Looking for TJHSST advice for freshmen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is also a big-little program for incoming freshmen to help them get to know some people before school starts.

This was a big bust for my child. The Big Sib, after an obligatory introduction, never made contact thereafter.

My child's experience has been 1) easy to make friends 2) kids largely make friends among peers, and not really with other upperclassmen.

My kid is in a sport and there has been minimal to no effort by upperclassmen to welcome incoming freshmen. This forces the freshmen to band together, which is good but overall, is a good indicator of general TJ school spirit - there is none.

It's a school with smart, driven kids but has no real culture or tradition of its own. Shame really, because it is the culture which defines a truly great school, not just academic results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is also a big-little program for incoming freshmen to help them get to know some people before school starts.

This was a big bust for my child. The Big Sib, after an obligatory introduction, never made contact thereafter.

My child's experience has been 1) easy to make friends 2) kids largely make friends among peers, and not really with other upperclassmen.

My kid is in a sport and there has been minimal to no effort by upperclassmen to welcome incoming freshmen. This forces the freshmen to band together, which is good but overall, is a good indicator of general TJ school spirit - there is none.

It's a school with smart, driven kids but has no real culture or tradition of its own. Shame really, because it is the culture which defines a truly great school, not just academic results.

This is true. Freshman and Sophomore students are usually band together. Junior and Senior students are too busy to deal with their work loads and college applications. They do not have time to mentoring their Freshman and Sophomore students besides Big Sib at the beginning for each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is also a big-little program for incoming freshmen to help them get to know some people before school starts.

This was a big bust for my child. The Big Sib, after an obligatory introduction, never made contact thereafter.

My child's experience has been 1) easy to make friends 2) kids largely make friends among peers, and not really with other upperclassmen.

My kid is in a sport and there has been minimal to no effort by upperclassmen to welcome incoming freshmen. This forces the freshmen to band together, which is good but overall, is a good indicator of general TJ school spirit - there is none.

It's a school with smart, driven kids but has no real culture or tradition of its own. Shame really, because it is the culture which defines a truly great school, not just academic results.

Wow, my kid had the opposite experience in a sport. The upperclassmen were very welcoming to the freshmen and over time they all became very good friends to one another. My child learned a lot about leadership from those upperclassmen and his class turned around and did the same for incoming freshmen when they became the upperclassmen.

My child made his closest friends at TJ through his sport and he still keeps in touch with the ones who have graduated. Im sure it varies by sport and groups of kids, but in general, most of the sports at TJ are pretty friendly and encourage bonds across the class levels.

[Anonymous]

So any sports usually happens after 8th period. Right? If a particular sport practice location is not at TJ facility do parents then drive kids from school to the practice location? We know parents are responsible for picking them after practice.

Another question we have is if DD wants to try for the spring sport, can they then pick a winter sport till spring sport opens up? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So any sports usually happens after 8th period. Right? If a particular sport practice location is not at TJ facility do parents then drive kids from school to the practice location? We know parents are responsible for picking them after practice.

Another question we have is if DD wants to try for the spring sport, can they then pick a winter sport till spring sport opens up? Thanks!

You can do a different sport each season: fall, winter, spring. My child did a sport all three seasons, it is not a problem. My child's practices were usually from right after school till about 6:15 and then we picked him up. Occasionally, there is some overlap if the previous season's sport goes into post-season play but coaches are understanding and will work with kids when there is that kind of conflict.

Sorry, I can't help with practices that are elsewhere, all of my child's practices were at TJ. They did sometimes have competitions at other schools and when that happened, the school provided transportation and then parents picked up. We usually wanted to go watch the competition anyway, so we'd be right there to take our child home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So any sports usually happens after 8th period. Right? If a particular sport practice location is not at TJ facility do parents then drive kids from school to the practice location? We know parents are responsible for picking them after practice.

Another question we have is if DD wants to try for the spring sport, can they then pick a winter sport till spring sport opens up? Thanks!

You can do a different sport each season: fall, winter, spring. My child did a sport all three seasons, it is not a problem. My child's practices were usually from right after school till about 6:15 and then we picked him up. Occasionally, there is some overlap if the previous season's sport goes into post-season play but coaches are understanding and will work with kids when there is that kind of conflict.

Sorry, I can't help with practices that are elsewhere, all of my child's practices were at TJ. They did sometimes have competitions at other schools and when that happened, the school provided transportation and then parents picked up. We usually wanted to go watch the competition anyway, so we'd be right there to take our child home

Thanks so much for great input!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is also a big-little program for incoming freshmen to help them get to know some people before school starts.

This was a big bust for my child. The Big Sib, after an obligatory introduction, never made contact thereafter.

My child's experience has been 1) easy to make friends 2) kids largely make friends among peers, and not really with other upperclassmen.

My kid is in a sport and there has been minimal to no effort by upperclassmen to welcome incoming freshmen. This forces the freshmen to band together, which is good but overall, is a good indicator of general TJ school spirit - there is none.

It's a school with smart, driven kids but has no real culture or tradition of its own. Shame really, because it is the culture which defines a truly great school, not just academic results.

Wow, my kid had the opposite experience in a sport. The upperclassmen were very welcoming to the freshmen and over time they all became very good friends to one another. My child learned a lot about leadership from those upperclassmen and his class turned around and did the same for incoming freshmen when they became the upperclassmen.

My child made his closest friends at TJ through his sport and he still keeps in touch with the ones who have graduated. Im sure it varies by sport and groups of kids, but in general, most of the sports at TJ are pretty friendly and encourage bonds across the class levels.

+1 on sports. Big sib was an upperclassman and played the same sports. Can't say enough good things about how well the upperclassmen (more than the big sib) have treated my kid. There is a bit of class competition during spirit weeks, but I think this is true of a lot of HS. It appears all in good fun. As to there not being a culture or tradition - not sure what school your kid is at, but it's not the one mine is attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is also a big-little program for incoming freshmen to help them get to know some people before school starts.

This was a big bust for my child. The Big Sib, after an obligatory introduction, never made contact thereafter.

My child's experience has been 1) easy to make friends 2) kids largely make friends among peers, and not really with other upperclassmen.

My kid is in a sport and there has been minimal to no effort by upperclassmen to welcome incoming freshmen. This forces the freshmen to band together, which is good but overall, is a good indicator of general TJ school spirit - there is none.

It's a school with smart, driven kids but has no real culture or tradition of its own. Shame really, because it is the culture which defines a truly great school, not just academic results.

Wow, my kid had the opposite experience in a sport. The upperclassmen were very welcoming to the freshmen and over time they all became very good friends to one another. My child learned a lot about leadership from those upperclassmen and his class turned around and did the same for incoming freshmen when they became the upperclassmen.

My child made his closest friends at TJ through his sport and he still keeps in touch with the ones who have graduated. Im sure it varies by sport and groups of kids, but in general, most of the sports at TJ are pretty friendly and encourage bonds across the class levels.

+1 on sports. Big sib was an upperclassman and played the same sports. Can't say enough good things about how well the upperclassmen (more than the big sib) have treated my kid. There is a bit of class competition during spirit weeks, but I think this is true of a lot of HS. It appears all in good fun. As to there not being a culture or tradition - not sure what school your kid is at, but it's not the one mine is attending.

LOL, +1000 on the TJ culture/tradition.

[Anonymous]

The old Jefferson HS had such a great atmosphere. It's a shame that FCPS robbed the people in that part of Alexandria/Annandale/Springfield of their school. The area has never really recovered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The old Jefferson HS had such a great atmosphere. It's a shame that FCPS robbed the people in that part of Alexandria/Annandale/Springfield of their school. The area has never really recovered.

I think the new TJ has done a lot to increase the property value of the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

TJ I night includes acts by many students and a lot of the faculty and administration and sells out the Patriot Center for two shows. And that's just one example of TJ culture and tradition ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear fellow parents, my daughter is very shy and she is not good at sports. She is one of the few girls attending TJHSST from our county this Fall. I want to seek your advice if there are certain clubs that may benefit her socially by joining. Unfortunately, she does not want to join any after school athletics. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I just don't want her to sit alone during lunch like she did in middle school.

I also have a very shy child at TJ--shy but very confident. Nothing wrong with eating lunch alone at TJ. My DC prefers sitting alone at lunch to catch up on HW, study for test, etc. I do recommend joining sports program as mine did.