Chicago public school lottery support thread? - Page 2

[Mizelenius]

I'm a graduate of Inter-American. The main problem with it now is that the school no longer has a 50/50 ratio of English/Spanish dominant speakers. This results in an iffy dual-language program. Parents and the co-founders fought the move (back to) LeMoyne for this very reason, as the neighborhood has few Spanish speakers and there is no busing.

It's a shame. I was in the 2nd graduating class from IAMS and the whole time I was in the program, we were promised our own building. We were very close to finally getting a brand new building in a perfect area, but some people had their own agenda and, well, now it's back in LeMoyne.

Many of the former IAMS parents have moved to Talcott, which is easy to get into, has a true dual-language program, and an excellent arts education.

ihathi, Chicago is such a great place to homeschool. One of the reasons we moved to the suburbs was because while Talcott was a good option for us, I didn't want to commit to a 16 mile (roundtrip) commute per day, so I wanted to be near a good neighborhood school, or at least with smaller class sizes! (Our local school was severely overcrowded.) Well, now we are homeschooling, and I'm not so sure I would have moved had I known this is what we'd be doing.

[Thistles_in_Snow]

class sizes

I was reading a report on the CPS budget crisis lately. Some of the proposed measures to deal with the deficit include increasing class sizes to 37 and cutting funding for Magnet and GEAP programs. 37!! I just can't imagine much positive being possible a room full of 37 kindergartners with ONE teacher. Insane. They are also talking going to half-day kindergarten (which I personally wouldn't mind) but I know is going to present hardship for many people.

Chicago is a great place to homeschool! We have so many resources here -- including a few homeschool and unschooler groups.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by neonalee

heatherdeg - definitely choose carefully if you come to Chicago. There ARE decent areas. And areas change - are you looking at school for now or 5 years from now? I no longer have the site bookmarked since we bought/moved 1.5 years ago, but somewhere (I think on the chicago public schools site) is a map showing district boundries. We landed in Jefferson Park.

No... I have a 6yo and we have to move to IL by 9/1 of this year. Jefferson Park is actually a contender. Continuing to homeschool may or may not be an option, so the schools are definitely a factor.

Having the district boundaries are one thing, but knowing which districts to be in is another.

[ihathi]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

ihathi, Chicago is such a great place to homeschool. One of the reasons we moved to the suburbs was because while Talcott was a good option for us, I didn't want to commit to a 16 mile (roundtrip) commute per day, so I wanted to be near a good neighborhood school, or at least with smaller class sizes! (Our local school was severely overcrowded.) Well, now we are homeschooling, and I'm not so sure I would have moved had I known this is what we'd be doing.

Mizelenius, thank you for this.

Thanks, too, for the insight into Inter-American. We actually speak spanish in our home and currently have DS1 in a 3-day-a-week spanish immersion preschool (Puerta Abierta in Evanston). Our ideal would be for him to continue w/ dual language education, though I didn't let myself think too much about this as I was submitting apps to CPS schools.

As far as I could tell, the only way we could continue dual language exposure in CPS would be if 1) we got lucky in the lottery and then 2) we committed to a really long commute to kindergarten!

Now, when I think about how easy it would be to incorporate dual language education into homeschooling, it almost seems laughable that we would do anything but!

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread w/ all this talk about homeschooling! It's just that, for us, the CPS process has very much been the catalyst for our homeschooling research... Still waiting to see what the mail brings, though...

The nice thing about homeschooling is that it's kind of a non-decision at this point... No deposit to get in, no applications to fill out...

[rosesarered]

ihathi-It's not really a hijack. I totally understand how this CPS situation could lead you to homeschool.

It sounds like some letters have started going out... Now is the part that I really hate: waiting for the mail.
I found a great blog called CPS Obsessed. It has clear explainations of the different types of schools and is funny too. Also has a post about letters...

[ihathi]

Ha! A funny story from the CPS lottery...

We actually received an acceptance letter from Disney two days ago... Then received a waiting list letter from the same school today. It turns out there was an administrative error, you see--the acceptance letter was a mistake. For two days, I was actually deliberating whether we would send DS1 to a school where the online teacher bios started with, "If I were a Disney character, I'd be..."

[rosesarered]

ihathi! What a mean trick. Disney should offer you a spot even though it was a mistake. Besides where else is your ds going to learn what disney character he is most like? (just kidding. I know it is a highly respected school.)

[ihathi]

Originally Posted by rosesarered

ihathi! What a mean trick. Disney should offer you a spot even though it was a mistake. Besides where else is your ds going to learn what disney character he is most like? (just kidding. I know it is a highly respected school.)

Honestly, Rosesarered, I think we just have to consider this a blessing in disguise.

I'm afraid DS1's Disney I.Q. is disturbingly low. It never would have worked out...

In other news, we're starting to build some momentum on the homeschool discussion--the more we talk to folks about homeschooling, the more reasonable it all seems...

The big test will be breaking the news to my parents in two weeks...

[Thistles_in_Snow]

Results?

How did the school search end up for everyone? We were wait-listed at every magnet I applied to (Hawthorne, Stone, Franklin) but our neighborhood school (Peirce) is a good option.

My daughter tested into Skinner North which we are going to visit on April 6th. Then we'll make our choice!

[rosesarered]

I still don't have any letters! (Well that isn't true, I got one today from the school my dd already attends.)

[ihathi]

We're homeschooling next year.

The closest we came to getting into a magnet school was w/ a waitlist # of 100+.

[Thistles_in_Snow]

ihathi you probably already know this but have you checked out Chicago Virtual Academy?

[ihathi]

Actually, Thistles in Snow, I hadn't seen Chicago Virtual Academy until I read your message yesterday.* And then I went to a meeting w/ the Evanston Home Educators last night where it was brought up a couple more times... It's a really interesting concept! Thanks for mentioning it.

I think for now we'll probably use old-school methods for homeschooling. I was trained as a Montessori teacher and feel pretty strongly that children (small children especially) learn best by exploring and experiencing things using all of their senses. I just feel like the range of experiences a child can have on the computer are pretty limited... and even isolating. But I do like the way the Virtual School kind of builds a little community right into a child's homeschooling experience... Maybe we'll look into it for 1st or 2nd grade...

In the meantime, the EHE group seems really solid and helped me feel more confident about this new direction we're taking...

[Mizelenius]

Originally Posted by ihathi

Thanks, too, for the insight into Inter-American. We actually speak spanish in our home and currently have DS1 in a 3-day-a-week spanish immersion preschool (Puerta Abierta in Evanston). Our ideal would be for him to continue w/ dual language education, though I didn't let myself think too much about this as I was submitting apps to CPS schools.

Ahhh. My sister has mentioned Puerta Abierta. She said many of the Talcott children attend there before entering KG.

Keep me updated on your dual-language homeschooling journey. I was just thinking (yet again) today that I seriously need to start speaking Spanish a lot more to the kids. We live in an area without the diversity that I grew up with, so at least learning Spanish will give them a way to connect beyond what is here . . .it's crazy that I was a bilingual teacher (and since I taught the primary grades, I spoke mostly Spanish) yet here I am, homeschooling, and speak almost always only in English. I have to stop wasting this opportunity!

Sorry for the OT!