Anyone got CPS Selective Enrollment HS stories? (Chatham: neighborhood, magnet schools)

[beaniemac]

well now that march has come around, I got my letters to where my oldest kid can go who will be in 9th grade next year. after jumping through all the hoops and testing and forms to apply for the selective enrollment test, my kid applied for the following:

1. jones
2. payton
3. whitney young
4. lindblom
5. brooks
6. king

and we also applied for the following IB schools

1. morgan park
2. lincoln park
3. ogden international

and the following magnet schools

1. disney II
2. chicago agricultural school

and a regular school

1. kenwood (had to apply in person for that)

so after submitting grades and testing and what not, we got the following offers:

1. king
2. morgan park
3. ogden
4. kenwood

I accepted the offers from king, and I'm going to accept for kenwood as well. Since kenwood is not a selective enrollment, you can accept their offer despite accepting a selective enrollment school in king. according to my research kenwood is ranked higher than king, so she'll go there unless she gets an offer from another selective enrollment school that's higher on my list later on down the line which could happen.

[chet everett]

Though Kenwood serves as local attendance option for a portion of Hyde Park and Kenwood it's prep program was once very highly regarded -- bright 7th graders would be well prepared to eventually compete for admission to top colleges. That was before Payton and Northside totally changed the landscape for CPS high schools. As the South Loop became more desirable for families the pressure to shift Jones from its outdated "pre- secretarial / clerical" track into a desirable option for those hoping to get into competitive colleges also impacted the other south side schools...

Frankly, for a family in Chatham, I would give Morgan Park a solid look, shorter commute is almost always a plus for kids involved in extracurriculars!

The mix of kids at Kenwood has shifted as more of the affluent families choose Lab; teachers & administrators have changed too -- the importance of that sort of thing is very obvious when you connections to system...

[beaniemac]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Though Kenwood serves as local attendance option for a portion of Hyde Park and Kenwood it's prep program was once very highly regarded -- bright 7th graders would be well prepared to eventually compete for admission to top colleges. That was before Payton and Northside totally changed the landscape for CPS high schools. As the South Loop became more desirable for families the pressure to shift Jones from its outdated "pre- secretarial / clerical" track into a desirable option for those hoping to get into competitive colleges also impacted the other south side schools...

Frankly, for a family in Chatham, I would give Morgan Park a solid look, shorter commute is almost always a plus for kids involved in extracurriculars!

The mix of kids at Kenwood has shifted as more of the affluent families choose Lab; teachers & administrators have changed too -- the importance of that sort of thing is very obvious when you connections to system...

morgan park might be slightly closer, but using public transportation, its much harder to get to. I'd rather her travel further north where there are more bus/train options than to 111th and vincennes where it is a little more tricky of a commute.

MP is also an IB school. kenwood is neighborhood, and king is selective enrollment.