Every year thousands of eighth grade parents and students in Chicago Public Schools must decide what high school to enroll their student in. Parents and students searching for a school have many options to choose from; they can choose their neighborhood school, a selective enrollment school, a charter school, or one of many other high school academies. However, the process of choosing a school is not simple. Choosing the right school could have great consequences for a child’s future. In addition, gaining admittance to one of the top performing schools in the city is no easy task.
Choosing a school in Chicago is a complicated task. The first option parents and students consider are neighborhood schools; these are schools where children are guaranteed acceptance if they live in the neighborhood located around the school. While there are many excellent neighborhood schools in the city of Chicago, there are also plenty of failing schools. There are also selective enrollment schools; these are schools that are still a part of CPS, but students must apply to gain admission. Then, there are charter schools; these are schools that are run by private organizations, and are often smaller, and have a specific focus. In choosing a school, families should closely consider the school’s high school graduation rate and college going rate.
There can be a very big difference between selective enrollment schools and neighborhood schools. Let’s compare Dyett High School to Whitney Young High School. Dyett is a neighborhood school; there are no requirements to get into the school. In 2010, only 55% of students graduated from Dyett. Additionally, only 4.7% of students met Reading standards and only 6.3% met Math standards, meaning that the vast majority of students are not ready for college. This is very different from Whitney Young. Whitney Young is a selective enrollment school. 96% of students graduate from Whitney Young. More importantly,