Well-regarded middle school AAP centers?
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Anonymous
Wealth may make it easier to afford outside enrichment but some groups are more inclined to pursue this while others might value other activities like travel sports. |
Anonymous
After all the media attention and all of the changes at TJ receiving so much public attention, you have no business spreading misinformation. Choosing Longfellow is literally a disadvantage. A top-tier student from the nontraditional feeders has a significantly greater chance at TJ. |
Anonymous
+1. |
Anonymous
It just means that Longfellow kids have higher scores in the TJ application than kids from elsewhere. Unless you think that Longfellow has inflated grades relative to other schools or is doing something that helps the kids write better essays, then attending Longfellow wouldn't be an advantage. If a school is only sending its allocated number of students and not claiming any general pool spots, then the score cutoff for being in the top 1.5% would be relatively low. Those schools would be the easiest to get into TJ. |
Anonymous
You consider it a disadvantage even though more kids get in from Longfellow than any other MS? Seems like it has the best odds and your trying to keep it a secret. |
Anonymous
That means that there are more applicants too. It also means that an applicant can't rely on the 1.5% quota. If the only goal is TJ, send your kid to Whitman and they'll easily get in. |
Anonymous
Do you think Longfellow is handing out inflated grades or the teachers are coaching the kids in writing their essays for the portrait sheet? If not, then Longfellow is giving no advantage whatsoever to the applicants. It is a fact that Longfellow kids need a higher assessed score on the TJ application than kids coming from schools that only send their top 1.5%. If Longfellow is not actively doing anything to boost their kids' scores, then it would be disadvantageous to attend Longfellow. |
Anonymous
| Longfellow applications to TJ are very competitive so it would easier to get accepted coming from a nontraditional middle school area. That's for sure. |
Anonymous
| OP, is your goal even TJ, because these discussions quickly head in that direction. My kids have done/will do Louise Archer --> Luther Jackson --> Madison HS. LAES and LJMS are excellent centers with excellent teachers. Seriously, every teacher we have had at both has been excellent. Some don't like LJ because it is 50% FARMS and has a lot of fights in the hallway, etc. The fights, in our experience, do not involve the AAP kids. |
Anonymous
It could be school culture. Maybe more kids at Longfellow discuss wanting to attend TJ and so more kids hear about that conversation so more kids end up applying. Parents who are interested in TJ tend to send their kids to Carson and Longfellow because they have reputations for preparing kids for TJ and a large number of kids attending TJ. You end up with more conversation about TJ because of that and so more kids who might not have thought about TJ hear about it and decide that they want to try for TJ. Other schools might not have as many kids who are focused on TJ and so there is less general interest. The kids who apply, and are accepted, are more likely to be kids who were interested without peer infleunce. Maybe. |
Anonymous
DP with different take: Longfellow has a significant advantage due to a handful of teachers/classes that are very rigorous compared to other schools. Families who are aware of this like to self select from an early age into that environment with an eye toward TJ. Kids who are part of that peer group will be very strong academically, especially in math and science. Not only do the parents not have to do as much outside work/enrichment as they would certainly have to at a typical middle school, the kids feed off each other and excel; essentially a micro TJ environment. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm willing to bet a high percentage of those kids will still get into TJ, despite the recent changes to the application process. While this is part speculation currently, this was the case for many years not too long ago when a certain teacher essentially taught the gifted kids for many years, producing some insane results with respect to math contests, national awards, etc. Even though he left a few years back, it's still fair to say that he likely left some form of legacy to a few of the teachers who are still there in terms of the challenge factor in the courses. I think because of the general watering down of standards, the teacher leaving, the AAP split to Cooper, some of these families may have decided to move on from Longfellow to either the current place where the teacher now teaches, or places such as Basis, etc. But there is still a very strong cohort left at Longfellow, it's just not as huge as it once was. |
Anonymous
More kids get into TJ from Carson than from Longfellow. Before the recent change in the TJ admissions process, there were years where more kids were getting into TJ from Carson, but the admissions rate from Longfellow was the highest in the county. With the change in the TJ admissions process, Carson and Longfellow still send more kids to TJ than other middle schools, but the admissions rate is lower than from other middle schools with far fewer applicants. Cooper is an AAP center like Longfellow, but it didn't used to be, and around the time the AAP program might have gotten more intense they changed the TJ admissions process. So maybe the level of interest in TJ never reached Carson/Longfellow/Rocky Run levels at Cooper, and of course when it comes to neighborhood high schools it doesn't get much better than Langley. |
Anonymous
This is great to hear about Jackson. My kids are both headed there as well. |
Anonymous
It is a carry over from a math teacher that developed their math program. As a result, parents interested in TJ for their children flocked there. The parents that can afford Longfellow housing, also pay for substantial prep activities. The teacher has not been at Longfellow for a few years. Recently, FCPS changed the admissions standards such that each MS sends at least 1.5% of their class. At Longfellow, it is harder to be in the top 1.5% of the class. |
Anonymous
Yes, but there is a residual pool after each MS sends 1.5% to TJ, and Longfellow and Carson continue to snag more of those remaining seats than other schools. |