Class 2025 TJHSST Results

[Anonymous]

Cooper - All As throughout MS. Geometry H - waitlisted.

Sayonara FCPS - Private, here we come

Will ensure Tholen gets her due in the next election

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it is very interesting to see how mean-spirited some people can be to other people’s children. I’m not sure I realized before how very narrowly focused some people can be on themselves, without much thought for others.

Yep. It's always there, just under the surface. People love to talk a good game, but they also view everything as a zero sum game. So when it actually comes to expanding access to the whole community, they freak out.

1. If there are only a set number of seats, it is, by definition, zero sum

2. A lot of the concern is that you can’t just grab a bunch of ELL and FARMs kids in 8th grade and expect them to be ready to pass classes at TJ. The ELL is particularly concerning, given that kids must take honors English.

The right way to do things is to build a talent pipeline starting in early ES and push opportunities and enrichment into low SES schools. Mentor kids with an interest in STEM. Make the robotics, debate, science Olympiad opportunities available. We should be expanding opportunity in PK through 7th grade so low SES kids can start TJ on equal footing.

Right now we’re panning for gold in 8th and letting kids without the skills the need to succeed in. Because no one.have given them the enrichment and opportunities UMC kids get.

So either TJ becomes very watered down, teaching to the kid who took non-honors English and Algebra 1 in 8th and got Bs in both— and has no supports at home or access to tutoring, etc. Or, these kids will be n over their heads and drop back in large numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it is very interesting to see how mean-spirited some people can be to other people’s children. I’m not sure I realized before how very narrowly focused some people can be on themselves, without much thought for others.

Yep. It's always there, just under the surface. People love to talk a good game, but they also view everything as a zero sum game. So when it actually comes to expanding access to the whole community, they freak out.

1. If there are only a set number of seats, it is, by definition, zero sum

2. A lot of the concern is that you can’t just grab a bunch of ELL and FARMs kids in 8th grade and expect them to be ready to pass classes at TJ. The ELL is particularly concerning, given that kids must take honors English.

The right way to do things is to build a talent pipeline starting in early ES and push opportunities and enrichment into low SES schools. Mentor kids with an interest in STEM. Make the robotics, debate, science Olympiad opportunities available. We should be expanding opportunity in PK through 7th grade so low SES kids can start TJ on equal footing.

Right now we’re panning for gold in 8th and letting kids without the skills the need to succeed in. Because no one.have given them the enrichment and opportunities UMC kids get.

So either TJ becomes very watered down, teaching to the kid who took non-honors English and Algebra 1 in 8th and got Bs in both— and has no supports at home or access to tutoring, etc. Or, these kids will be n over their heads and drop back in large numbers.

You make too much sense.. The crowd is not interested in putting in the effort. Actually, FCPS is not either.

In case y'all don't know, the TJ principal wanted to reduce workload when she came in. TJ teachers told her to go take a hike. She then changed her tune and started telling the students that "grades are not everything"! . So yeah.. I don't see the intensity dropping.

I guess she'll have to double down on that messaging with the new cohort IF any of the kids are unwilling to put in the effort. Based on the stats, it does appear that all admits are academically qualified to be successful at TJ. Hopefully, the kids (and parents) will climb that wall that is TJ 9th grade, and be successful beyond that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cooper - All As throughout MS. Geometry H - waitlisted.

Sayonara FCPS - Private, here we come

Will ensure Tholen gets her due in the next election

And I bet you are a liberal democrat too! I see a bloodbath for the democrats at least at the local level next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it is very interesting to see how mean-spirited some people can be to other people’s children. I’m not sure I realized before how very narrowly focused some people can be on themselves, without much thought for others.

Yep. It's always there, just under the surface. People love to talk a good game, but they also view everything as a zero sum game. So when it actually comes to expanding access to the whole community, they freak out.

1. If there are only a set number of seats, it is, by definition, zero sum

2. A lot of the concern is that you can’t just grab a bunch of ELL and FARMs kids in 8th grade and expect them to be ready to pass classes at TJ. The ELL is particularly concerning, given that kids must take honors English.

The right way to do things is to build a talent pipeline starting in early ES and push opportunities and enrichment into low SES schools. Mentor kids with an interest in STEM. Make the robotics, debate, science Olympiad opportunities available. We should be expanding opportunity in PK through 7th grade so low SES kids can start TJ on equal footing.

Right now we’re panning for gold in 8th and letting kids without the skills the need to succeed in. Because no one.have given them the enrichment and opportunities UMC kids get.

So either TJ becomes very watered down, teaching to the kid who took non-honors English and Algebra 1 in 8th and got Bs in both— and has no supports at home or access to tutoring, etc. Or, these kids will be n over their heads and drop back in large numbers.

I agree but believe we also need to level the playing field by embracing the new admission criteria because it minimizes the impact of external prep classes.

[Anonymous]

The entire process makes the politicians look very good with the outcome - great on their resumes. The kids are mere pawns in the process. The ones who got denied and also the ones who got accepted and will face the uphill learning curve. To the politicians it is the cumulative numbers that matter ( as evidenced by the gloating press release) - individykids not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it is very interesting to see how mean-spirited some people can be to other people’s children. I’m not sure I realized before how very narrowly focused some people can be on themselves, without much thought for others.

Yep. It's always there, just under the surface. People love to talk a good game, but they also view everything as a zero sum game. So when it actually comes to expanding access to the whole community, they freak out.

1. If there are only a set number of seats, it is, by definition, zero sum

2. A lot of the concern is that you can’t just grab a bunch of ELL and FARMs kids in 8th grade and expect them to be ready to pass classes at TJ. The ELL is particularly concerning, given that kids must take honors English.

The right way to do things is to build a talent pipeline starting in early ES and push opportunities and enrichment into low SES schools. Mentor kids with an interest in STEM. Make the robotics, debate, science Olympiad opportunities available. We should be expanding opportunity in PK through 7th grade so low SES kids can start TJ on equal footing.

Right now we’re panning for gold in 8th and letting kids without the skills the need to succeed in. Because no one.have given them the enrichment and opportunities UMC kids get.

So either TJ becomes very watered down, teaching to the kid who took non-honors English and Algebra 1 in 8th and got Bs in both— and has no supports at home or access to tutoring, etc. Or, these kids will be n over their heads and drop back in large numbers.

I agree but believe we also need to level the playing field by embracing the new admission criteria because it minimizes the impact of external prep classes.

Also agree since preppers aren't gifted students typically but made to appear as such whereas the new system helps to better identify more talented students albeit ones with less prep. In the long run the new crop of students will be TJ's strongest class in decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooper - All As throughout MS. Geometry H - waitlisted.

Sayonara FCPS - Private, here we come

Will ensure Tholen gets her due in the next election

And I bet you are a liberal democrat too! I see a bloodbath for the democrats at least at the local level next year.

Never voted anybody else. Will give McAuliffe a shot - hope he recognizes that Virginia is more Weston country than the likes of Qarni. If he doesn’t then we are done.

The FCPS school board epitomizes what happens when one party has a free run.

[Anonymous]

Wexton not Weston

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Also agree since preppers aren't gifted students typically but made to appear as such whereas the new system helps to better identify more talented students albeit ones with less prep. In the long run the new crop of students will be TJ's strongest class in decades.

How so? It sounds like they missed a lot of academic superstars and instead enrolled a lot of fairly above average kids. My neighbor got in. This is a super privileged kid who prepped like crazy for IAAT and didn't even come close to passing. He has been thoroughly mediocre at every STEM extracurricular he's tried. But he's a white kid who gets to check the Hispanic box, so it's all good, right?

[Anonymous]

The new system does not better identify more talented students. Why do you think it does, PP?

[Anonymous]

By severely limiting the amount of information collected (no teacher feedback being one) it just made the selection process pretty random by making it really tough to differentiate based on just canned questions (limited very narrowly to portrait of a graduate) and a math question. So in effect it became a lottery which is what they wanted.

[Anonymous]

The real issue is not that this race or that race got increase or decrease. The real issue is that several kids who would have thrived at TJ did not get in. I know of one kid in our school, the only kid my DS says is smarter than him and he did not get in. He is the only kid that consistently exceeded my expectations in the 4 years that we did Science Olympiad and I coached him in 3 of the years. Pretty sad to see what a mess they made of the whole process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, it is very interesting to see how mean-spirited some people can be to other people’s children. I’m not sure I realized before how very narrowly focused some people can be on themselves, without much thought for others.

Yep. It's always there, just under the surface. People love to talk a good game, but they also view everything as a zero sum game. So when it actually comes to expanding access to the whole community, they freak out.

1. If there are only a set number of seats, it is, by definition, zero sum

2. A lot of the concern is that you can’t just grab a bunch of ELL and FARMs kids in 8th grade and expect them to be ready to pass classes at TJ. The ELL is particularly concerning, given that kids must take honors English.

The right way to do things is to build a talent pipeline starting in early ES and push opportunities and enrichment into low SES schools. Mentor kids with an interest in STEM. Make the robotics, debate, science Olympiad opportunities available. We should be expanding opportunity in PK through 7th grade so low SES kids can start TJ on equal footing.

Right now we’re panning for gold in 8th and letting kids without the skills the need to succeed in. Because no one.have given them the enrichment and opportunities UMC kids get.

So either TJ becomes very watered down, teaching to the kid who took non-honors English and Algebra 1 in 8th and got Bs in both— and has no supports at home or access to tutoring, etc. Or, these kids will be n over their heads and drop back in large numbers.

I agree but believe we also need to level the playing field by embracing the new admission criteria because it minimizes the impact of external prep classes.

Also agree since preppers aren't gifted students typically but made to appear as such whereas the new system helps to better identify more talented students albeit ones with less prep. In the long run the new crop of students will be TJ's strongest class in decades.

Exactly. Kids shouldn’t need to be doing STEM activities for years before high school and high school shouldn’t be nothing but studying. Kids need time to learn a variety of subjects, many of which are not taught in a classroom.

[Anonymous]

This all came at the direct expense of Asian Americans. No way to sugarcoat it.