I do not want to say that your chances are nil, but the school will ask for something that proves that you live at an address that is within the school district. If it is a suburb of Chicago, they are very strict because people think that if they live right on the border that they should qualify, but this just isn't so. If your child is in grammar school, try to find a good school that goes all the way up to the eighth grade, or look into magnet schools that except childen from all over the city. If your child is in high school, this is where you must be extremely careful as Chicago has a very flawed secondary school system. In my honest opinion unless you pay for private or Catholic school, they are only about 10 good high schools in Chicago, and you have to test to get into them. Selective enrollment schools are Brooks, Jones, King, Lane Tech, Lindblom, Northside, Payton, Young where approximately 10,000 kids vie for 2,700 available seats. If your kid is smart and had A's and B's and had almost perfect attendance for 7th grade their chances of getting into one of these schools is pretty good. To increase your childs chances of getting in go to selective prep website. If they are younger keep in mind that the 7th grade scores and grades are what matter for high school. Other great magnet schools are Lincoln Park, Von Steuben, and Disney. Go to your local library and ask for a book called "OPTIONS FOR KNOWLEDGE". It is extremely helpful. Another option is moving to a Chicago suburb that has a great school system and a wonderful sense of community like Oak Park, Evanston, Niles, Naperville, Homewood-Flossmoor. Even if your child is not the smartest they will still get a quality education. A good indicator of if the school is good is if the neighborhood is good. Good luck. Before my daughter entered high school and I moved to Oak Park which is only 15 minutes from downtown Chicago. She is doing very well.