7th & 8th Grade Parent Meeting FAQ's

7th & 8th Grade HS Parent Meeting FAQs

7th Grade Parents

Stay on top of your child’s grades. Check Aspen regularly.
Begin to explore “Best Fit” High Schools for your child
Attend Open House - If two open houses fall on the same day, have one parent/relative attend one and one attend the other. Most selective enrollment schools typically only have 1 Open House for the entire academic year.

8th Grade Parents ONLY

Schedule a High School meeting with Mrs. Brewer - Please complete this form

Attend Open House - If two open houses fall on the same day, have one parent attend and one attend the other. Most selective enrollment schools typically only have 1 Open House for the entire academic year.

Select Schools for ALL 26 options - 6 Selective Enrollment options, and 20 Choice Options. You should carefully research the available programs and apply to as many programs as you would accept an offer from. The more programs you apply to, the better your chances of receiving an offer

Set up a GoCPS account

Apply via GoCPS

https://cps.schoolmint.com/signup

September 13, 2023 - Application Window opens

Parents must create a GoCPS account.

DO NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO SET UP THE GoCPS ACCOUNT

November 9th, 2023- Application Period Closes

8th Grade High School Admission Exam

Wednesday October 11, 2023 at South Loop School

Complete a GoCPS Application -

Even if you are choosing a private option or you plan to move out of the district, STILL APPLY to GoCPS.
Students who do not have a CPS school selected via GoCPS are automatically projected to their neighborhood high school.
Phillips is the neighborhood high school for students within South Loop attendance boundaries. Your child will be projected to the neighborhood high school based on the address we have on file
If you do not select a CPS school via GoCPS and you do not have or communicate to us a private school option, your child will be projected to Phillips or your neighborhood highschool at the end of the school year.
South Loop does not have access to your child’s records after they have been projected to a high school.
After June 7, 2023, it is the parents responsibility to transfer their child out of Phillips or their neighborhood high school and to the school of their choice.

Set up a GoCPS account

Apply via GoCPS

https://cps.schoolmint.com/signup

September 13, 2023 - Application Window opens
Parents must create a GoCPS account.
DO NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO SET UP THE GoCPS ACCOUNT
November 9th, 2023- Application Period Closes

CPS HIGH SCHOOL APPLICATION/SELECTION PROCESS

Understanding the HS selection process - The best way to understand the High School Selection Process is to view the videos on this webpage: https://www.cps.edu/gocps/high-school/selection-videos/

Explore High Schools - Find the “Best Fit” High School for your child

Point System

There are a total of 900 points. 450 points come from final 7th grade grades and 450 points from 8th Grade high school admissions exam.

Grades

Final Grade from the students 7th grade school year will be issued points. If your child is new to CPS or did not attend a CPS school their 7th grade year, GoCPS will request that they upload their 7th grade transcript and test scores.

A = 112.5 pts

B = 75 pts

C = 38 pts

D = 0 pts

F = 0 pts

Cut-Off Scores

900 pts. -

450 pts - Final 7th grade Grades

450 pts - High School Admission exam for 8th Grade Students Taken at South Loop

Cut-off Scores can be found at:

https://www.cps.edu/gocps/high-school/hs-resources/#CutScores

Choice School Cut-off Scores:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13MxvMaXOr3PB_GBoi7jnm55Sas112cSD/view

Understanding Ranking & Cut-Off Scores

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CWtq__njAyleDHJ-d4nyStpyLHJfj10m/view

Scoring Rubrics & Cut-Off Scores - Scoring rubrics and cutoff scores will be posted at go.cps.edu (click ‘High School’ and ‘Resources’) when the initial round of offers go out.

Tier Process

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J7b3gicXusmPr952m0cZghXCwQhTJo-g/view

Apply via GoCPS

https://cps.schoolmint.com/signup

September 21, 2022 - Application Window opens
Parents need to create a GoCPS account.
DO NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO SET UP THE GoCPS ACCOUNT
December 2nd, 2022- Application Period Closes

Application Tips

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZtCTVt_O-71SEzum32XjqmY0qgMkGvEA/view

8th Grade High School Admission Exam

October 26, 2022 at South Loop School

HS Admission Exam Guide:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17qReqEJnp7QWEBwte166eAeP0s7ICwcq/view

Offers

Applicants will accept or decline offers via their online GoCPS account. The deadline to accept or decline offers will be 3 weeks after offers are released.

Rounds/Waitlist

GoCPS will no longer have a 2nd Round - Students will remain on a continuous waitlist.

Waitlist Offer

Applicants have two (2) BUSINESS DAYS AFTER OFFER ISSUED to accept or decline

Tie-Breakers - Some programs use tiebreakers that rank students based on their individual CPS HS Admissions Test scores and/or grades, while others use a computerized lottery to break a tie. Please see the tiebreaker guide here for more details:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-qWsDpz-xEfADT1moZahaeJ2GSjRazZm/view

Principal Discretion

Principal Discretion is a process that allows principals of the Selective Enrollment High Schools to fill a designated number of seats for ninth grade, outside of the regular selection process, and in strict compliance with the Principal Discretion guidelines. The Principal Discretion process takes place in the spring, following the first round of regular selection. Information about the process will be posted at go.cps.edu in the spring. Principal Discretion only applies to the 11 Selective Enrollment High Schools.

Despite being a points based system, if you do apply for principal discretion, the high school is allowed to see how you ranked them. How you ranked the school is important to them. This is tricky and only applies to principal discretion. If your child does not qualify for a specific school based on their total points, but it is your school of choice, please rank the school as your first choice.

Promotion Policy- TBD when SY23 is updated

Admissions Screenings

Some Schools/Programs require admissions screenings in order for students to be considered in the selection process. These consist of admissions exams, auditions, information sessions, and interviews.

Need assistance completing the GoCPS Application?

Attend a Family Training session. Click the link below to sign-up

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScP4nL-dceMEg04Sa-rWK49DyJGDYYr_CHcpo8KOR2z3QLHxQ/viewform

ASPEN SUPPORT

Setting Up Aspen Parent Portal

Parents will use Aspen Parent Portal to check their child's grades and receive grade-related alerts. If you provided the school with an email address you should receive a verification email to set up your Parent Portal account within 48-72 hours after your child is enrolled. If you have not received this email within 72 hours, check your junk mail to be sure it wasn't delivered there. Once you receive the email, follow the steps in the email to set up your Parent Portal account. If you do not receive an email, reach out to the school for support. You may also use the websites below for more information regarding Aspen Parent Portal accounts and tech support.

If you need any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact the school.

Aspen Parent Portal

https://www.cps.edu/services-and-supports/parent-and-student-portal/parent-portal/

How to video - https://ttcanji.wistia.com/medias/ep2g1cobag

Aspen Troubleshooting

Issues you may be experiencing with your Aspen Parent Portal Account

ISSUE	SOLUTION
You can not set up your Aspen Parent Portal Account.	Follow the steps here If that does not work, email Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. N. Garcia, or Mrs. Anders.
Forgot your password	Click on “Parent Portal Password Reset” on the log-in page
Locked out of your account	Wait for 24-hours before another sign-in attempt If that does not work, Email Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. N. Garcia, or Mrs. Anders
You forgot your password	Email Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. N. Garcia, or Mrs. Anders
You’ve changed your email address since the account was set-up	Email Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. N. Garcia, or Mrs. Anders
You want your South Loop students connected to the same parent account	Email Mrs. Mendoza, Mrs. N. Garcia, or Mrs. Anders
Your students are at different schools and you want them connected to the same parent account	Contact the IT Help Desk 773-553-3925 and place a ticket to have the email address changed

If you are locked out of your Parent Portal account, you can sign into your child’s Aspen Student Portal while you wait for your account to unlock or be reset. Please note, Students' accounts are sometimes automatically disabled during grade entry deadline periods to help alleviate the system overloads and avoid connection issues.

HELPFUL RESOURCES: