Wed May 7, 2008 at 11:05 AMBy: Julia What About Kilmer? I don't know why Kilmer might not be the best choice and what sort of research you've done but as a CPS parents I would suggest the following:

Visit the school. Is it safe? Are the kids engaged? What sort of "specials" are offered? What is the school community like? Is there one? Are there recesses? a foreign language? Arts? Gym? Is the building a pleasant place to be in?

Don't be mislead by the test scores or by the idea of cache. Sure its nice to be able to name drop where your kid goes to school on the soccer field but there's more to life than that. There are lots of great schools that have so-so test scores. The thing to look at what else are they doing? Are there kids who are scoring in the top quartile? Any reason that your kid wouldn't or couldn't be one of them?

What high school do the graduates of this school attend and how do they do?

If you still don't like the school or have your heart set on attending a magnet, it can be done, principal's do have some discretion on letting kids in to their schools.

Good luck!

Wed May 7, 2008 at 2:28 PMBy: Kate What About Kilmer? CPS is running a "second round" Options For Knowledge lottery this year, with a dealine some time in May. I've never heard of it before, but for some reason this year they're allowing schools that still have open spots to do another lottery. Don't assume none of those schools are good- my child's school, Agassiz Elementary, was my first choice school, and I think it may have some open spots still. We commute there (Lakeview) from West Rogers Park, but it's worth it for a great school that's also more diverse than our neighborhood school.

Thu May 8, 2008 at 6:49 AMBy: bill What About Kilmer? Do yourself and your kid a favor and send her to the nearest catholic scool.

Sun May 11, 2008 at 4:37 PMBy: amy What About Kilmer? Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I think the largest part of our challenge is that we're not living in Chicago yet, so we can't really visit schools, other than via websites ... which is not the best way to make these decisions! Plus, we do not know a lot about Chicago, so we're learning as we go, which is tricky from afar! We did tour Kilmer and spoke with the principal. He seemed to be down-talking the school, which was an interesting experience -- I think he just wanted us to have a realistic notion of the school and neighborhood. Tomorrow we'll be back in Chicago to look around some more ... so if you have any recommendations for good neighborhood schools (in safe, affordable neighborhoods), I'd love to hear.