December 17 - TJ decision?

[Anonymous]

1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many slots in the class will be taken up by the 1.5%? I wonder how many slots are left for those who get in by merit.

Some of the 1.5% include kids who would have gotten in anyway because it's 1.5% whether your school regularly sends 5% or regularly sends no one. FCPS has about 30000 middle school students so roughly 15000 8th graders. 1.5% of that is 225.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

[Anonymous]

What does this mean for kids from Arlington, Loudon, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

[Anonymous]

I don't see how this process will identify the most suitable students? Just ONE problem solving essay? How many reviewers will be rating the answers? It'll be so subjective. And where in the process can a student demonstrate stem interest? How much weight will be given to the disadvantage factors? So, if I'm a poor, disabled immigrant with broken english, I could feasibly get in without demonstrating strong problem solving skills. How does this make sense?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

[Anonymous]

I challenge anyone to listen to the full portion of last night’s meeting dealing with TJ and then argue that these 12 people have any business making policy decisions for the nation’s 10th largest school system. The level of preparedness, competence, and basic intelligence on display is just sickeningly low.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't there a lawsuit to put a stop to this? Whatever happened with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many slots in the class will be taken up by the 1.5%? I wonder how many slots are left for those who get in by merit.

I believe there are 23 middle schools in FCPS so that should mean 34.5% of the slots are determined by Middle School. I am not sure what percentage of seats go to the other school districts in the area. I would guess that leaves somewhere between 25-40% of the seats for the regular process.

The AAP Centers will take a hit but that is about it. I believe that Carson is one of the largest feeders and those kids do not feed into Langley or McLean. Carson feeds Westfield High School, Chantilly High School, Oakton High School, and South Lakes High School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many slots in the class will be taken up by the 1.5%? I wonder how many slots are left for those who get in by merit.

I believe there are 23 middle schools in FCPS so that should mean 34.5% of the slots are determined by Middle School. I am not sure what percentage of seats go to the other school districts in the area. I would guess that leaves somewhere between 25-40% of the seats for the regular process.

The AAP Centers will take a hit but that is about it. I believe that Carson is one of the largest feeders and those kids do not feed into Langley or McLean. Carson feeds Westfield High School, Chantilly High School, Oakton High School, and South Lakes High School.

It will affect Carson more than the AAP centers that only draw from one pyramid like Cooper, Longfellow, and South County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many slots in the class will be taken up by the 1.5%? I wonder how many slots are left for those who get in by merit.

I believe there are 23 middle schools in FCPS so that should mean 34.5% of the slots are determined by Middle School. I am not sure what percentage of seats go to the other school districts in the area. I would guess that leaves somewhere between 25-40% of the seats for the regular process.

The AAP Centers will take a hit but that is about it. I believe that Carson is one of the largest feeders and those kids do not feed into Langley or McLean. Carson feeds Westfield High School, Chantilly High School, Oakton High School, and South Lakes High School.

It will affect Carson more than the AAP centers that only draw from one pyramid like Cooper, Longfellow, and South County.

I don’t know if it will hurt them more. All the remaining kids go into the same pool after the 1.5%. So the Carson kids and Longfellow kids will be in the same boat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

If reducing stress was the main goal they should have just turned TJ back into another base school. We will continue vastly over-investing time in a single school now to make sure the kids who attend New TJ don’t flunk out. FCPS finds new ways every day to ignore the needs of most kids so they can celebrate a handful.