Will TC Williams hurt college apps?

[Anonymous]

Schools in that list also included MIT, Colgate, William and Mary, and University of Michigan. If your child can't succeed at T.C. Williams then the likelihood of him or her succeeding in the real world isn't high. T.C. Williams is one of a kind. I suggest you look through the "Portraits of Success" page on the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria's website. T.C. Williams provides their students with a unique education that can't be found anywhere else. It's truly your child's loss if they don't at least give T.C. a try. It's not for everyone, but it is one heck of a school, despite what the flawed designation and Arne Duncan have to say.
http://www.alexscholarshipfund.org/portraits_of_success/

I also suggest that you read an article by Patrick Welsh, a T.C. Williams English teacher and Washington Post and New York Times contributer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031901362.html?sid=ST2010031901963

"In 1997 the school board rejected a task force recommendation that Alexandria create an alternative school -- the type of school that we desperately need today to serve students with specific educational challenges. Glenn Hopkins, who runs a nationally recognized local preschool program, remembers that fight. He said he and other task force members were "pilloried by a small but vocal cadre of short-sighted community activists." Most of these activists were African Americans who had battled segregation years ago. "They saw a small alternative school as a ruse to bring back segregation," Hopkins said. The school board, unnerved, shelved the recommendation."

"And we are outraged that the school system enrolls newly arrived 18- to 20-year-old immigrants in the general student population, where they aren't in programs tailored to their particular needs. Had we done as Arlington and Fairfax counties do and offered them enrollment in an adult education program, their Standards of Learning scores would not have counted, and it's very unlikely that T.C. would have gotten the "persistently low achieving" label. We would also be serving those students better."

[Anonymous]

As an Alexandria resident who is choosing to send her dc to private school, I think there are many reasons not to send your child to TC Williams. However, concerns about college admittance is not one of them. I believe that if you take equivalent "unconnected" kids from private and public schools, the public school kid (particularly if he/she attended an "underperforming" school) has a better chance of getting into a competitive college or university.

[Anonymous]

OP, search DCUM to find an earlier thread about TC. Basically, if you break down the standardized tests by demographic groups, you see that in many ways TC is multiple schools for multiple demographic groups (for better or worse). That is: the white kids from affluent families have test scored well above the state average, but there is an equally strong correlation between non-white/non-affluent kids and lower than average scores. Since the majority of the TC population comes from the latter group, the school averages are low -- but the kids who do well do very well. Not saying this is a good thing (or that statistics and correlations are destiny for any individual kid), but just that who does well and who does poorly at TC appears to have a whole lot more to do with demographics going in that with the school. Also agree with PP: all things being equal, if you have a bright and motivated child he is probably better off, in the college admissions crapshoot, applying from TC than from the area privates. Fewer legacy kids to compete with, etc.

My kids are still too young for HS and are at a private k-8, but we plan to send them to TC when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

No going to TC Williams will not hurt college apps, it may even help. College Admission Officials often look for kids from under-performing schools (among many factors). TC Williams real problem (and benefit) is that it does not discriminate like other jurisdictions or private schools. Other jurisdictions have zoned to have economic segregation, whereas Alexandria only has on high school. Private Schools discriminate by using tuition as a barrier to the masses.

The question you need to ask is: Will my child receive the appropriate opportunities and support to get into a college of his choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No going to TC Williams will not hurt college apps, it may even help. College Admission Officials often look for kids from under-performing schools (among many factors). TC Williams real problem (and benefit) is that it does not discriminate like other jurisdictions or private schools. Other jurisdictions have zoned to have economic segregation, whereas Alexandria only has on high school. Private Schools discriminate by using tuition as a barrier to the masses.

The question you need to ask is: Will my child receive the appropriate opportunities and support to get into a college of his choice?

Better off being the superstar at TC Williams than a member of the pack without a hook at a high socio-economic or middle class public or any private. It's like moving to Idaho for geographic representation.