Expanded High school electives at TJ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

at least there is no longer a ridiculous personal running around the school chanting GPS nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least now TJ has a principal who actually understands the courses being offered and is making updates so students get credit that matches the effort they put in.

Having actually listened to him, he has little understanding of courses and curriculum. He just cares if there is an "AP" before the name of the course.

He has been an FCPS teacher for 30 years.
He has been an assistant principal for 20 years.
He has been a principal for 10 years.

And he doesn't understand courses or curriculum?

What he doesn't understand is that a lot of people want TJ to be about virtue signaling.

So based on that timeline, it has been a long time since he has actually taught in a classroom. Maybe his dog and pony shows impress parents, but teachers see right through him. All he does is talk in circles with the occasional buzz word thrown in. He literally avoids meeting with teachers, either one on one or by department. He is impossible to meet with or even get a response by email and just seems content sitting in his ivory tower and being the face of TJ instead of actually being a leader. I can count on one hand how many times I have actually seen him out and about with students and teachers during the school day.

If he is so horrible to teachers, then why do the teachers at West Springfield High School think so highly of him?
If he is not talking to you, I suspect he has no interest in talking to you about racial diversity at TJ for the umpteenth time.
The teachers I know there seem to think he is better than Bonitatibus or at least more honest.
The ones that are upset are the ones that think TJ is supposed to be a social experiment.
He is your boss not your congressman, he doesn't owe you an audience.

And I have seen him several times at games and other afterschool events where parents are welcome.

It's funny how people like you think that the only reason teachers are upset is because of racial diversity. None of the complaints I have or have heard from other teachers have to do with the admissions process or the student demographics. Our complaints have to do with Mukai's lack of vision or any kind of rationale behind his changes. I guess throwing out buzz words to parents is enough to impress?

It absolutely has to do with his position on how important racial diversity is to TJ.

Bonitatibus made it a central part of her policy. Mukai doesn't care.

If an english language learner is struggling and wants to return to their base school where they have more programs for english language learners, he lets them go.
If a student's GPA falls below the threshold, he tells them to go back to their base school.
Some teachers are really upset about this.

I'm sorry you're upset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least now TJ has a principal who actually understands the courses being offered and is making updates so students get credit that matches the effort they put in.

Having actually listened to him, he has little understanding of courses and curriculum. He just cares if there is an "AP" before the name of the course.

He has been an FCPS teacher for 30 years.
He has been an assistant principal for 20 years.
He has been a principal for 10 years.

And he doesn't understand courses or curriculum?

What he doesn't understand is that a lot of people want TJ to be about virtue signaling.

So based on that timeline, it has been a long time since he has actually taught in a classroom. Maybe his dog and pony shows impress parents, but teachers see right through him. All he does is talk in circles with the occasional buzz word thrown in. He literally avoids meeting with teachers, either one on one or by department. He is impossible to meet with or even get a response by email and just seems content sitting in his ivory tower and being the face of TJ instead of actually being a leader. I can count on one hand how many times I have actually seen him out and about with students and teachers during the school day.

He is your boss not your congressman, he doesn't owe you an audience.

And I have seen him several times at games and other afterschool events where parents are welcome.

When a principal is more present outside of school hours and only seems to care about being the face of TJ for the parents and no one else, that is a problem. Considering that teachers are the ones working directly with students, he does owe it to them to actually lead and be present and active throughout the school day, not just for flashy public events

Once again, he was an incredibly popular among teacher at WSHS.

And he doesn't owe you shit.
He is your boss not your congressman.
He's not going to buddy around with the faculty woke brigade. If you are on the woke brigade and you don't like it at TJ anymore, then move to another school. There are literally a dozen teachers at WSHS that would be happy to come teach at TJ.
And aside from the woke brigade that wants him to continue Bonitatibus' efforts at maintaining racial diversity, the teachers there are either neutral or positive about him.
The teachers I know are pretty happy that they are replacing less academically qualified kids with more academically qualified froshmores and they aren't being pressured to prop up grades for the bottom end of the class.

The curriculum change might seem trivial to you but it is incredibly popular among the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Of course, that along with other reasons why she was shown the door, that too mid year. Mukai has brought in to clean up the mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Teachers are not upset about the demographics, so you can stop waving around that red herring. As I said before, one of the issues is that Mukai has not been transparent or consistent with the requirements of staying at TJ. He is so confrontation avoidant with staff and families and, as a result, constantly wavers and changes the goalposts. There is no standard process or standard for students to be in good academic standing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Teachers are not upset about the demographics, so you can stop waving around that red herring. As I said before, one of the issues is that Mukai has not been transparent or consistent with the requirements of staying at TJ. He is so confrontation avoidant with staff and families and, as a result, constantly wavers and changes the goalposts. There is no standard process or standard for students to be in good academic standing.

Pfft. You are absolutely upset about the racial issue. Most teachers don't have any idea of who is being sent back to their base school and what their GPAs are. Only the woke brigade is keeping track of that sort of thing. The standard for good academic standing is 3.0 unweighted. He has discretion (just like Bonitatibus did) to allow waivers. He doesn't have to explain every waiver to the faculty woke brigade, He's not your gal pal or woke co-conspirator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are any of the AP science courses double-period?

No - FCPS does not provide staffing to double-block any AP science courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

at least there is no longer a ridiculous personal running around the school chanting GPS nonsense.

Yeah, did anybody ever figure out what that was about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Teachers are not upset about the demographics, so you can stop waving around that red herring. As I said before, one of the issues is that Mukai has not been transparent or consistent with the requirements of staying at TJ. He is so confrontation avoidant with staff and families and, as a result, constantly wavers and changes the goalposts. There is no standard process or standard for students to be in good academic standing.

Pfft. You are absolutely upset about the racial issue. Most teachers don't have any idea of who is being sent back to their base school and what their GPAs are. Only the woke brigade is keeping track of that sort of thing. The standard for good academic standing is 3.0 unweighted. He has discretion (just like Bonitatibus did) to allow waivers. He doesn't have to explain every waiver to the faculty woke brigade, He's not your gal pal or woke co-conspirator.

Woke brigade? There was a cadre of woke teachers at TJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Teachers are not upset about the demographics, so you can stop waving around that red herring. As I said before, one of the issues is that Mukai has not been transparent or consistent with the requirements of staying at TJ. He is so confrontation avoidant with staff and families and, as a result, constantly wavers and changes the goalposts. There is no standard process or standard for students to be in good academic standing.

Pfft. You are absolutely upset about the racial issue. Most teachers don't have any idea of who is being sent back to their base school and what their GPAs are. Only the woke brigade is keeping track of that sort of thing. The standard for good academic standing is 3.0 unweighted. He has discretion (just like Bonitatibus did) to allow waivers. He doesn't have to explain every waiver to the faculty woke brigade, He's not your gal pal or woke co-conspirator.

You don't think being transparent with teachers about the return to base school process would maybe help it work more efficiently? I honestly don't care what the demographics are of students being admitted or released from TJ, nor has it ever come up in any conversations with other teachers. Yet, you keep assuming that anyone who doesn't like Mukai is part of the "woke brigade."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another issue is that Mukai has not provided any clear and consistent standard and procedure regarding when students are sent back to their base school. He frequently moves the goal posts without any communication with staff and families, with teachers usually being the last to know when students are transferring out. I know several juniors were told late last year that they were not welcomed back after Mukai changed the rules without warning.

And there it is.

You are in fact upset about who is going back to their base school and I suspect you are upset by the racial demographics of the froshmores that are replacing them.

Why would he tell teachers about which students are transferring out?

There is a minimum GPA at TJ. Bonitatibus ignored that rule by giving everyone waivers in an effort to make the new admissions process look like its not a total disaster.

Teachers are not upset about the demographics, so you can stop waving around that red herring. As I said before, one of the issues is that Mukai has not been transparent or consistent with the requirements of staying at TJ. He is so confrontation avoidant with staff and families and, as a result, constantly wavers and changes the goalposts. There is no standard process or standard for students to be in good academic standing.

Pfft. You are absolutely upset about the racial issue. Most teachers don't have any idea of who is being sent back to their base school and what their GPAs are. Only the woke brigade is keeping track of that sort of thing. The standard for good academic standing is 3.0 unweighted. He has discretion (just like Bonitatibus did) to allow waivers. He doesn't have to explain every waiver to the faculty woke brigade, He's not your gal pal or woke co-conspirator.

You don't think being transparent with teachers about the return to base school process would maybe help it work more efficiently? I honestly don't care what the demographics are of students being admitted or released from TJ, nor has it ever come up in any conversations with other teachers. Yet, you keep assuming that anyone who doesn't like Mukai is part of the "woke brigade."

How would keeping teachers in the loop about who was returning to base schools make the process more efficient? It happens mostly over the summer. How can you help in what is almost entirely an administrative process?

[Anonymous]

I do not think there is a “woke brigade” comprised of TJ faculty. That’s nonsense.

[Anonymous]

I'm talking about having a consistent and transparent process so that teachers know exactly what standards students need to meet and what the process is for communicating with parents and administration about students in danger of being released. Students are released throughout the year, especially 9th graders. This is not just something that happens during the summer.

The 3.0 GPA requirement is no longer a thing, or at least it hasn't been enforced at all.

There should be a consistent standard and process, because I have seen parents put up a fight and drag the process on for months while some students are released right away because they don't have someone advocating for them. This puts teachers in a difficult situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking about having a consistent and transparent process so that teachers know exactly what standards students need to meet and what the process is for communicating with parents and administration about students in danger of being released. Students are released throughout the year, especially 9th graders. This is not just something that happens during the summer.

The 3.0 GPA requirement is no longer a thing, or at least it hasn't been enforced at all.

There should be a consistent standard and process, because I have seen parents put up a fight and drag the process on for months while some students are released right away because they don't have someone advocating for them. This puts teachers in a difficult situation.

The standard is 3.0 that has been the standard the whole time. The fact that Bonitatibus didn't enforce that standard through a liberal waiver policy doesn't change the standard.

All this happens at the end of a school year, how do parents drag it out for months ... during the summer, how are teachers ever involved ... are you suggesting that teachers should change their grades to prevent this?

This doesn't happen in the middle of a semester or at the end of the fall semester. It happens at the end of a school year.

It's hard to believe you are a teacher at TJ and you would not know this.