What changes in the TJ admissions procedure do you predict this year ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BTGKX652F413/$file/TJHSST%20Admissions%20Merit%20Lottery%20Proposal.pdf

With lottery system, TJ will just become a glorified charter school and it will no longer be a magnet school. Anyone with 3.5+ GPA with Algebra I in 7th or 8th grade will have an equal chance, which will be a lot. I see that Regions 1 and 2, which usually send majority of the kids to TJ will stand to lose most and Regions 3 and 4 will gain significantly with 70 students cap.

In our case, our base school comes under Franklin (Region 5), where as AAP center is Carson (Region 1). DS started his 7th grade in Carson as he is in AAP. Few of his AAP classmates chose to go to Franklin Level IV for personal reasons - may be it will work out better for them. I am thinking if we should also transfer back to Franklin in 8th grade as application pool will be much larger in Region 1 as compared to Region 5. What do you think?

Your student should go to the middle school where they will get the best educational experience for 8th grade. Strategizing for TJ is not a good move given the amount of chance in the process.

+1.

What this really does is downgrade TJ as a "destination" school. It becomes a demonstration project that a more diverse group of students can study in a STEM-oriented environment. But admission will be more random, and the school's profile and achievement levels will be lower.

Some have suggested this will make the pyramids with the middle schools that currently send the most kids to TJ less attractive. In fact, it's just as likely to make the pyramids with the strongest neighborhood high schools more attractive. Who is going to game the new system by sending their kid to Whitman if it's a crap shoot and their kid will more likely end up at Mount Vernon. Just go with Irving/West Springfield and be done with it.

Yep - The lottery system will essentially kill the demand for the TJ and may in fact make base regular high schools more attractive. TJ will not be better than a good base school - may likely fall to the same level as Langley or McLean HS. I am sure the new 'holistic' process will take the race and gender into consideration with the aim of cutting down asian and specifically Indian students, even with in a given region. With in a given 'race' and 'gender', as long as you get 3.5 GPA, you may have a an equal chance of making the cut - may not matter if you are the top of the class or just scraped through. If they try to prioritize admissions based on the GPA (above 3.5), then lottery doesn't make sense and we may again face the original diversity issue where whites and asians may have higher average GPA.

So, the bottom line is if you are an asian kid (like my DS) from regions 1 and 2, then you are at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

This lottery makes no sense. All it achieves is dismantling TJ, which is the top high school in the country. Why is that a good idea? How about we shift to tests that are easier to prep for and make prep books (like the ones on Amazon for the ACT Aspire) and prep courses freely available to anyone who asks or need-based, keep the creative math essay (which no one can prep for), and loosen the recommendation requirement (so anyone - not just a teacher - but anyone, from coaches to clergy - can recommend a student), and roll ahead?

[Anonymous]

It's not even a real lottery. Did you see the sentence "Students are placed into lottery pathways after a holistic review" They never get around to defining what that holistic review means. If this were really about making sure Black and Hispanic students had equal opportunities, they would start by reviewing the AAP and its inherent biases.

[Anonymous]

I think what this does is make TJ more of a science magnet/science focus school rather than an elite/gifted school. It does take it down a peg. To me, that would make more sense if there were other magnets in Ffx, like a social sciences magnet, an arts magnet, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you are not OK with the move away from merit based admissions at TJ, please sign this petition..

https://www.change.org/p/ralph-s-northam-keep-merit-based-admissions-at-tjhsst?

[Anonymous]

“Merit Lottery”: oxymoron from a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Merit Lottery”: oxymoron from a moron.

Good comment! On target.

[Anonymous]

They keep mentioning panels looking at the questionaire/essays but they never say how that will affect admissions chance, or whether it will. If it has no effect on one's chance in the lottery, then what is the point of doing it? And if it is supposed to have an effect, what effect could it have and why aren't they saying so?

[Anonymous]

I love it and I've suggested a similar plan for years on this forum. I am happy to see TJ change and become an incubator for STEM-passionate kids rather than a sweat shop and breeding ground for anxiety and depression. There are capable kids who can do great things all over this county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love it and I've suggested a similar plan for years on this forum. I am happy to see TJ change and become an incubator for STEM-passionate kids rather than a sweat shop and breeding ground for anxiety and depression. There are capable kids who can do great things all over this county.

Written by someone with no kids at TJ who bases her knowledge on DCUM rumors.

[Anonymous]

Karl Frisch wonders how FCPS can keep people from moving to different schools.

[Anonymous]

The issue of resources not available to URMs are farce. 22% of Asian american households in Fairfax county earn more than 200K and 16-18% of African american house holds earn more than 200K. Whle the population of Asian Americans is 20% of fairfax while that of African Americans is 9%. So how there is lack of resources for URMs where around 17% of them earn more than 200K?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue of resources not available to URMs are farce. 22% of Asian american households in Fairfax county earn more than 200K and 16-18% of African american house holds earn more than 200K. Whle the population of Asian Americans is 20% of fairfax while that of African Americans is 9%. So how there is lack of resources for URMs where around 17% of them earn more than 200K?

So the death of TJ is because of false narrative shoved into people's throat?

[Anonymous]

They should just get rid of TJ rather than water it down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should just get rid of TJ rather than water it down.

Yes, i agree. Or otherwise they should change the name and let TJ remain a legacy. It will be painful to see TJ not being in the top of high school list anymore. Let them better dismantle it or atleast change the name.