Expanded High school electives at TJ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking about having a consistent and transparent process so that teachers know exactly what standards students need to meet and what the process is for communicating with parents and administration about students in danger of being released. Students are released throughout the year, especially 9th graders. This is not just something that happens during the summer.

The 3.0 GPA requirement is no longer a thing, or at least it hasn't been enforced at all.

There should be a consistent standard and process, because I have seen parents put up a fight and drag the process on for months while some students are released right away because they don't have someone advocating for them. This puts teachers in a difficult situation.

The standard is 3.0 that has been the standard the whole time. The fact that Bonitatibus didn't enforce that standard through a liberal waiver policy doesn't change the standard.

All this happens at the end of a school year, how do parents drag it out for months ... during the summer, how are teachers ever involved ... are you suggesting that teachers should change their grades to prevent this?

This doesn't happen in the middle of a semester or at the end of the fall semester. It happens at the end of a school year.

It's hard to believe you are a teacher at TJ and you would not know this.

1. Glazer enforced the rule when it was new. Bonitatibus was at TJ largely during Covid and recent post-Covid times. Brabrand and the schoolboard controlled the 3.0 process at that time, when kids were being given extra chances left and right at all schools, so it seems reasonable this is why the process at TJ was paused. New leadership with Reid and Mukai is likely why the process is running again.

2. If you haven't gone through it, how would you know how it works? Teachers, admin, students and parents are all involved all year long. They don't just send you a letter and say you're out without intervening along the way. And yes, kids are being asked to consider returning mid-year. This is Mukai's policy, as the reg does not specify -when- kids are sent back. Parents have the right to appeal and sometimes that can involve a lot of conversations and go higher than the principal, which can in fact drag on and on.

So are the standards shifting and unclear under Mukai?
Is he being arbitrary and capricious or targetting certain students based on non-academic factors?

Why would a principal "have it out for" certain kids. It's not like TJ has a big discipline problem like many base schools where they may be "trouble-makers" a principal would love to offload. Just doesn't make sense.

He would actually have to know his students in order to "have it out for" for certain ones.

He has been there for a year. He knows some but not all students.

Once again, he was extremely well liked at WSHS. The teachers and students all liked him.

[Anonymous]

My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mukai won regional principal of the year.

TJ is in its own region, so not the flex you think it is.

And yet Bonitatibus was never nominated or awarded the recognition.

Actually, she did win Outstanding Principal in 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking about having a consistent and transparent process so that teachers know exactly what standards students need to meet and what the process is for communicating with parents and administration about students in danger of being released. Students are released throughout the year, especially 9th graders. This is not just something that happens during the summer.

The 3.0 GPA requirement is no longer a thing, or at least it hasn't been enforced at all.

There should be a consistent standard and process, because I have seen parents put up a fight and drag the process on for months while some students are released right away because they don't have someone advocating for them. This puts teachers in a difficult situation.

The standard is 3.0 that has been the standard the whole time. The fact that Bonitatibus didn't enforce that standard through a liberal waiver policy doesn't change the standard.

All this happens at the end of a school year, how do parents drag it out for months ... during the summer, how are teachers ever involved ... are you suggesting that teachers should change their grades to prevent this?

This doesn't happen in the middle of a semester or at the end of the fall semester. It happens at the end of a school year.

It's hard to believe you are a teacher at TJ and you would not know this.

Literally everything you said is not true. I personally know students who were dismissed during the school year. I also know of students failing multiple classes, but the parents dragged out the process for several months. The 3.0 GPA is not being enforced consistently at all.

No, I do not think teachers should be changing grades to prevent students from being released. I don't even know how you inferred that from my post. I have actually been trying to stay ahead by notifying admin about students who are failing and struggling at TJ, but every AP handles things differently and Mukai constantly moves the goal posts, that no one has no idea what the process is

The 3.0 Standard was standard except during Bonitatibus who gave all the failing kids waivers to hide the failure of the new admissions process. If COVID was the reason for all the waivers, you would expect the failing kids to be spread out through all grades and not concentrated among just the kids that came in under the new process.

How are you (a teacher) relevant to the process? Why do you need to know?

You don't think the ones actually teaching and grading the students should be part of the process? We are literally the first line of reporting academic concerns to student services and administration. Think of how much more efficient the process would be if teachers, counselors, and administrators actually worked together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

What are the things that are being eliminated?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm talking about having a consistent and transparent process so that teachers know exactly what standards students need to meet and what the process is for communicating with parents and administration about students in danger of being released. Students are released throughout the year, especially 9th graders. This is not just something that happens during the summer.

The 3.0 GPA requirement is no longer a thing, or at least it hasn't been enforced at all.

There should be a consistent standard and process, because I have seen parents put up a fight and drag the process on for months while some students are released right away because they don't have someone advocating for them. This puts teachers in a difficult situation.

The standard is 3.0 that has been the standard the whole time. The fact that Bonitatibus didn't enforce that standard through a liberal waiver policy doesn't change the standard.

All this happens at the end of a school year, how do parents drag it out for months ... during the summer, how are teachers ever involved ... are you suggesting that teachers should change their grades to prevent this?

This doesn't happen in the middle of a semester or at the end of the fall semester. It happens at the end of a school year.

It's hard to believe you are a teacher at TJ and you would not know this.

Literally everything you said is not true. I personally know students who were dismissed during the school year. I also know of students failing multiple classes, but the parents dragged out the process for several months. The 3.0 GPA is not being enforced consistently at all.

No, I do not think teachers should be changing grades to prevent students from being released. I don't even know how you inferred that from my post. I have actually been trying to stay ahead by notifying admin about students who are failing and struggling at TJ, but every AP handles things differently and Mukai constantly moves the goal posts, that no one has no idea what the process is

The 3.0 Standard was standard except during Bonitatibus who gave all the failing kids waivers to hide the failure of the new admissions process. If COVID was the reason for all the waivers, you would expect the failing kids to be spread out through all grades and not concentrated among just the kids that came in under the new process.

How are you (a teacher) relevant to the process? Why do you need to know?

You don't think the ones actually teaching and grading the students should be part of the process? We are literally the first line of reporting academic concerns to student services and administration. Think of how much more efficient the process would be if teachers, counselors, and administrators actually worked together.

It is necessary for teachers to inform administrators of their concerns about specific kids.
I don't see the benefit of keeping all the teachers informed about which of their students are struggling with their classes unless there is a specific reason to do so.

If you are teaching spanish, you don't need to know how your students are doing in algebra 2 or comp sci.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Mukai became principal last January. Maybe 2 weeks before the end of the semester.

He sent back more kids last year than Bonitatibus sent back in any prior year. How is that dragging his feet?

He used the 3.0 standard, how did he move goalposts? Why would he even do such a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Last year? Why did you wait until last year?

Kids have been failing in much higher numbers since 2021.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

You may want to have this post deleted, it makes you identifiable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Can you put in plain terms what exactly you pushed for and what is his latest goal post and what are the differences? Otherwise statements like this are subjective and vague and hard for parents to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Mukai became principal last January. Maybe 2 weeks before the end of the semester.

He sent back more kids last year than Bonitatibus sent back in any prior year. How is that dragging his feet?

He used the 3.0 standard, how did he move goalposts? Why would he even do such a thing?

You keep bringing up the 3.0 GPA as if that is an iron clad rule, and I have been trying to tell you that it has not been consistently enforced. Mukai talks a big game, but waffles at the slightest push back. That's why he avoids meeting with teachers because he can't handle confrontation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Can you put in plain terms what exactly you pushed for and what is his latest goal post and what are the differences? Otherwise statements like this are subjective and vague and hard for parents to understand.

I don't know how much plainer I can be. The 3.0 standard is not being consistently enforced for every student, period. It all depends on how vocal the parents are. Some students are dropped at the end of the quarter or semester, others drag it out until the end of the year, despite failing multiple classes. Mukai moves the goalposts based on how much parents complain. There seems to be no logic. For example, he told several 11th graders that they had to meet a certain requirement last year to remain at TJ. They met that requirement, only for Mukai to change the requirement without warning and dismiss them back to their base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son told me that one of his friends was told he would be sent back to base school if his grades don’t go up (currently has a D in 2 classes). The sooner students are sent back to their base school the better for them. They can bring their grades back up at their base school and get on track for better college outcomes.

I’m sure when the admission changes were made they expected this would happen and increased the class size from about 480 to 550 to account for more students going back to base schools.

I support most of the changes but also agree that if a kid is getting multiple Ds by half way through 9th then TJ is not for them and going back to base sooner rather than later is best for that kid.

This is what I tried to push last year when I had students that were failing most of their classes after the first semester, but Mukai kept moving the goal posts and dragging his feet

Can you put in plain terms what exactly you pushed for and what is his latest goal post and what are the differences? Otherwise statements like this are subjective and vague and hard for parents to understand.

I don't know how much plainer I can be. The 3.0 standard is not being consistently enforced for every student, period. It all depends on how vocal the parents are. Some students are dropped at the end of the quarter or semester, others drag it out until the end of the year, despite failing multiple classes. Mukai moves the goalposts based on how much parents complain. There seems to be no logic. For example, he told several 11th graders that they had to meet a certain requirement last year to remain at TJ. They met that requirement, only for Mukai to change the requirement without warning and dismiss them back to their base school.

So what was the requirement? How did they meet the requirement? What's the new requirement Mukai changed to?