Reasons why one would not accept TJ offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

You don't seem to know anything about the school culture so perhaps your ideas are not that relevant. It doesn't feel like you're going to school in a foreign country . Of course there are US-related things too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

You don't seem to know anything about the school culture so perhaps your ideas are not that relevant. It doesn't feel like you're going to school in a foreign country . Of course there are US-related things too.

Do all these immigrants even pay taxes or are they just milking FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

You don't seem to know anything about the school culture so perhaps your ideas are not that relevant. It doesn't feel like you're going to school in a foreign country . Of course there are US-related things too.

I don't know anything about TJ since my DC is only in 8th grade. But I know what I've seen in his FCPS schools so far. Celebrating Lunar New Year, Diwali, etc? Yes. Celebrating American culture and America? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

They are taught US cultures every day, in social studies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

They are taught US cultures every day, in social studies.

+1. Is everyone forgetting Colonial Day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

You don't seem to know anything about the school culture so perhaps your ideas are not that relevant. It doesn't feel like you're going to school in a foreign country . Of course there are US-related things too.

I don't know anything about TJ since my DC is only in 8th grade. But I know what I've seen in his FCPS schools so far. Celebrating Lunar New Year, Diwali, etc? Yes. Celebrating American culture and America? Nope.

Granted, my kid is in 6th grade but they spent all of 4th grade on Virginia History and this year has been spent discussing colonization and the Revolutionary War in the US. There have been a good number of units on the Native People of the US. And yes, they have discussed other world histories, balanced between Asian, Latin American, and African civilizations but every year has had a US component to it. Not to mention, they live in the US and they are surrounded by the culture of this area, which is very much US centric.

I would argue that celebrating other cultures is very American given that the US is made up of so many different cultures. St. Patrick's Day is about as American as it gets, I have been in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day and it is not even close to what we do in the US. Lots of people go to Church and that is about it. If anything, the US clebration is starting to move to Ireland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

American culture is celebrated every day, every minute, every second, etc... not just at TJ, but all FCPS schools. You know how? Student don't just "celebrate" American culture, instead they live it!
As a TJ community, we take time every month and pay special tribute to each unique culture through collective participation, contribution, and mutual respect. It is much more involved that what one would have noticed at other FCPS schools. Whether it be Black History month, Hispanic Heritage month, Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Diwali & Holi, Thanksgiving & Christmas, etc., we are looking to take the time and effort to celebrate our unique cultural backgrounds collectively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

They are taught US cultures every day, in social studies.

+1. Is everyone forgetting Colonial Day?

Thank god that is gone. What a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

You don't seem to know anything about the school culture so perhaps your ideas are not that relevant. It doesn't feel like you're going to school in a foreign country . Of course there are US-related things too.

Do all these immigrants even pay taxes or are they just milking FCPS?

No one cares whether you or anyone pays taxes. We are one big TJ family, and everyone is respected equally. No racial politics, please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand every middle school will be given a few seats, but last year no one at our middle school accepted the offer. I could be mistaken, as I also heard one kid attended for a year, and returned to base high school. DC took the admissions test this month, and we think there is a good chance we will be made an offer. What I want to understand is why would one not accept a TJ offer? I hear everyone saying how much harder one has to study, but is it significantly more than what a student at base high school enrolled in all honors courses would need to study? How much time would be available to do sports? Trying to figure out if DC would be better off going to our high school with known friends and teammates, or tryout TJ, but definitely want to avoid the hassle of transferring if TJ isnt the right fit.

The lack of diversity is why my nephew declined.

feel sorry for your "nephew"
Diversity is why we accepted the offer. DC has made friends with kids with ethinic backgrounds from at least a dozen different countries - saudi arabia, china, sri lanka, south korea, india, philippines, bangladesh, afghanistan, malaysia, japan turkey, etc. In fact the principal at the orientation, made the crowd repeat "hello" in 15+ languages. Apparently, this year's class has kids speaking 40+ languages at home. wow!

We were present at the event and were surprised when the Principal came prepared to lead the crowd in saying "hello" in so many languages spoken by student families. Despite the stereotype that the school was predominantly American Asian, she employed a simple technique to ensure everyone recognized the diverse range of ethnic backgrounds represented in the recent class.

Next year maybe she can say hello in Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galic, Swedish, French, German, Croation, Serbian, Russian, . . .

I'm not sure Europe needs so much representation.
Europe is a different continent and the countries there have very different cultures than the culture here in this country. When the culture of this country is not predominant, then people in this country, whether their parents were born here or came here, there's an obvious mismatch.

It appears you are not familiar with the current diversity at TJ. We are first-generation German immigrants, and our DD interacts with peers of various ethnic backgrounds, including Russian, Chinese, Indian, and West Indies, in a multifaceted manner reminiscent of the cultural exchange experiences one might hope for in college with international students. Her circle of close friends, which began with TJ freshman projects like iBET, 8th-period clubs, and lacrosse team, has flourished with mutual cultural learning and collective participation in monthly cultural festival celebrations. Just this month, we all volunteered and celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now preparing for the Indian festival of colors, among others.

I get that there are celebrations for Asian cultures, but is there anything comparable for Hispanics or children of African descent?

Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

American culture is celebrated every day, every minute, every second, etc... not just at TJ, but all FCPS schools. You know how? Student don't just "celebrate" American culture, instead they live it!
As a TJ community, we take time every month and pay special tribute to each unique culture through collective participation, contribution, and mutual respect. It is much more involved that what one would have noticed at other FCPS schools. Whether it be Black History month, Hispanic Heritage month, Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Diwali & Holi, Thanksgiving & Christmas, etc., we are looking to take the time and effort to celebrate our unique cultural backgrounds collectively.

Not very convincing PR, but I do understand why you'd try to make TJ sound good now that applications are down again and many families in the stronger pyramids are seriously doubting whether TJ makes sense any longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, they had very large events for Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. You do not see this in most high schools.

Maybe they should celebrate American culture too, here and there. Especially for a school with so many immigrants - they want to learn about the US too, not just other countries.

American culture is celebrated every day, every minute, every second, etc... not just at TJ, but all FCPS schools. You know how? Student don't just "celebrate" American culture, instead they live it!
As a TJ community, we take time every month and pay special tribute to each unique culture through collective participation, contribution, and mutual respect. It is much more involved that what one would have noticed at other FCPS schools. Whether it be Black History month, Hispanic Heritage month, Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Diwali & Holi, Thanksgiving & Christmas, etc., we are looking to take the time and effort to celebrate our unique cultural backgrounds collectively.

TJ diversity celebration events are the best. I volunteer and get there early for the unique ethnic food We are from Caribbean, and love spicy dishes. Mine and my DS's favorite is these steamed rice cakes with white spicy sauce with peanuts. I tried making them at home, and dont taste even close