News
New Point Calculators for Selective Enrollment High Schools and Academic Centers
Are you tired of manually attempting to calculate the necessary scores your child needs to get into the school of their choice? Well, good news is about to come your way. Test Prep Chicago recently unveiled a new feature: a free point calculator for both selective enrollment high schools and academic centers. You can find this easy-to-use feature on our homepage. To try it, click the point calculator button for either selective enrollment high schools or academic centers, and the website will redirect you to our calculation page.
Once on the calculation page, you can enter your student’s percentiles for both math and reading on the NWEA MAP test. After that, you can enter your student’s 5th or 7th grade grades and select which socio-economic tier in which you live. Once that information is entered, click the “calculate” button.
The calculator will then show you the points your student has earned based on their MAP score and their 5th or 7th grade grades. Underneath your student’s points earned, you can access their points needed based on the above scores, your tier neighborhood, and the scores required for different selective enrollment high schools or academic centers based on last year’s cutoff scores. This includes a breakdown of the minimum score required, exam points needed, as well as the exam score needed (on the AC exam or SEHS).
To try Test Prep Chicago’s point calculator now, visit our website’s homepage at www.testprepchicago.com.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of Northside College Preparatory High School
Founded in 1999, Northside College Preparatory High School (also commonly referred to as Northside) is a selective enrollment high school located in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL. Northside is ranked as the 23rd best public school in the nation and the 2nd best public school in the state of Illinois. The total enrollment of Northside is 1,069 students with a student to teacher ratio of 18:1. Of that enrollment, 70% of students are people of color and 41% of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. Northside also boasts an impressive graduation rate of 98%.
All of Northside’s classes are either honors or AP level, with the most unique departmental offerings found in math. The math department uses “IMP” or “Interactive Mathematics Program” as its core curriculum. IMP is a more writing-based understanding of math where students write and create portfolios and projects in addition to the standard solving of mathematical equations. Its math college prep program was one of five 9-12 mathematics curricula in the country to receive the highest rating of Exemplary from the U.S. Board of Education.
In addition to math, Northside offers a great variety of courses in English, science, social studies, and computer science. Each offers typical coursework in its respective subject as well as varied elective courses such as Philosophy in Literature, Experimental Literature, Creative Writing, Drama and Performance, Astronomy, Organismal Biology, Environmental Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Web Page and Mobile App Design, and Design and SQL Programming, respectively.
Languages offered at Northside include Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, and Latin. Fine arts classes offered encompass both music and visual arts with classes in choir, orchestra, band, and jazz as well as ceramics, digital imaging, painting, drawing, and sculpture. The physical education department also uniquely offers dance classes as well as weight training in addition to their more typical PE classes.
Athletes who would like to attend Northside will also enjoy a range of sports including soccer, swimming, volleyball, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, cheerleading, water polo, track, and dance among others. For a full list of athletics as well as courses offered at Northside, visit their website at www.northsideprep.org.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of Walter Payton College Prep High School
One of Chicago’s youngest but most prestigious public high schools, Walter Payton College Prep High School, was founded in 2000 and named after the late Chicago Bears football legend, Walter Payton. Boasting impressive stats, Walter Payton College Prep High School (also known simply as “Payton”) is ranked as the 9th best public school in the nation, and the 1st best public school in the state of Illinois.
Payton’s enrollment is 977 with a student to teacher ratio of 18:1. Of their total enrollment, 57% of students are people of color, and 33% of students eat free or reduced-price lunches. Among other stats, Payton has a notable U.S. News Scorecard of 99.95%. The Scorecard is measured using the percentage of students who are proficient in math (97%) and reading (98%), took at least one AP exam (98%), passed at least one AP exam (93%), as well as their graduation rate (99%).
The school offers a massive array of classes. Something that really stands out among other schools, however, is their seminar menu. Payton offers seminars in everything from Game Theory, Coding, Neuroscience, and Financial Investments to Film, Special Olympic Coaching, Skateboarding, Poetry, and Painting. For a full list of seminar offerings, visit https://www.wpcp.org/StudentLife/Seminars.aspx. In addition, Payton also has an exchange program for students in Melbourne, Australia and Paris, France as well as trips to Italy, Belize, and China.
Payton also offers specialized classes in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Technology in addition to more standard classes. Additionally, most upper level courses offered at Payton are either honors or AP with the idea that more rigorous coursework will help to better prepare students for college. Payton is also recognized as a World Language Academy offering courses in French, Spanish, Chinese, and Latin. Most students at Payton take four years of World Languages, studying both the language itself as well as the culture, technology, and global challenges of the country. The school also offers classes in theater, band, visual arts, and choir. Furthermore, the choir often travels internationally to compete or perform and will be going to China in 2020.
In addition to excellent class offerings, the school has a range of athletics with over 20 sports including water polo, sailing, ultimate frisbee, as well as more common sports like track and field, baseball, and soccer. For more information on athletics, academic curricula, or seminars, visit the school’s website:https://www.wpcp.org/StudentLife/Athletics/Teams.aspx.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of Whitney M. Young Magnet High School
Chicago’s first public magnet school and one of eleven selective enrollment public high schools, Whitney M. Young opened September 3, 1975. The school is ranked as the fourth best high school in the state of Illinois and seventy-first best high school in the nation. In addition to its high ranking, it also has many notable alumni, including former First Lady Michelle Obama, Astronaut Joan Higginbotham, actor and comedian Craig Robinson, as well as several professional athletes and rappers.
Housing grades 7-12, Whitney Young boasts an enrollment of 1,856 students with a student to teacher ratio of 20:1 and a graduation rate well above the state median at 97%. Of the total enrollment, 71% of students are people of color, and 43% of students receive free or reduced-price lunches.
Among other fantastic departments at Whitney Young, Social Studies stands out. It’s program not only has an extensive list of classes considered more standard including American and world history as well as government, but it also offers classes in law. Additionally, Whitney Young partners with Northwestern and Loyola Law schools as well as Women Everywhere (exposing young women to careers in the legal profession) among other programs.
The science and math departments at Whitney Young are also quite expansive, offering everything from typical science and math classes to forensic science, earth/space science, accounting, several computer science classes as well as robotics. Additionally, they have fantastic teachers—of their 16 science teachers, 13 have master’s degrees and 2 have doctorate degrees.
Whitney Young also offers a wide selection of both performing and visual art classes including dance, orchestra, guitar, piano, sculpture, ceramics, video production, graphic design, and mixed media to name a few. Languages taught include Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Latin, and American Sign Language.
If students are interested in sports, Whitney Young has an immense range of athletic activities including 52 athletic teams of 12 different sports. Of these sports teams, boys and girls basketball are consistently excellent: the boys’ team won state championships in 1998, 2009, 2014, and 2017 while the girls’ team won state championships in 2008, 2012, and 2014. The girls’ tennis team also recently won a state championship in 2017.
For more information about classes offered as well as extracurriculars and sports, visit Whitney Young’s website: wyoung.org.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
CPS Announces Application Process For 2020-2021 School Year
Last week, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released information regarding the application process for the 2020-2021 school year. This refers to students who will be beginning high school during the 2020-2021 school year. The Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress exam (NWEA MAP) will once again be used for the eligibility and selection to Selective Enrollment Elementary Schools and to public high schools with academic requirements (Selective Enrollment High Schools).
For students who attended a CPS elementary school during the 2018-2019 school year, their 2019 spring NWEA MAP scores will be used for the admissions process.
Students who attended a non-CPS elementary school during the 2018-2019 school year will be required to take the NWEA MAP exam this fall. CPS will be administering the NWEA MAP exam free of charge throughout the city. The test will be offered at four sites: (1) Curie Metropolitan High School, (2) Lane Tech High School, (3) Lindblom Math and Science Academy, and (4) Westinghouse College Preparatory High School. Students will be scheduled for the test location closest to their residence.
CPS will offer the NWEA MAP exam on four dates in September and two dates in October (dates listed below). Parents must submit the registration form to the Office of Access and Enrollment by no later than on Friday, August 30, 2019.
Test Dates
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Sunday, October 6, 2019
For more information about the application process for the 2020-2021 school year, please visit https://go.cps.edu/. Also, feel free to contact Charlie Howard with any questions.
Charlie Howard, Owner Test Prep Chicago
charlie@testprepchicago.com
(872) 221-0175
An Overview of Jones College Preparatory High School
Established in 1938, Jones College Preparatory High School is located in Chicago’s Printer’s Row. Jones is ranked as the fifth best public high school in the state of Illinois and the ninety-first best in the nation. The school boasts a student population of 1,815 with a student to teacher ratio of 20:1. Of the total enrollment, 61% are students of color, 41% receive free or reduced-price lunches, and it has a graduation rate above the state median at 95%. Additionally, Jones has a notable, famous alumnus: Grammy Award winner, Chance the Rapper.
Jones offers a wide array of excellent courses from which to choose. In English, after two years of foundational work, students can choose from a larger range of classes not typically offered at other public high schools including contemporary literature, African American literature, and Asian American literature. In math, students have the opportunity to choose from unique classes like Operations Research, Financial Algebra, and Art in Math as well as more typical classes. In science, students can take honors chemistry, physics, and biology as well as a plethora of computer science classes and electives. Languages offered at Jones include Spanish, French, and Chinese. Students are also able to participate in a variety of exchange programs or travel.
Two programs which truly stand out among other selective enrollment high schools are Jones’ Pre-Law and Pre-Engineering programs. In addition to their course of study, students enrolled in the pre-law program work in internships at prestigious law firms such as Baker McKenzie, Winston & Strawn, as well as the Illinois Supreme Court and the Cook County State Attorney. The Jones engineering program partners with Thornton Tomasetti, “a leading innovator in engineering and design with a strong commitment to the Chicago community.” Engineering students also participate in a rigorous course load taking Honors Engineering Design and Honors Digital Electronics among other classes.
In addition to core classes, Jones provides access to classes in the performing and visual arts including drama, instrumental, dance, choir, drawing, painting, mixed media, ceramics, animation, photography, video production, and more. For students interested in athletics, Jones has a great deal from which to choose. They offer over 20 different sports teams ranging from water polo to cheer-leading to track.
For more information about specific classes, athletics, or extracurricular activities, visit the school’s website at www.jonescollegeprep.org.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of Lane Tech College Prep High School
Founded in 1908, Lane Technical College Prep High School is ranked #3 in public high schools in the state of Illinois, and #69 in the nation. Situated in Roscoe Village, a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago, Lane is one of eleven selective enrollment high schools in Chicago. This means students must test into the school with a high NWEA MAP score, SEHS score, and good 7th grade grades (to learn more about the selective enrollment process, see blog post from May 1, 2019). The school currently boasts an enrollment of 3,942 students, a student to teacher ratio of 21:1, and a graduation rate of 98%. Of the student population, 63% of the student body is composed of people of color, and 51% receive free or reduced lunch prices.
In addition to its consistently high subject proficiency and college readiness, Lane offers a vast array of classes in each subject. Their science department offers everything from Robotics I and II, to Aerospace Engineering, to Meteorology in addition to the usual science classes available at high schools. The school also houses an entire computer science department with a litany of classes available for students to choose. In addition to science and technology classes, Lane also uniquely offers an immensely diverse art and English curriculum, with classes in filmmaking, printmaking, sculpture, and literary activism, argument and debate, sports communications, and women in literature, respectively. Foreign languages offered at Lane Tech include Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. To see the full scope of classes offered at Lane, visit their website: lanetech.org.
Lastly, Lane offers opportunities for students interested in athletics as well. With 18 different sports teams to choose from, students at Lane Tech can compete in whatever they’d like. The school also uniquely offers a water polo team as well as a swim team, and they conveniently hold practices in their school’s pool. For more information about the vast athletic opportunities offered at Lane, visit their website.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
CPS Announcement Regarding NWEA MAP Testing for Non-CPS Students
With a multitude of standardized tests for students in grades 5-9, it can be difficult to keep track of which one is happening when especially since many testing windows are different for Chicago Public School (CPS) and non-Chicago Public School students. Luckily, thanks to CPS’s recent announcement regarding non-CPS testing windows, it may become a little bit simpler.
In the 2020-2021 school year (and all others moving forward), both CPS and non-CPS students alike will have the same NWEA MAP testing window: spring. This MAP test window will encompass ALL students testing to attend a selective enrollment high school, academic center or elementary school. In a letter from the CPS Office of Access and Enrollment they stated, “CPS is implementing this change so that all testing students will have completed a more similar level of instruction by the testing window, which will allow for better comparison of the student’s level of preparation for the schools to which they are applying.”
This means that all rising non-CPS 5th and 7th graders will take the NWEA MAP test in the spring of 2020 rather than in the fall of 2020. Furthermore, this will not affect rising non-CPS 6th or 8th graders who will take the NWEA MAP in the fall of 2019 for admission to an academic center or selective enrollment high school. Additionally, CPS hasn’t announced test dates yet for the NWEA MAP exam this coming fall of 2019, but it will likely be in September as it was last year. To be informed as soon as CPS releases the fall NWEA MAP test dates, subscribe to our newsletter on our homepage.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of the High School Placement Test
Used by parochial and Catholic schools nationwide for 8th graders applying to high school, the High School Placement Test (HSPT) is the shortest in length of time of the three high school entrance exams but includes the most questions (298). Students have two hours and thirty minutes to complete the exam, and the exam includes the following five sections: mathematics (64 questions, 45 minutes); quantitative skills (52 questions, 30 minutes); reading (40 questions in reading comprehension, 22 questions in vocabulary, 25 minutes); verbal skills (60 questions, 16 minutes); and language (60 questions, 25 minutes). There is no essay or writing sample required with this test, and as with the other two high school entrance exams, a calculator is not permitted, and there is no guessing penalty.
This test, designed by Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. is administered by St. Ignatius, Loyola Academy, as well as other parochial schools on the first Saturday in December. However, since the test is so infrequent, there are sometimes make-up exams in the cases of illnesses or emergencies. Where a student sits for the HSPT is very important. If students want to be considered for St. Ignatius OR Loyola Academy, they MUST sit for the HSPT at the respective school. Additionally, if students would like the chance to earn a scholarship at their first-choice school, they must test at that school. Students will not be considered for scholarships at schools in which they don’t sit for the HSPT.
Lastly, similar to the ISEE but unlike with the selective enrollment high school process, the HSPT is viewed in conjunction with a student’s transcript. Thus, a student’s score on the HSPT isn’t the only thing considered for admission but is still of great importance. To learn more about how to prepare for the HSPT, visit testprepchicago.com.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266
An Overview of the Independent School Entrance Exam
Created for students nationwide for application into Independent Schools, the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) is the entrance exam used by independent schools throughout the country. Students applying to high school (grades 9-12) must take the Upper Level ISEE. Though it may sound unfair that an 8th grader is required to take the same exam as an 11th grader, 8th graders’ scores are only compared to the scores of other 8th graders, 9th graders’ scores are only compared to the scores of other 9th graders, and so on.
Designed by the Educational Records Bureau, this test is approximately two hours and forty minutes long and includes 160 questions. There are four multiple choice sections on the ISEE: mathematics achievement (47 questions, 40 minutes); quantitative reasoning (37 questions, 35 minutes); reading comprehension (36 questions, 35 minutes); and verbal reasoning (40 questions, 20 minutes). Additionally, students are required to complete an essay (30 minutes). The essay, though not graded, is sent to the schools to which students are applying and is used much like a personal statement. A calculator is not permitted and there is no guessing penalty on the ISEE.
The ISEE is administered on Saturdays throughout the year at various independent schools throughout the city. To learn more about how to register for the ISEE, visit the Educational Records Bureau website.
Lastly, dissimilar to the selective enrollment high school process, the ISEE is viewed in conjunction with a student’s transcript. Thus, a student’s score on the ISEE is of similar importance as the score a high school student needs to get on their ACT/SAT to get into college. It’s certainly important, but it isn’t the only thing considered for admission. To learn more about how to prepare for the ISEE, visit testprepchicago.com.
Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266