MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS: 6-8 | AGORA PROGRAM | HIGH SCHOOL READINESS | HOUSE SYSTEM
Portrait of the 8th Grade Graduate
The eighth-grade year is important but can be stressful when choosing your high school. Below are some helpful hints to help navigate this final year of middle school:
Attend “shadow days” at prospective schools.
Attend open houses – and visit again if necessary to get a better feel for the culture.
Schedule one-on-one with Ms. Fahrenbach, St. Benedict counselor, or Ms. Deletioglu.
Helpful Links: Catholic High School Application Process
Helpful Links: Catholic High School Application Process:
Many families are interested in continuing the Catholic education process for their child into their high school years. Some items for students and parents to consider when applying for area Catholic high schools:
Each school has unique applications procedures.
Application process often discussed with parents on test day while your student is testing
The application process begins on test day.
Students may only apply or test for one school.
You cannot pre-register.
Acceptance letters for all schools are typically mailed in February following the test.
Catholic High School Quick Links
Visit the Archdiocese High School page, where you can search by geographic area among 33 excellent Catholic high schools that nurture discipleship in our students, leading them to personal and collective transformation.
Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic High School Admissions and Registration Parent Guide
Catholic school - PEACE Educational Services helps 8th graders entering Catholic high schools prepare for the HSPT, a one-time test that is used to determine admittance.
Applying for a Tax Credit Scholarship - Catholic Schools through the “Invest in Kids Act,” Illinois children from low and median income households who want to attend private schools will have access to new scholarships
Catholic High School Brochure (available in Spanish and Polish)
Catholic High School Guide for Parents of 8th Graders (available in Spanish and Polish)
Catholic High School Admission Timeline and Checklist (available in Spanish and Polish)
Helpful Links: Chicago Public School (CPS) Application Process:
Applicants must take the entrance exam in order to be considered for admission to a selective enrollment high school. On the application, you will indicate whether the student will NOT be able to take the test on any of these dates, and select a test site where you would like for your child to be assigned to test. (The choice of site does not affect final selection.)
The results of the selection process are sent in late Spring to all students who completed the application process and took the Selective Enrollment entrance exam. Applicants who have been selected for admission also receive an information packet from the schools that selected them.
Applicants have approximately two weeks to accept an offer of admission. Failure to respond to the selective enrollment high school by the deadline date results in a loss of admission to that school.
CPS administers its own version of a standardized test/entrance exam and does not release the type/name of the test.
The entrance exam is approximately 3 hours long.
The exam includes reading comprehension, vocabulary, language arts (grammar) and math word problems.
Calculators are not allowed (unless it is an accommodation on the student’s IEP).
You may rank up to 20 CPS choices, including 5 Selective Enrollment High Schools.
CPS Quick Links
Students may apply to up to 6 schools. CPS Online Application Process
CPS Application Process for Non-CPS Students
There is ONE application for all CPS schools, and a single entrance exam for all selective enrollment high schools.
If your student is interested in applying to any CPS high school, the child must first register on GoCPS and sign up to take the MAP test in the fall of 8th grade.
