Comments on: List of CPS Gifted & Classical Schools

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:31:32 +0000

I am new to this whole process (I have a 3yo) and I’m wondering about Disney II. Is it a magnet? Are they adding grades? Thanks for any help you can give!

By: cpsobsessed

cpsobsessed — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:41:01 +0000

Hi BuenaParkMom.
A Magnet Cluster School is neighborhood school that has received special designation for a certain area. There isn’t really anything Magnet about it. For instance a Fine Arts Magnet school proved to CPS that they have a specialty in that area so they get the designation. They get one extra fine arts position funded by CPS (which is a bonus to get ANY extra positions.) From what I’ve read, in theory, the idea is to have a whole area of the city with different schools having different specializations. But as you point out, it’s not like you can just decide to send your child to the school of your choice!
So what happens is that neighborhood schools (some of them) end up with a special focus. So my neighborhood school is a Fine Arts Magnet Cluster school and has an awesome Fine Arts department, but in theory, what if my kid doesn’t care about art? What if I’d rather have a Match focus? I guess maybe you plan ahead before you buy a home?
So the Magnet label doesn’t mean anything in terms of other academics, performance, etc.
The school my son attends (part neighborhood/part gifted) has chosen not to try for a Magnet Cluster status and focus on a more well-rounded education, but part of me thinks they’re crazy not to angle for an extra teaching position.
Hope that helps! But you’re right. The names don’t make sense and are confusing.

By: BuenaParkMom

BuenaParkMom — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:29:37 +0000

Could you please explain the difference between the “Magnet Clusters” and “Magnet” schools? I am very confused since it appears a school can have a “Magnet Cluster” yet have an attendance boundary. For example, Greeley, which is south of me is listed as a “Lakeview North Magnet Cluster” school in the Options for Knowledge Book, however it does not have a lottery and only accepts children outside of the attendance area if they have room. What gives? Is this just a case of confusing labels? Who decides if a school gets to be a “Magnet Cluster” and does it actually mean anything? My local neighborhood school, Brenneman, (feel free to pity me right now) is also listed as a “Magnet Cluster” and given it’s abysmal performance I’m wondering if this is merely a label CPS slaps on all neighborhood schools to make it more confusing. Any illumination you could offer would be appreciated.

By: MDJ

MDJ — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:35:51 +0000

I love this blog. You have been a calming influence, well you and a glass of wine, during this entire admissions process. My son currently attends a private academically advanced preschool. He’s been accepted at Carnegie RGC for kdg. My husband and I welcome the break in tuition, but are concerned because there is so little information about the RGCs’ curriculum available. Carnegie is also a neighborhood school so I’m curious as to how the 2 programs mesh. Does anyone know/have an opinion about Carnegie?

By: frustrated dad

frustrated dad — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:07:07 +0000

I can’t make any sense out of the admissions process either — our twins tested in the 99th percentile and neither received a spot in the gifted kindergarden program at Coonley. One is reading at a 3d grade level or better but it wasn’t enough. For now, our only option is our neighborhood school, which gets terrible reviews.

By: cpsobsessed

cpsobsessed — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 04:29:23 +0000

@Steph – what Tier are you in? I’d think with that 99% you’d have a good chance…

By: Steph

Steph — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:45:29 +0000

So, I recieved our letter from CPS placement tests for this upcoming school year. My incoming kindergarten student scored in the 99th percentile for the RGC tests and the 86th percentile for the Classical Schools. However, he did not earn a spot. How can a child placing in the 99th percentile for an incoming crop of kinders not be placed? Any ideas? Perplexing system… What are hte odds that he might get a spot in the upcoming round of selections? Thanks!

By: twodogs

twodogs — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:33:12 +0000

FYI – Pritzker School’s website is http://www.pritzkerschool.org.

As a parent of two young children at the school (one RGC program; one pre-K,) it intrigues me as to the puzzlement over the institution and its direction. I will try to come up with a more articulate statement in the near future, but want to share that we have been very happy with the teachers our kids have had, the support of the administration and the programs offered.

There is also a lot of ground swell around the Friends of Pritzker (http://friendsofpritzker.org) group which is a neighborhoor org – not affiliated with the school – to raise funds and enrich the schools facilities and programs. Their blog on wordpress uses the same theme as CPSObsessed…so they must be notable…right?

By: concerned

concerned — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:21:24 +0000

Keller RGC rocks.

By: George N. Schmidt

George N. Schmidt — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:07:03 +0000

Thanks for correcting when the gifted testing takes place. With the deadline of December 18, any date before that wouldn’t have let families get the children tested after the final deadline for applications.

Two things.

First, having navigated one child through CPS ‘gifted’ (Beaubien, class of 2003; Whitney Young, class of 2007; now doing very well at Cal Berkeley College of Engineering) I think CPS should do some truth in advertising and basically state that what CPS calls “gifted” education is really accelerated. With class sizes of 30 or more, the main advantage to the child who really wants the challenge is the fact that the program is basically homogeneous grouping with a lot of speed up along the way. True gifted education would have class sizes half that.

Second, because CPS is so (multiple choice) test driven, the “gifted” children face some challenges, depending upon the school’s drive to constantly produce “top” test scores. This is particularly damaging in math (although it messes up everything unless you really believe that psychometrically rendered multiple choice machine scored secret tests measure more than the narrowest reality).

Students who master the “multiple choice math” grand guessing game by the middle grades actually drift away from mastering real math skills.

BEWARE.

By the middle grades, I had to help make sure that our eldest actually did math — a great variety — and mastered what are called “math facts”.

By high school, he realized what I had been talking about obsessively and was ready to continue to do math at the “highest” levels offered in CPS: AP statistics; both levels of calculus. However, we noticed that a large number of 9th graders began to wash out of further math because they had cleverly learned “multiple choice math.”

Enjoy.