One Fairfax

[Anonymous]

See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS just started 3rd grade AAP. His class is over 50% non-Asian minorities. DS is Asian-American. There are only 2 Asian kids in his class. I am sure several of those kids may end up at TJ. Don’t know if it matters but the African American kids are mostly children of African immigrants.

I too have noticed that the AA kids in my kids' AAP classes are children of recent African Immigrants. I think their parents see education as a path to success in this country.

Our school's AAP minority kids were either African immigrants ' children or AA military kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

This is what's wrong with having mostly poor or mostly wealthy middle and high schools. The poor ones have mostly remedial after school offerings and have difficulty Fielding teams for the stem clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

This is what's wrong with having mostly poor or mostly wealthy middle and high schools. The poor ones have mostly remedial after school offerings and have difficulty Fielding teams for the stem clubs.

So maybe people need to focus less on TJ, which only serves 2% of graduating seniors, and more on the schools that serve 98% of kids. And rezone, so the FARMs/ESL levels are stable across all high schools. But weirdly, you never see anyone do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

This is what's wrong with having mostly poor or mostly wealthy middle and high schools. The poor ones have mostly remedial after school offerings and have difficulty Fielding teams for the stem clubs.

So maybe people need to focus less on TJ, which only serves 2% of graduating seniors, and more on the schools that serve 98% of kids. And rezone, so the FARMs/ESL levels are stable across all high schools. But weirdly, you never see anyone do that.

It is difficult to do that because affluence and poverty are not evenly distributed across the county. If we think our bus fleet is large now, it would be signficantly larger if students had to be bussed across the county for SES distribution.

[Anonymous]

^^^ W. Springfield and Lee; Chantilly/Westfield: Woodson/ Annandal; Herndon/Langley/SLHS/ Mclean. Stuart/ McLean/Lee; move Oakton boundaries east towards Annandale, rather than so far West.

Lots of strong school districts that adjoinweak ones. The could absolutely rezone to rebalance the schools.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/High.pdf

[Anonymous]

I actually like the idea of tying TJ slots to a specific high school pyramid. I don't know why that hasn't caught on with all of this equity talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

This is what's wrong with having mostly poor or mostly wealthy middle and high schools. The poor ones have mostly remedial after school offerings and have difficulty Fielding teams for the stem clubs.

So maybe people need to focus less on TJ, which only serves 2% of graduating seniors, and more on the schools that serve 98% of kids. And rezone, so the FARMs/ESL levels are stable across all high schools. But weirdly, you never see anyone do that.

It is difficult to do that because affluence and poverty are not evenly distributed across the county. If we think our bus fleet is large now, it would be signficantly larger if students had to be bussed across the county for SES distribution.

It would also help if our school board and our supervisors tried to balance schools and also new building projects, particularly multifamily housing and distribute it evenly. Lets not pretend the boundaries of schools and districts make any sense. They are all gerrymandered to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

These are good ideas but take additional funding which FCPS doesn't have. People are just a little jealous now of TJ because it gets more funding than the other schools and now has a new renovation as well.

[Anonymous]

On balance, TJ has been horrible for FCPS. As long as they can point to something "world class" (gag), it's easy to ignore what's become essentially third-world.

And closing a neighborhood high school in eastern Fairfax has over time screwed up the boundaries, concentrated poverty at Annandale, and forced some unlucky kids to cross both 495 and 395 to get to Edison. All so some tiger moms in McLean and Chantilly can boast about their TJ kids. It's the epitome of "Two Fairfaxes."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On balance, TJ has been horrible for FCPS. As long as they can point to something "world class" (gag), it's easy to ignore what's become essentially third-world.

And closing a neighborhood high school in eastern Fairfax has over time screwed up the boundaries, concentrated poverty at Annandale, and forced some unlucky kids to cross both 495 and 395 to get to Edison. All so some tiger moms in McLean and Chantilly can boast about their TJ kids. It's the epitome of "Two Fairfaxes."

Well without TJ, I'm not sure Fairfax would be doing as well as it is. People want good schools and move here because of it. There's no reason to think that trend would continue if TJ went away. So probably TJ actually influences the other high schools for the better due to its popularity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ W. Springfield and Lee; Chantilly/Westfield: Woodson/ Annandal; Herndon/Langley/SLHS/ Mclean. Stuart/ McLean/Lee; move Oakton boundaries east towards Annandale, rather than so far West.

Lots of strong school districts that adjoinweak ones. The could absolutely rezone to rebalance the schools.

https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/High.pdf

Agree+++

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See, this is what I hate about FCPS. People want to take something world class, like TJ, and dismantle it because their kid doesn’t benefit.

It seems like a much better idea is taking the parts of TJ that are really exceptional, and finding ways to bring them to the base schools.

For example:

8th period is a really amazing part of TJ. Embedded extracurriculars, plus opportunities for students to meet independent with teachers. Why not not have base schools apply for a pilot program to expand the 8th period idea to more schools, in a way that meets the need of their school communities. Mt. Vernon might offer intensive remediation, free teacher lead SAT prep, extra hand holding during college admissions for URMs, and enrichment/ academic teams, etc for the top students. Whereas Langley might chose a model closer to TJs.

Why not give base school kids the option of taking integrated classes, along the lines of IBET, CHUM, HUM2, Senior Seminar?

Why not give base school kids the option of getting a diploma that is more rigorous than the advanced diploma?

Why not set up a program to let base school kids apply to come to TJ and do a senior research project in one of TJs research labs, either independly, or as a member of one of the TJ student research teams?

Why not have TJ teachers teach some of TJ’s advanced STEM classes, like the post AP CS and post multi/linear classes, to base school kids via a virtual classroom arrangement?

Why not let base school kids apply to join some of TJ’s unique STEM extracurricular opportunities— for example, apply to be a member of the CubeSat team.

There are lots of ways that the successful parts of the TJ model could be adopted by base school. And lots of ways Kids with an interest in STEm could have a “normal” high school experience while also doing advanced work or research in a specific area of interest in conjunction with TJ. Think bigger, not smaller.

These are good ideas but take additional funding which FCPS doesn't have. People are just a little jealous now of TJ because it gets more funding than the other schools and now has a new renovation as well.

First, TJ doesn’t really get more funding from FCPS, except for the extra teacher supplement for 8th period. They get extra finding from the State, as a governor’s school. Most of the extras TJ has, including a lot of the lab equipment, support for academic teams, etc comes from public private partnership (a lot of companies donate to/ underwrite TJ) and parent/alumni/ TJ community donations. TJ partnership fund raises a ton on money from parents and alumni. Ditto TJ academic boosters. And band boosters. Etc. TJ is unusual in that it has a well established fundraising machine. And many alumni donate every year. To the partnership fund, or an activity they were involved in (band, orchestra, drama, crew, academic boosters, etc). In association with the renovation, the TJPF has raised close to $8 million. When was the last time you donated money to your old high school?

http://tjpartnershipfund.org/

As for the renovation, TJ waited its turn. It went over 30 years with no updates. I was there for an OOTM tournament a couple years before the renovation began and it was shocking how dirty and run down it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On balance, TJ has been horrible for FCPS. As long as they can point to something "world class" (gag), it's easy to ignore what's become essentially third-world.

And closing a neighborhood high school in eastern Fairfax has over time screwed up the boundaries, concentrated poverty at Annandale, and forced some unlucky kids to cross both 495 and 395 to get to Edison. All so some tiger moms in McLean and Chantilly can boast about their TJ kids. It's the epitome of "Two Fairfaxes."

Well without TJ, I'm not sure Fairfax would be doing as well as it is. People want good schools and move here because of it. There's no reason to think that trend would continue if TJ went away. So probably TJ actually influences the other high schools for the better due to its popularity.

Keep telling yourself that. It's getting a bit old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On balance, TJ has been horrible for FCPS. As long as they can point to something "world class" (gag), it's easy to ignore what's become essentially third-world.

And closing a neighborhood high school in eastern Fairfax has over time screwed up the boundaries, concentrated poverty at Annandale, and forced some unlucky kids to cross both 495 and 395 to get to Edison. All so some tiger moms in McLean and Chantilly can boast about their TJ kids. It's the epitome of "Two Fairfaxes."

Well without TJ, I'm not sure Fairfax would be doing as well as it is. People want good schools and move here because of it. There's no reason to think that trend would continue if TJ went away. So probably TJ actually influences the other high schools for the better due to its popularity.

+1. TJ helps draw affluent and educated families to Fairfax County and FCPS. And affluent and educated workforce, especially in STEM, convinces companies to invest here. Fairfax County and FCPS does not support TJ out of the goodness of their hearts. TJ plays an important role in Fairfax County’s economic development.

TJ and the AAP feeders are part of the reason there are so few good private schools serving Fairfax County.