Wading Through (and Living Through) the Chicago Public School Gifted and Magnet Lottery System

As the parent of a 5 year old this past year has been an eye opener on the ins and outs of trying to get your child placed in a good Chicago Public School (CPS) program. There are gifted schools, gifted regional centers, gifted programs in neighborhood schools, gifted classical programs, magnet programs of every shape, size and color, and, finally, your local neighborhood school. We tried the gifted route, and while our child tested well, he was not one of the few selected from the almost 5000 4 and 5 year olds who took the test this year. What can they possibly test at that age anyway?!

As we were getting all the paperwork in order to get our son tested, we were also researching any and all schools with programs we thought would work for our son (and would be somewhat convenient to our home). Should we try Oscar Mayer Montessori Magnet in Lincoln Park or Drummond Montessori in Bucktown? We tried both. Should it be Newberry Math and Science Academy? Does a math and science academy mean my son will concentrate in only math and science to the exclusion of other areas? What if it turns out he does not even like math?? Or how about Andrew Jackson or LaSalle Language Academies? We were more confused than ever! And while we tried to visit each school we thought might work, in the end we just could not make it to all of them, so we took a shotgun approach and applied to any that might possibly work in terms of program and location.

When the lottery determination letters were mailed out I would race home everyday to see what schools would be offering us a position. In the end, our bestposition was #7 on the proximity wait list at Disney II Magnet School, a new fine arts magnet school located in our neighborhood. There were sibling and general lottery wait lists as well. Could it be anymore confusing? Could we be anymore devastated that our wonderful, caring and bright child was school-less? After a few days of angst, we started looking at other options in the private sector.

Just as we started that plan B process Disney II called and Alexander was accepted off the wait list. We could not be more thrilled! The school is a sweet school with bright, happy hallways, classrooms and children. The population is diverse, the parents involved and the teachers and administrators engaged. It was one heck of a ride, but in the end we believe Alexander is in the perfect program...and we can even walk to school! Of course you can alleviate all of this lottery aggravation by going to your local neighborhood school...which begs the question of whether there are any great neighborhood school programs. The answer is a definite yes, so stay tuned to find out more with my next post. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about working through the CPS lottery maze (or would like more info about neighborhoods with great neighborhood schools!). visiting my website or call 312-264-5864 or e-mail cengel@rubloff.com.