TJ admissions: Top 1.5% means what exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

One thing that does feel unfair is there is no correction or adjustment for middle schools that also have the aap kids/program. They should have done something like 2% for aap having schools and 1 % for the 9 schools that don't have aap, or have a way to consider the school the student would have attended if not for aap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

TJ isn’t representative of all of FCPS; it’s just non-representative in a different way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And the 1.5% from any of the middle schools can include Asians or Whites or whatever race happens to be at that school. The expectation is that the MS that have been underrepresented at TJ are typically poorer schools with a larger AA and Hispanic population. Since the kids know that they have a chance at being accepted, because of the 1.5% rule, there is an expectation that kids from all MS will apply. They know that they have a shot about being accepted, because they are no longer held to standards that benefit UMC and MC families who are more informed about TJ early on and push outside math enrichment so their kids are more likely to be in Algebra Honors in 7th, take Geometry in the summer, and Algebra II H in 8th. And the kids know that there will some kids from their current school attending TJ so it feels less daunting.

People can choose to move to the under-represented MS to increase their chances of getting into TJ if they want. I am sure that those MS would be happy to welcome in more high achieving kids to boost their existing cohort and hopefully encourage other kids to push themselves Academically.

This prob will happen or has happened now. 1.5% is nothing but feels like a quota system.

It’s not nothing when there is one TJ and 24 middle/secondary schools. Most TJ kids getting in from FCPS are now getting in through the set-aside quotas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Glenn Youngkin got exactly what he wanted from those constituencies and is no longer beholden to them because VA governors are not eligible for re-election. Public schools are not going to be a priority in a Youngkin administration except inasmuch as he will push for school vouchers to funnel public money into private schools. He does not care one bit about TJ. BUT wealthy Asian-American families will benefit from his governorship in the form of lower taxes. Less wealthy Asian-American families will suffer from poorer working conditions and less well-funded public schools, but those will almost exclusively be East and Southeast Asian families - which are not representative of the folks who troll these boards.

[Anonymous]

So that there is no confusion:

Each middle school receives an allocation of seats equivalent to 1.5% of their 8th grade class, which is about 6-10 students per school.

Students still have to apply to TJ in order to be considered for one of those spaces. If the top-performing student at a school does not apply, they are not offered admission.

It's also important to note that there are many schools which did not fill their allocation last year, and those spots went back into the pool of unallocated seats. This will happen pretty much every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Glenn Youngkin got exactly what he wanted from those constituencies and is no longer beholden to them because VA governors are not eligible for re-election. Public schools are not going to be a priority in a Youngkin administration except inasmuch as he will push for school vouchers to funnel public money into private schools. He does not care one bit about TJ. BUT wealthy Asian-American families will benefit from his governorship in the form of lower taxes. Less wealthy Asian-American families will suffer from poorer working conditions and less well-funded public schools, but those will almost exclusively be East and Southeast Asian families - which are not representative of the folks who troll these boards.

I think you're reading the room about as well as Terry McAuliffe and his campaign staff did, but we'll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And the 1.5% from any of the middle schools can include Asians or Whites or whatever race happens to be at that school. The expectation is that the MS that have been underrepresented at TJ are typically poorer schools with a larger AA and Hispanic population. Since the kids know that they have a chance at being accepted, because of the 1.5% rule, there is an expectation that kids from all MS will apply. They know that they have a shot about being accepted, because they are no longer held to standards that benefit UMC and MC families who are more informed about TJ early on and push outside math enrichment so their kids are more likely to be in Algebra Honors in 7th, take Geometry in the summer, and Algebra II H in 8th. And the kids know that there will some kids from their current school attending TJ so it feels less daunting.

People can choose to move to the under-represented MS to increase their chances of getting into TJ if they want. I am sure that those MS would be happy to welcome in more high achieving kids to boost their existing cohort and hopefully encourage other kids to push themselves Academically.

This prob will happen or has happened now. 1.5% is nothing but feels like a quota system.

It’s not nothing when there is one TJ and 24 middle/secondary schools. Most TJ kids getting in from FCPS are now getting in through the set-aside quotas.

There are twenty-four MS so 36% of the class are set aside quotas. Mind you, many of those MS were sending above that quota before hand. Removing the top 5 Middle Schools from that number, 28.5% of the seats are set aside by quota. What percentage actually comes from Loundoun and Arlington? I would guesstimate that 25% of the class is accepted through the old admissions style process but it is probably higher then that.

As for the kids at the AAP Centers, if you choose to send your kids to the AAP Centers, that is where you are choosing for your kids to compete for the TJ 1.5%. If you choose to send your kid to the Center, then that is where you are entered. If you want to stay at your Base because you think that TJ might be easier to get into from your Base, that is on you. But the idea that you would include kids at their base schools pools when you choose not to attend that school is silly. The Base School does not get to count your kids SOL scores or other scores. They don't get the advantage of having more kids that are academically driven and the positives that come from that. Why should you get the "positive" of an easier TJ pool?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Glenn Youngkin got exactly what he wanted from those constituencies and is no longer beholden to them because VA governors are not eligible for re-election. Public schools are not going to be a priority in a Youngkin administration except inasmuch as he will push for school vouchers to funnel public money into private schools. He does not care one bit about TJ. BUT wealthy Asian-American families will benefit from his governorship in the form of lower taxes. Less wealthy Asian-American families will suffer from poorer working conditions and less well-funded public schools, but those will almost exclusively be East and Southeast Asian families - which are not representative of the folks who troll these boards.

I think you're reading the room about as well as Terry McAuliffe and his campaign staff did, but we'll see.

That doesn't mean that PP is wrong. TM didn't win because he didn't spin parent fears into a campaign platform. TM didn't tell you want you wanted to hear because what you wanted to hear was BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Mission accomplished, Nomani. You got your Trumpkin guy elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And the 1.5% from any of the middle schools can include Asians or Whites or whatever race happens to be at that school. The expectation is that the MS that have been underrepresented at TJ are typically poorer schools with a larger AA and Hispanic population. Since the kids know that they have a chance at being accepted, because of the 1.5% rule, there is an expectation that kids from all MS will apply. They know that they have a shot about being accepted, because they are no longer held to standards that benefit UMC and MC families who are more informed about TJ early on and push outside math enrichment so their kids are more likely to be in Algebra Honors in 7th, take Geometry in the summer, and Algebra II H in 8th. And the kids know that there will some kids from their current school attending TJ so it feels less daunting.

People can choose to move to the under-represented MS to increase their chances of getting into TJ if they want. I am sure that those MS would be happy to welcome in more high achieving kids to boost their existing cohort and hopefully encourage other kids to push themselves Academically.

This prob will happen or has happened now. 1.5% is nothing but feels like a quota system.

It’s not nothing when there is one TJ and 24 middle/secondary schools. Most TJ kids getting in from FCPS are now getting in through the set-aside quotas.

There are twenty-four MS so 36% of the class are set aside quotas. Mind you, many of those MS were sending above that quota before hand. Removing the top 5 Middle Schools from that number, 28.5% of the seats are set aside by quota. What percentage actually comes from Loundoun and Arlington? I would guesstimate that 25% of the class is accepted through the old admissions style process but it is probably higher then that.

As for the kids at the AAP Centers, if you choose to send your kids to the AAP Centers, that is where you are choosing for your kids to compete for the TJ 1.5%. If you choose to send your kid to the Center, then that is where you are entered. If you want to stay at your Base because you think that TJ might be easier to get into from your Base, that is on you. But the idea that you would include kids at their base schools pools when you choose not to attend that school is silly. The Base School does not get to count your kids SOL scores or other scores. They don't get the advantage of having more kids that are academically driven and the positives that come from that. Why should you get the "positive" of an easier TJ pool?

Your logic isn't on point (you can't simply multiple 24 by 1.5 to determine the magnitude of the set-aside quotas, as that depends on the number of 8th graders at each MS and the size of TJ's current class).

As it turns out, about 40% of next year's class will be from the FCPS set aside quotas, about 28% will be from other jurisdictions, and the remaining 32% will come from the residual FCPS pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And the 1.5% from any of the middle schools can include Asians or Whites or whatever race happens to be at that school. The expectation is that the MS that have been underrepresented at TJ are typically poorer schools with a larger AA and Hispanic population. Since the kids know that they have a chance at being accepted, because of the 1.5% rule, there is an expectation that kids from all MS will apply. They know that they have a shot about being accepted, because they are no longer held to standards that benefit UMC and MC families who are more informed about TJ early on and push outside math enrichment so their kids are more likely to be in Algebra Honors in 7th, take Geometry in the summer, and Algebra II H in 8th. And the kids know that there will some kids from their current school attending TJ so it feels less daunting.

People can choose to move to the under-represented MS to increase their chances of getting into TJ if they want. I am sure that those MS would be happy to welcome in more high achieving kids to boost their existing cohort and hopefully encourage other kids to push themselves Academically.

This prob will happen or has happened now. 1.5% is nothing but feels like a quota system.

It’s not nothing when there is one TJ and 24 middle/secondary schools. Most TJ kids getting in from FCPS are now getting in through the set-aside quotas.

There are twenty-four MS so 36% of the class are set aside quotas. Mind you, many of those MS were sending above that quota before hand. Removing the top 5 Middle Schools from that number, 28.5% of the seats are set aside by quota. What percentage actually comes from Loundoun and Arlington? I would guesstimate that 25% of the class is accepted through the old admissions style process but it is probably higher then that.

[b]As for the kids at the AAP Centers, if you choose to send your kids to the AAP Centers, that is where you are choosing for your kids to compete for the TJ 1.5%. If you choose to send your kid to the Center, then that is where you are entered.[b] If you want to stay at your Base because you think that TJ might be easier to get into from your Base, that is on you. But the idea that you would include kids at their base schools pools when you choose not to attend that school is silly. The Base School does not get to count your kids SOL scores or other scores. They don't get the advantage of having more kids that are academically driven and the positives that come from that. Why should you get the "positive" of an easier TJ pool?

For middle school, which is where I understand kids to apply to TJ, my kids are zoned for the AAP middle school, so they will be there regardless of whether they are selected for AAP. Our elementary is not an AAP center, nor does it have a local level 4 (although I believe that is set to change eventually). There were less than 10 parents at the online AAP meeting and less than 30% of the 3rd graders passed the reading SOL last spring. It is hardly what many here would consider a good school. Similarly our assigned high school is on the bottom end of the list of high schools, along with many of our neighboring high schools. I don't harbor any illusions that my kids will actually qualify for TJ, but it seems unfair that what FCPS identifies are the brightest kids are clustered at specific schools and then these schools are given the same minimum percentage of students as schools that some of those kids would have attended if they weren't identified as being advanced. I hardly feel our ES and HS are significantly better than neighboring ES and HS with similar or better test scores that feed into the same AAP MS and then split again.

Also your math is wrong. It isn't necessarily 36% of TJ. It's 1.5% of each middle school. A middle school that has more students in one grade than the TJ class, will have more than 1.5 % of the TJ class and one that has less will have less than 1.5%. To use an extreme example, if a middle school has 200 kids/grade, they would get 3 as part of the 1.5% which will be about 0.6% of TJ (using 500 for the number of seats) while a school that has 1000 kids/grade will get 15 as part of the 1.5%, which is about 3% of TJ. Assuming the AAP center middle schools are larger, this will account for some of the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Glenn Youngkin got exactly what he wanted from those constituencies and is no longer beholden to them because VA governors are not eligible for re-election. Public schools are not going to be a priority in a Youngkin administration except inasmuch as he will push for school vouchers to funnel public money into private schools. He does not care one bit about TJ. BUT wealthy Asian-American families will benefit from his governorship in the form of lower taxes. Less wealthy Asian-American families will suffer from poorer working conditions and less well-funded public schools, but those will almost exclusively be East and Southeast Asian families - which are not representative of the folks who troll these boards.

I think you're reading the room about as well as Terry McAuliffe and his campaign staff did, but we'll see.

That doesn't mean that PP is wrong. TM didn't win because he didn't spin parent fears into a campaign platform. TM didn't tell you want you wanted to hear because what you wanted to hear was BS.

I am the PP. Youngkin did what he needed to do to develop a winning coalition. He no longer needs it, so he can return to his priorities of cutting taxes and regulations for businesses and the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. This is not a guy who cares about TJ or public schools in ANY way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It guarantees spots to kids at every Middle School who has an interest and meets the general requirements. It makes TJ representative of all of FCPS by insuring that qualified kids from each MS have an opportunity to attend.

That 1.5% has to have met the basic criteria

1) 3.5 GPA (The average GPA last year was a 3.98)
2) Completed or taking Algebra Honors and at least one other Honors Math class (7th Grade Honors or Geometry Honors)
3) Completed 2 years of Honors Science
4) Completed at least 2 other Honors classes (History, English)
5) Successfully completed the math essay

And what happens if some schools have more kids meeting the basic criteria? How are they going to select 1.5% then?

So in a high income neighborhood, 1.5% will be easily filled by top 2% kids with very high GPA and other criteria. In another neighborhood, where there are many Farms 1.5% will be filled by kids who barely fulfill the criteria. It will be easier to get in TJ from those schools. This is called Equity and another kind of racism.

No, the real answer is:

Kids who meet the base criteria will do well at TJ. These are the requirements that are stringent and stick to classes and requirements that can be achieved at every Middle School and do not require kids to participate in outside activities that they cannot afford or get to or even know about.

The 1.5% leaves plenty of extra seats that are filled by the regular admissions practices. Schools like Carson and Rocky Run and Longfellow still had 50 or so kids admitted, which is well above their alloted 1.5%.

The reality is that less then 10% of the kids in the Country will take Algebra Honors in 7th grade. I get this number by looking at the 20% of the kids in AAP and reports that only half of those kids will qualify for Algebra Honors in 7th and not all of the kids who qualify will take Algebra Honors in 7th. There are also kids in Advanced Math so I am sort of filling the gaps with the Advanced Math only kids. I am not sure what the percentage of kids take Algebra Honors in 8th grade but I would guess it is about the same number who took Algebra Honors in 7th. I understand that people on this board think that the math sequence is too easy but there are lots of kids who struggle with math and most will

Plenty of kids take Honors classes and don't get a 3.5. You all seem to think that these are easy targets to hit but they are not.

With so few kids qualifying for Algebra Honors in 7th and needing a 3.5 the standard is rigorous enough.

Your issue is that FCPS is trying to spread the seats throughout the county instead of concentrating the seats in 4-5 schools that happen to have a higher SES and more Asian and White kids. I am fine with the standard and with the seats being distributed so that access is available across the county.

And no, electing Youngkin isn't going to change a damn thing because TJ is still administered by FCPS and the Republican Party has not been traditionally a bastion of Public School, education loving individuals.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. TJ only exists because a Republican Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County wanted a STEM magnet years ago, and Youngkin is very close with the Coalition for TJ folks like Harry Jackson and Asra Nomani. He was at an awards banquet getting his picture taken with Nomani a few days ago. They helped get him elected by cutting into the Democratic margins in NoVa and he won’t quickly forget them.

Glenn Youngkin got exactly what he wanted from those constituencies and is no longer beholden to them because VA governors are not eligible for re-election. Public schools are not going to be a priority in a Youngkin administration except inasmuch as he will push for school vouchers to funnel public money into private schools. He does not care one bit about TJ. BUT wealthy Asian-American families will benefit from his governorship in the form of lower taxes. Less wealthy Asian-American families will suffer from poorer working conditions and less well-funded public schools, but those will almost exclusively be East and Southeast Asian families - which are not representative of the folks who troll these boards.

I think you're reading the room about as well as Terry McAuliffe and his campaign staff did, but we'll see.

That doesn't mean that PP is wrong. TM didn't win because he didn't spin parent fears into a campaign platform. TM didn't tell you want you wanted to hear because what you wanted to hear was BS.

I am the PP. Youngkin did what he needed to do to develop a winning coalition. He no longer needs it, so he can return to his priorities of cutting taxes and regulations for businesses and the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. This is not a guy who cares about TJ or public schools in ANY way.

I disagree. But only time will tell. Please keep in mind that the new Lt. Governor was VP of the VA Board of Education.