Confused about TJ
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Anonymous
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I’ve read so many negative things about TJ on this forum, it’s starting to sound like the worst school around here. Some comments even make it seem like 90% of the students struggle to get into good universities.
I’m honestly curious- why do so many parents still want their kids to go there? Are they not doing enough research before applying? |
Anonymous
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You have not read enough of the messaging then on the threads. Lots of families with kids there are very happy they made the choice. Many of those families will agree though that it is a school that is a great fit for certain kinds of kids but not all kids.
My DC1 is there and loves it - can’t imagine not having gone there. My DC2 was not interested and I think that was the best fit for them too. They are not as driven as DC1 and like their friend group ag base school much better. The fact that it would not be a great spot for DC2 does not mean it’s a bad acho. It just means it is not for everyone. |
Anonymous
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It's a great school for students advanced in math, science, and technology, and they are in the top two-thirds of TJ class. Their parents are more than thrilled to support their students advanced education there.
And then there is the struggling bottom one-third who complain TJ math and other courses are too hard. All the bickering here is from posters who want to lower TJ standards so that TJ is easy for the struggling bottom portion of the class. |
Anonymous
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Here we go again. Is the ONLY point of high school getting into HYPS? If not, then let's move on.
My kid is doing so-so with a mix of As and Bs. Not driven enough to get into HYPS (I know, I was that kid). Fine by me. Kid will probably get a ton of college credit and sail through college. Happy, healthy and really enjoyed high school is my goal. |
Anonymous
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It's become the target of political attacks from anti-education party.
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Anonymous
| Why is calculus or even precalculus for that matter required subject at TJ when students at 25 other FCPS high schools have the option to graduate with just Algebra 2? On one hand has they say sports is available but what's the point if there's no time to practice & play, and academics take away most of the time. |
Anonymous
They are required to do one math course a year. If you start with Geometry or Algebra 2 Freshman year - you don't have much to get through. |
Anonymous
Maybe split Geometry into two year course and split Algebra-2 also into two years, for a total of four years |
Anonymous
2 posts above win for funniest all year on DCUM. |
Anonymous
Because it is a school for advanced STEM kids. Not hard to get to AB calc by senior year. It’s a fully reasonable expectation at a stem school. |
Anonymous
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Because haters will always be the loudest.
Because the easiest way to shape opinions for whatever intent is thru social media influence, and dcum is the easiest tool. Because it is become a political target. Because majority of TJ families are not in here and most haters in here are not TJ parents. Yes, TJ is not always the best fit for every students, TJ might soul crushing, TJ is hard, very competitive (and there is cheat), rigorous and not always have the best teachers. But please advise (I want to know) any other school that has better college outcomes in general (in majority of the students), not just cherry pick 2-3 examples. I think the point is, TJ students trained to be prepare for colleges, and it doesn’t matter what colleges, they will likely will doing well in life. Signed - (Parents of TJ student, who no longer having “straight A” but kid find joy at TJ, who is never targeting HYPSM, and not worry what college kid will land in). |
Anonymous
TJ is a great school for the right kid. It is a STEM school with specialized STEM programs for HS. Kids who love math and science and are advanced in academics are likely to be a good fit. They should know that pretty much all of the classes move at a faster pace than similar classes at their base schools, the other students are all smart and ahead, and that the expectations for the teachers are going to be higher. They are less likely to be the big fish because they are attending school with all of the big fishes from their HS. I would guess that the kids coming from the major feeders, Carson, Cooper, Longfellow, and Rocky Run are at something of an advantage because they will know more kids as Freshman and they are used to being at schools were there are many kids who are smart and ahead. Kids coming from other schools will have fewer people that they know to start and are probably used to being the smartest kid in their class. It could be a rough transition for them. The fact that there are people posting here that they did not know that their kids had to complete Calculus to graduate from TJ tells you that there are people posting who have not done any research. They could be parents of kids who come from schools that typically send fewer kids who have kids who were urged to apply. Maybe their kids were in Algebra 1 in 8th grade and they have had less exposure to TJ then parents of kids at the four feeders. |
Anonymous
Please tell me thatyou are a troll. Please TJ is a STEM school with specialized programs for kids interested in advanced math and science. Every kid starting at TJ has completed Algebra 1 in MS and is on track for Calculus in HS. Most of the kids at TJ will take at least multivariate calculus with a sizeable portion of the kids at TJ taking even more advanced math classes. That is a selling point of the school. Kids who are ahead in math have an opportunity to be in classes with many kids who are ahead and go even farther in math. There are kids taking Geometry in the summer so that they can access those advanced classes. The point is that these tend to be kids who are more academically interested and driven. These are the kids who try out for MathCounts at competitive schools and are disappointed if they don't make States or Nationals. These are the kids who choose to do STEM courses and camps over the summer. They love these subjects. If your kid is not invested in STEM at that level, don't apply. Most of them find time for other activities, like sports and music and Scouts and drama club. They are smart kids, focused on academics, and capable of handling the work. That is what the school is about. |
Anonymous
TJ is a political football. It is a proxy for what is left of the affirmative action debate. To what extent can you stack the cards to achieve racial outcomes? The pro affirmative action crowd will pretend like there is no racial component to the admissions process and everyone is imagining things The anti affirmative action crowd is somehow certain that facially neutral processes are illegal as long as there is a racist intent despite the fact that we needed legislation and a constitutional amendment to get rid of things like literacy exams and poll taxes. Voter ID law with evidence of racist intent were upheld because they were facially neutral. The Texas 10% system seemed to pass constitutional muster. OTOH scotus has rolled some facility neutral laws as violating equal protection so until scotus reviews this case we will not actually know. A lot of negative about TJ stems from this policy battle. |
Anonymous
This is a v good, balanced capture of situation |