Academic Center Entrance Exam General Information

Applications for Academic Centers are currently open for registration through gocps.edu. Registration applies to current 6th graders seeking enrollment to Academic Centers for the 2025-2026 school year. Students will have the option to choose between several test dates from mid-January to early February.

Academic Centers are selective enrollment middle schools. Upon admittance, students are guaranteed enrollment into each affiliated high school. Academic Centers include the following seven schools: Kenwood, Morgan Park, Lane Tech, Taft, Lindblom, Brooks, and Whitney Young. The most competitive among these are Whitney Young and Lane Tech.

As the application process is highly competitive, students will be scored on a total of 600 points. 300 potential points will be based on a student’s fifth grade final grades in math, science, English, and social studies. An A in any given subject equates to 75 points, a B equates to 50 points, a C equates to 25 points, and a D/F equates to 0 points. The remaining 300 points will be based on their performance on the Academic Center Entrance Exam.

The Academic Center Entrance Exam is a 90-minute test composed of nine sections. The content on the exam is logic-based and requires the use of abstract thought. Each year nine out of ten potential sections are chosen which include the following: verbal classifications, sentence completion, verbal analogies, sentence arrangement, number series, figural series, figural analogies, number puzzles, matrices, and paper folding. Students will have ten minutes to complete each section.

Kayley Horton, Tutoring Coordinator
kayley@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

CPS Announces Academic Center Entrance Exam Test Dates (2022-23 School Year)

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has announced the test dates for the Academic Center Entrance Exam.

AC Entrance Exam Test Dates 
Saturday, January 14
Sunday, January 15
Monday, January 16
Saturday, January 21
Sunday, January 22
Saturday, January 28
Sunday, January 29

The AC Entrance Exam will be offered at a designated CPS testing site based on a family’s location.

Applicants can apply and register for a test date using the GoCPS online application portal.

The application process for the 2023-2024 school year opens Wednesday, September 21 and ends Friday, December 2nd.

Charlie Howard, Owner
charlie@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

An Overview of Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy Academic Center

Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy (also known as Brooks or Brooks AC) Academic Center is one of seven Academic Centers in Chicago. Located in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood, Brooks Academic Center resides in the city’s south side. Brooks seeks out high performing middle school students who are ready to take on a more intensive curriculum in preparation for high school. These students typically begin at Brooks as 7th graders and finish the AC program at the end of their 8th grade year.

Brooks AC takes a more personalized approach to their students learning; students are encouraged to utilize Brooks’ extensive academic resources in order to provide more than just an intensive Academic Center experience. By incorporating these resources into the students’ every day curriculum, students get a chance to learn at their own pace by receiving varying support and coaching dependent on the students’ learning abilities and needs. This goes beyond the conventional confines of a classroom by teaching the students to master content instead of focusing on completion and traditional participation. This reinforces the rigorous curriculum that Brooks is most well known for, but also allows for the students’ learning to be the first priority at Brooks AC.

Students are also invited to participate in select extracurriculars at Brooks Academic Center. These can range from selected sports, Math Team, ComEd STEM Club, and more. Students are also offered a variety of tutoring and support services to ensure that their transition into high school curriculum is as smooth as possible. These include resources such as an After School and Lunchtime Tutoring program, a mentoring program, and an in-class Learning Assistant program. These programs and more are all to ensure the academic success of all the students in the AC program. 

To find more information about Gwendolyn Brooks Preparatory Academy Academic Center, visit Brooks’s website: http://brookscollegeprep.org/academic-center.

Written by former Tutoring Coordinator, Ramisha Ejaz

For more information about Test Prep Chicago contact:

Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator

lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

Dates for Non-CPS Students to Take the NWEA MAP Test

On Friday, February 14th, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced the dates below for non-CPS 5th and 7th-grade students to take the NWEA MAP test for admittance into Academic Centers or Selective Enrollment High Schools, respectively. In order to take the test on a date listed below, parents must register their students on the CPS website by Friday, April 3rd.

TEST DATES

Saturday, May 9th

Sunday, May 10th

Saturday, May 30th

Sunday, May 31st

Saturday, June 6th

Sunday, June 7th

In the past, non-CPS students took the NWEA MAP test in the fall of their 6th and 8th-grade years. However, CPS announced that this school year, 2019-2020, as well as moving forward, non-CPS and CPS students will take the test at the same time. While CPS students will be taking the test in their neighborhood schools, non-CPS students will take the test at Curie Metropolitan High School, Lane Tech High School, or Lindblom Math and Science Academy, all free of charge. Students will be assigned a testing location closest to their home address.

As a reminder, the NWEA MAP test is a common-core-aligned, computer-adaptive test designed to quantify a student’s knowledge of math and reading. It is untimed, and students may elect to take the math section and the reading section on the same or different days.

In addition, this test provides 1/3 of the points required to attend an Academic Center or Selective Enrollment High School. Each section of the test is worth 150 points, with a total of 300 points up for grabs based on their NWEA MAP score. An additional 300 points are taken from a student’s 5th or 7th-grade grades, with a final 300 points available from the Academic Center Exam or Selective Enrollment High School Exam (SEHS), respectively.

Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

An Overview of Morgan Park Academic Center

Morgan Park Academic Center (also known as Morgan Park) resides in Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood and is situated on the south side of Chicago. Similar to the other six Academic Centers, Morgan Park Academic Center is made up of 7th and 8th graders. Morgan Park offers their students the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum. In doing so, Morgan Park Academic Center is able to thoroughly prepare its students for their future academic endeavors. Upon completion, students are automatically accepted into the 9th grade IB MYP Cohort at Morgan Park High School.

To elaborate, Morgan Park’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme allows students to take 9th grade level curriculum which in turn allows the students the opportunity to earn high school credits. Therefore, when students are entering their high school years, they are better advantaged to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) and dual credit courses during their later years. Additionally, students are assigned a dedicated counselor specifically for Academic Center students and their counselor remains with them until they enter the 9th grade. This is also supplemented by Student Academic and Social Supports for continued, consistent support during their 7th and 8th grade years. 

Morgan Park Academic Center lets students choose between studying Spanish or French coupled with an elective course of either band or chorus through their duration of 7th and 8th grade years. Students are also encouraged to participate in clubs and select sports programs such as NJHS, Student Council, Boys & Girls Basketball, Girls Volleyball, Flag Football, etc. Transportation is also provided to students who live more than 1.5 miles away from Morgan Park Academic Center. 

To find more information for Morgan Park Academic Center, please visit Morgan Park High School’s website and click the Academic Center tab: https://morganparkcps.org/

Ramisha Ejaz, Tutoring Coordinator
ramisha@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

An Overview of Lindblom Academic Center

Lindblom Academic Center (also known as Lindblom) is one of seven Academic Centers in Chicago. Lindblom is located in the south side of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Although it is one of the newer Academic Centers in Chicago, Lindblom remains competitive in its rigor, course offerings, and after school programs. Students who attend Lindblom Academic Center are offered acceptance into Lindblom Math & Science High School (a Selective Enrollment High School) as long as they remain academically on-track.

Lindblom Academic Center prepares its students by offering Honors courses for its core curriculum to begin readying their students for college level classes. The curriculum is dedicated to providing its students a solid foundation before they enter their higher level classes by enrolling students in advanced mathematics courses that integrate Algebra I into either one or two-year courses. Students also become exposed to laboratory-based science and have the ability to choose between studying two unique languages: Mandarin Chinese or Arabic. Students are offered the potential to take other unique classes through Lindblom’s Colloquium courses which is a program that “engages students in project-based learning centered in Community Outreach, Arts, Creation, STEM, and Athletics.” With the variety of classes offered and the commitment to expose their students to higher level learning, Lindblom Academic Center maintains its promise of providing their students a competitive curriculum intended for their segue into Lindblom Math & Science High School. 

Lindblom Academic Center enjoys being able to offer its students a variety of conveniences. Students are accommodated with a busing service that has designated pick-up and drop-off locations in order to make commuting to Lindblom easier on their students and parents. Lindblom also prides itself on allowing extensive accessibility to its teachers for the benefit of their students. Additionally, students are offered participation in select clubs and sports programs to supplement their academics. 

While Lindblom Academic Center does not have its own website, visit Lindblom Math & Science High School’s website to find more information for the Academic Center underneath the Academic Center tab: https://lindblomeagles.org/index.jsp

Ramisha Ejaz, Tutoring Coordinator
ramisha@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

An Overview of Taft Academic Center

Located in the far Northwest side of Chicago, Taft Academic Center (housed within Taft High School) is an International Baccalaureate World School. As noted on the CPS website, IB schools “share a common philosophy—a commitment to improving the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering a challenging and high-quality program of international education.” Most notably, IB students not only adhere to Common Core State Standards but also, international standards of excellence. Students who are accepted into Taft’s Academic Center are automatically accepted into the IB program for high school should they choose to stay.

In addition, according to Taft’s website, Taft is the only high school in Chicago to offer a six-year IB program that begins in 7th grade. This is called their Middle Years Program (MYP). Within the MYP for 7th and 8th graders, students complete an honors-level core curriculum, a design course, a foreign language course, and an elective such as art, drama, or band. Like other academic centers, students can earn high school credit during their 7th and 8th-grade years; unlike other academic centers, Taft 7th and 8th-grade students are able to earn International Baccalaureate high school credits.

Taft’s website also boasts an impressive amount of sports and clubs from which students enrolled can choose to participate: more than 100. In addition, students can learn in a more hands-on environment by attending field trips to places such as Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Holocaust Museum, as well as participating in “Team Building Adventures,” and more. Another unique element of Taft is its transportation policy: transportation is provided through a busing program for students who reside more than 1.5 miles away from the school.

For more information about Taft’s Academic Center and its programs, visit their website at tafthighschool.org.

Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266