classical school touring schedule, but at least it’s a start.

If you are touring, I suggest getting as many out of the way early as possible.  I think I remember getting stuck near the end when 2 schools had a final tour on the same day.  Schools like Hawthorne (magnet) and Decatur (classical) tend to have fewer tours than some other schools.

I do find it somewhat humorous that in this period of extreme budget problems, CPS seems to have paid for attracted new logos.  The Magnet schools, Gifted/Enriched programs and Selective Enrollment High Schools each have a new logo.  What, CPS thinks they’re not getting enough “customers” applying to these programs?  Make the logos uglier I say!  There’s already too many people trying to get in!

http://cpsmagnet.org/

Add comment September 14, 2009

The CPS school day

If you read the comments in the previous post, you’ll see people discussing the length of the school day in CPS.
The most common length of the CPS school day is just under 6 hours (5 hours, 4 minutes.)  When you have a Kindergartener starting school this may seem punishingly long.
As it turns out, Chicago has a school day that is about an hour shorter than most schools around the country.  I just found this out a few months ago when I was on a message board and moms from all over were posting the hours of their school day.  That’s when I found out that most kids go to school 7 hours a day (which seems SO long to me!)  I also heard recently that Chicago schools run fewer days than many other school districts.
There ARE a few schools scattered around that run almost an hour longer than the rest.  Bell does.  Edison does.
To get this to happen, the teachers have to vote to approve it which must be an uphill battle.  I come on.  Who in their right mind would vote for a longer (and unpaid) school day?!  I wouldn’t.  I suppose you need a really good principal or some strong teachers touting the benefits of such a plan.   The teachers don’t actually use the extra time for teachers, but the kids can have a longer or extra recess (or other non-teaching time.)  So the teachers can use their time for prep/grading, etc that they would supposedly do at home.  The main benefit for the teachers are better-behaved kids (theoretically) because they have more time to unwind during the day.
I know my son feels that there is very limited time to actually talk to his friends during the school day.  Lunch is short, recess flies by in an instant (I suspect it is maybe 10 minutes long,) and they have to be quiet in the hallways.  I can see where allowing some socialization time would reduce the amount of time the kids spend trying to chat.
I think most parents would support the longer day (heck, it gives you more time at Trader Joe’s!) but I have to think it’s near impossible to get it going.  Obviously it happened at some point at a few schools and new hires have to go along with it (which clearly they are.)
I’d like to see a school make a push for it to see what happens.  If you know of any schools where this has come up lately, let me know.

9 comments September 13, 2009

First grade off to a good start

Well, my son skipped off into the school with nary a glance back at me today.  It fills my heart with joy that he’s not clinging to me whining about having to leave but also makes me sad to realize he’s OK off on his own.

I suppose a week in seclusion with your mom fighting lice could make any kid ready to break free and hang with some other 6yo boys.  By they way, if anyone gets lice, get in touch.  I am now an expert.

So far first grade seems more “grown up” that Kindergarten was.  The kids have to take responsibility for their own lunch tickets, put stuff in the teacher’s In box, get stuff into their folder from the Out box, AND put their own chairs down in the morning.  Hard to believe it’ll all get accomplished.

Homework is now once a night, due the next day which’ll be interesting and possibly challenging.  I was just discussing with other parents this week how to motivate kids on the homework issue.  Money?  Make them tell the teacher they didn’t do it?  Take away all fun stuff until it gets done?  Oh, the nagging I will be doing.  I dread it already.

So far so good though.  My little grump reported that the first day was fun which makes me happy.  His teacher attended CPS for elementary and high school (and not that long ago, I might add.)  I should talk to her some time to get her point of view on CPS.  For the record, she attended an Ivy League school, which can give us all hope.

10 comments September 10, 2009

These jerks are keeping my son out of school!

Ha, bet you thought I had something exciting to complain about.
Nope, the jerks in question are lice. My 6yo son and I both have them plaguing our heads so he can’t start his first day of 1st grade tomorrow.

I think we’re close to being “cured” but I want to be totally sure because I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy (well, if I had one I might go shake my head in their general direction.) It’s not so much the creepiness of the lice themselves that get you down, it’s the ongoing process of treating, combing, and doing laundry that make me glad I wasn’t a scullery maid back in the olden days. It is HARD work! Well, for me. My son has enjoyed a week of Nintendo and movies as I pick his head but he misses seeing other kids.

Word is that CPS has no policy preventing kids from attending school with lice on their heads since its not and actually illness. Our school had a big outbreak last year and guess who got on their soapbox about how kids should be free and clear before attending? Heh heh. So now I have to put my money where my mouth (or head) is. I can cope but I really don’t know what we’d do if I were a working parent.

We’ve been through a few treatments and are now on to the more out-of-the-box solutions so we’re both sitting here with heavy heavy conditioner on our heads covered by shower caps. I’m praying that nobody comes to the door because we look like greasy-haired cafeteria workers.

I hope everyone has a good first day tomorrow. Report back with any good stories. All you Kindergarten parents try to keep a dry eye.

4 comments September 7, 2009

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