Letters Are Out

All over Chicago, mailboxes are aflutter, hearts atwitter: CPS elementary acceptance letters are out. In 2007, I applied to almost 30 schools for The Boy's entry into kindergarten. He was waitlisted at several, and got into none. He eventually got into Disney II. Oh, how different the world of CPS is just two years later. 

The most important change in CPS is not the addition of Disney II Magnet, not the departure of Arne Duncan for the federal Department of Education,  and not his replacement in the form of Ron Huberman.  It's the fact that the consent decree--and its related race-based selection system--has been turned on its head, leaving CPS to adopt a new admissions policy that relies on socioeconomic factors. 

So I applied to only Disney II for The Girl, who gained admittance as a sibling of a current student. I also submitted a GEAPs application for her and ranked four regional gifted center (RGC) schools and two classical schools. She scored high enough on the gifted test to get into Coonley, although her 121 score for the classical test was too low for Tier-4 admittance into any of the classical schools.

Although Coonley is ranked well, I am confident that The Girl will receive a superior education from Disney II.  And, if all of the ifs align (if there is a preschool-for-all next year, if  The Tot gets in, if he gets into the morning session, if the siblings policy holds), I'm confident that The Tot will have a great education at Disney II as well.