Official TJ Admissions Decisions Results for the Class of 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

Honestly, at too many of those schools there aren't enough advanced classes to challenge those students and not enough kids participating in those classes to create a worthwhile classroom experience. So yes.

Additionally, by making TJ a realistic opportunity for kids in those areas, you might see a greater interest in pursuing those advanced classes down the road.

I understand this is a level of increased competition that is worrisome for families from traditional TJ feeders, but if your kids are up to snuff, they'll be fine even when the application numbers rise into the 4000s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

Honestly, at too many of those schools there aren't enough advanced classes to challenge those students and not enough kids participating in those classes to create a worthwhile classroom experience. So yes.

Additionally, by making TJ a realistic opportunity for kids in those areas, you might see a greater interest in pursuing those advanced classes down the road.

I understand this is a level of increased competition that is worrisome for families from traditional TJ feeders, but if your kids are up to snuff, they'll be fine even when the application numbers rise into the 4000s.

What competition? It is a prove you are oppressed lottery contest.

[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:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

Honestly, at too many of those schools there aren't enough advanced classes to challenge those students and not enough kids participating in those classes to create a worthwhile classroom experience. So yes.

Additionally, by making TJ a realistic opportunity for kids in those areas, you might see a greater interest in pursuing those advanced classes down the road.

I understand this is a level of increased competition that is worrisome for families from traditional TJ feeders, but if your kids are up to snuff, they'll be fine even when the application numbers rise into the 4000s.

What competition? It is a prove you are oppressed lottery contest.

Correction: Lottery + Prove you are oppressed + write a cute, human interest essay on why you like STEM. Such an objective, scary competition

[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:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

Honestly, at too many of those schools there aren't enough advanced classes to challenge those students and not enough kids participating in those classes to create a worthwhile classroom experience. So yes.

Additionally, by making TJ a realistic opportunity for kids in those areas, you might see a greater interest in pursuing those advanced classes down the road.

I understand this is a level of increased competition that is worrisome for families from traditional TJ feeders, but if your kids are up to snuff, they'll be fine even when the application numbers rise into the 4000s.

What competition? It is a prove you are oppressed lottery contest.

Correction: Lottery + Prove you are oppressed + write a cute, human interest essay on why you like STEM. Such an objective, scary competition

The number of REALLY nice cars at the Freshmen orientation for students and parents yesterday would suggest that there are still plenty of wealthy families sending their kids to TJ.

But any excuse you can come up with for your kid not measuring up will do.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?

Honestly, at too many of those schools there aren't enough advanced classes to challenge those students and not enough kids participating in those classes to create a worthwhile classroom experience. So yes.

Additionally, by making TJ a realistic opportunity for kids in those areas, you might see a greater interest in pursuing those advanced classes down the road.

I understand this is a level of increased competition that is worrisome for families from traditional TJ feeders, but if your kids are up to snuff, they'll be fine even when the application numbers rise into the 4000s.

What competition? It is a prove you are oppressed lottery contest.

Correction: Lottery + Prove you are oppressed + write a cute, human interest essay on why you like STEM. Such an objective, scary competition

The number of REALLY nice cars at the Freshmen orientation for students and parents yesterday would suggest that there are still plenty of wealthy families sending their kids to TJ.

But any excuse you can come up with for your kid not measuring up will do.

What is being measured?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:one of the greatest geopolitical tragedies of the last century

That is quite ridiculous too even if Gavrilo is outside the century window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

DP. I think PP was illustrating that Asian kids appear to be much more interested in STEM, given that they form such a high percentage of kids in an open enrollment STEM activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

DP. I think PP was illustrating that Asian kids appear to be much more interested in STEM, given that they form such a high percentage of kids in an open enrollment STEM activity.

We are going around in circles here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

The poster said a process that results in racial disparity must be race-based.
The math clubs operate in the public schools, either via PTA or under school activities sponsored by a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

DP. I think PP was illustrating that Asian kids appear to be much more interested in STEM, given that they form such a high percentage of kids in an open enrollment STEM activity.

God, you are polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

A process that results in 75% representation of a collection of races that amount to 20% of the population of an area is pretty damn race-based.

Math clubs in the area have about 90% Asian. Is this also a race based process of admission where anyone can join?

Np. Are math clubs a public education entity? And do math clubs even have admissions?

The poster said a process that results in racial disparity must be race-based.
The math clubs operate in the public schools, either via PTA or under school activities sponsored by a public school.

The poster said a process that results in racial disparity must be race-based. Because effort/interest/bell curves don't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It. Does. Not. Matter. Anymore.

TJ isn't going to be any better than Oakton, McLean, Chantilly, or Langley. It may not even be as good as those schools in a few years.

That’s nonsense. Every one of those schools has a large chunk of students who just flat out don’t care about academics. TJ has none, and will still have none after these admissions changes. TJ will still have remarkable university-caliber labs that you can’t find in any other high school in the area. It will still have exceptional faculty to run these labs.

The bottom line is you’re chewing on sour grapes because you’re realizing that there isn’t a hard and fast path to admissions anymore and you think your child is a lot more special and unique than they are.

Grow up. TJ will be more than fine and probably a much healthier academic environment because it will have fewer parents like YOU.

One can safely argue that the unprepped students at less affluent schools have greater potential than the lower-performing preppers from wealthy schools.

Those schools have relatively few students who "just flat out don't care about academics." Of course, they have some, but then TJ will also have more students who don't truly care that much about academics, but got into under the watered-down admissions criteria. And, they'll be at a school that has nice labs, but doesn't offer the convenience of a neighborhood school serving students who live relatively close to one another.

So, over time, TJ's standing relative to those other schools is guaranteed to decline. I'm sorry if you thought the new exercise in social engineering, courtesy of Scott Brabrand and the School Board, was going to preserve all the positives about TJ and eliminate all the negatives, but that's very unlikely to happen.

Time will tell. Those of us who have been around for a very long time have a keener eye for the negatives and a greater appreciation of the positives. Some problems may be traded for others, but on balance, these changes should result in a much healthier academic environment. Better still, this platform is a much better one from which to make fine changes to the process that will continue the positive trendline.

Keener eye for negatives, greater appreciation of positives. Continue positive trendline. Flowery words in response to a comment that had much more detail. Don't really see much wisdom here.

That's fine. We won, and TJ won as a result.

That says it all. In your mind, TJ won because you got what you wanted.

Many others believe that TJ lost and that the primary beneficiaries are going to be the top neighborhood high schools. They may not be TJs, but they are known quantities that stand to only get stronger with uncertainty introduced into the TJ admission process (and the sense that TJ now stands not for academic excellence, but retail pork barrel politics).

Both TJ and those base schools will benefit tremendously. Schools like Langley, McLean, Chantilly, etc will be very well served by welcoming students who would have been among the back-end of the TJ population. TJ will benefit from an injection of fresh perspective and the admissions process will probably become even more popular (and therefore more competitive, raising the caliber of the student body) as talented students in different parts of the county actually become interested in attending.

Just like those kids from the wealthy schools will be fine many equally gifted students from less affluent neighborhoods will benefit from TJ. This will make FCPS even better than ever.

Really? You want to pull higher performing (though not necessarily the highest performing in the county) kids out of schools that have a much smaller pool of advanced students to begin with?