Well, some better news than the last time ... Daughter #1 got accepted at her first choice for Highschool! We were lucky that she had three different "boxes" which weren't necessarily interlinked. First of all, the school The Girls have been in is expanding from just being a grade school to being a K-12 program, she could have just stayed put, we just had to file a piece of paper to keep that option open. However, they're just now "rolling out" the high school, and she would have been in only the second class, and she wasn't very enthusiastic about that. The school's part of the Asia Society International Studies Schools Network, however (while still being part of the Chicago Public Schools system), so the program was going to be very much like the International Baccalaureate. This is why her sister is already taking Mandarin in 4th grade! We think that this is going to be the best bet for Daughter #2, as in 4 years they should have most of the "growing pains" out of the way. The "second box" are the Selective Enrollment schools ... and these spots are fought over by ALL the better students in the CPS, based on their grades and a qualifying exam (and various "manipulations" which are no longer specifically based on race, but are tweaked by zip code). Daughter #1 had applied to 3 of these, and we're still waiting to hear how that worked out. However, the point is moot, as "box #3" came though. #1's been in the "pre-IB" program at her school, and was accepted into the IB program at the main area high school, which was her first choice. Not only is the IB program fabulous, but most of her friends (who were with her in the pre-IB) are going there as well. So, that's a huge relief. Most folks in the CPS are sweating out those selective enrollment letters, and it was really nice having two other very attractive options outside of it!Over there ===> is the link from Friday's The Job Stalker. I finally got notice of having gotten a direct deposit from the Tribune for my efforts ... a whopping $5.43 for about 100 hours worth of work (netting, I suppose, 1,086 unique page views). Good thing I didn't go into it "for the money"!
Speaking of money ... or the potential to see some ... I had a phone interview with a major Agency today for a Social Media role on one of their key accounts. It was, as usual, just the first step, but it's always nice when they want to talk to you. Tomorrow, though, I have a face-to-face interview with two HR people (or, as I'm beginning to suspect, two search firm folks assigned to the institution) for a very attractive job at a local University. I'm pretty sure that this isn't the final interview, as the gal who is creating the team there isn't going to be in this meeting, but it's nice to get another "real" interview, and if I do well, I'm one step closer to getting the gig!