Can TJ students take online HPE during the school year?

[Anonymous]

I know HPE can be taken in summer but don't know if it can be taken online during the school year. DC needs to free up a slot. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

yes, with counselor approval

[Anonymous]

It is highly discouraged. Also doesn't make sense to take it online during the school year.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks.
Sorry, I did not make it clear. I mean whether you can pay tuition to take it as an 8th class so that you can free up a slot to another elective.

[Anonymous]

Can’t you just suck it up for this year and do the 10th grade one in the summer? Juggling it during the school year seems like a real pain.

[Anonymous]

^
Adding on - I really do wish they were more direct with parents at the TJ open house in spring though that many (most?) people do summer PE to create schedule space. At least if they do an instrument and/or plan to do a language all 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks.
Sorry, I did not make it clear. I mean whether you can pay tuition to take it as an 8th class so that you can free up a slot to another elective.

No, you cannot take it as an 8th class. You can take it as a "9th period" class but it is discouraged. Just take it over the summer next year. It doesn't have to be during or before 9th grade, it can be later.

[Anonymous]

From TJ staff the general recommendation you'll hear is sign up for bare minimum course rigor each year, no need for summer courses, and make sure your kid doesn't stress out about grades. This is their CYA stance. But following this approach alone, leaves the student at a huge disadvantage compared to the top half of the class enrolled in much more comprehensive and rigorous advanced coursework.

It is not until parents talk to other parents, and students talk to their peers or upperclassmen that they learn of effective course planning and possibilities to fully utilize student's full potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, you cannot take it as an 8th class. You can take it as a "9th period" class but it is discouraged. Just take it over the summer next year. It doesn't have to be during or before 9th grade, it can be later.

You sure? You can take HPE 10 in the summer before 11th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From TJ staff the general recommendation you'll hear is sign up for bare minimum course rigor each year, no need for summer courses, and make sure your kid doesn't stress out about grades. This is their CYA stance. But following this approach alone, leaves the student at a huge disadvantage compared to the top half of the class enrolled in much more comprehensive and rigorous advanced coursework.

It is not until parents talk to other parents, and students talk to their peers or upperclassmen that they learn of effective course planning and possibilities to fully utilize student's full potential.

+1
We don’t come from a zone with a lot of TJ families so I had no clue what was typical going into it beyond what I read on DCUM and a surprisingly helpful Facebook thread. Doing Summer PE was one of the tips I got from that.

They really should offer a parent to parent tips manual to incoming families to help share the advice around. The school is not really that helpful on giving advice about “how do most TJ students handle this” since they want to tone down the competitiveness. I am not gunning for DC to take 5 million APs but there’s a balance that’s needed.

[Anonymous]

Looking back, many TJ students wish they had taken PE during the school year. The toll to their mental health was not worth it and they started cheating because of the increased workload. It also made no difference to college acceptances.

[Anonymous]

The worst thing is that as a freshman, there is no counselor you can consult with for course selection but when you change your mind after submitting the course selection form, it is impossible or extremely hard to revise it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From TJ staff the general recommendation you'll hear is sign up for bare minimum course rigor each year, no need for summer courses, and make sure your kid doesn't stress out about grades. This is their CYA stance. But following this approach alone, leaves the student at a huge disadvantage compared to the top half of the class enrolled in much more comprehensive and rigorous advanced coursework.

It is not until parents talk to other parents, and students talk to their peers or upperclassmen that they learn of effective course planning and possibilities to fully utilize student's full potential.

They are not disadvantaged by taking PE during the school year. Your child is in a Race to Nowhere if you try to match the extremely tiger parented students. You won't win and your child will be burned out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, you cannot take it as an 8th class. You can take it as a "9th period" class but it is discouraged. Just take it over the summer next year. It doesn't have to be during or before 9th grade, it can be later.

You sure? You can take HPE 10 in the summer before 11th grade?

This summer (2024) , I asked TJ counselor if my kid could take PE (for 9 grade) next summer so the kid had space for other elective class and they said No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, you cannot take it as an 8th class. You can take it as a "9th period" class but it is discouraged. Just take it over the summer next year. It doesn't have to be during or before 9th grade, it can be later.

You sure? You can take HPE 10 in the summer before 11th grade?

This summer (2024) , I asked TJ counselor if my kid could take PE (for 9 grade) next summer so the kid had space for other elective class and they said No.

Thanks for the info. Wondering if you can take it during 9th grade as an 8th online class. Probably counselor will say no too.