New TJ principal announced

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Realistically, what can he to actually improve TJ that is 100% within his control?

He can shift the focus back to STEM academics and recognizing students' merit-based efforts, rather than DEI and woke stuff.

Be really specific in describing exactly how Bonitatibus focused on “DEI and woke stuff” in matters of educational policy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0wJYHnOyJM&t=3s

At about 13:30 Bonitatibus speaks on this subject during the debate about the admissions change.
She cosigns the whole diversity and representation rationale the board presents for its racial discrimination.

Oh, Asra. I can’t be the only one who is surprised that you have nothing better to do with your time. You were a person of such significance, and now… still tilting at this situation with absolutely no results after four years. Except maybe, just maybe, you got your nemesis a big raise.

The school is entirely populated with students chosen by the new admissions process, and eight of them - the first class of the new process - just made the top 300 in the Regeneron competition. Compared with seven in the class of 2024, and five in the class of 2023.

A staggering objective measure of the top researchers in America’s high schools and the new process has the arrow trending upward.

Go back to picking on the black kids at Hayfield. More people like you when you do that.

The Regeneron finalists chosen by the new admissions policy consist of….7 students that went to “wealthy feeder middle schools”. 1 from McLean (I’m not sure if the student went to Cooper or Longfellow), 3 students from Cooper (one of the Cooper students also went to Langley and then transferred to TJHSST sophomore year), 2 students from Carson, and 1 student from Longfellow. 1 student was from Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn (this school has a 62% Asian population and a fairly wealthy area of Ashburn).

0 students from any FCPS non-wealthy feeder middle schools. 0 non-Asian students.

DP. And it sounds like these students also didn't go to Curie.

Wait, if cooper, longfellow, and carson are not the affluent feeder schools where they get in because of prep then which school are you talking about?

LCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the TJ bashing in every single TJ thread doesn’t comes from parents (TJ specifically). Its really sound like either someone with political agenda (who doesn’t have kids at TJ) or prep business center.

My kid at TJ is very happy student, the parents association is awesome, the students are very nice, very smart and well rounded, the teachers are caliber, the students activities is abundant.
I scratched my hair eveytime I read this thread, sound like TJ is a warzone… while my experience is the opposite.

It's politics.
A battle between equity and merit.
My kid is there and I appreciate that it is less stressful than it has been in the past but I know kids that should be there and are not.

BTW, what makes the parent association awesome?
So far what they mostly seem to do is ask for money.

I know some kids who should be there in the past also but were not due to the admission.
Parents is very involved and supportive. I never seen involvement like that in my experience.
The money they asked usually for some activities that is clearly is there. You don’t need to pay if yoi don’t want to involve, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new principals main goal is to improve diversity with unrepresented groups, and encourage critical thinking. It is also very unlikely that he will bring the admission test along with some other application processes back, because the FCPS board refuses to listen to this controversy with TJ. Also, the new process is heavily weighted on the 1 question essay test. So, TJ is still choosing top students, just in a different way than standardized testing. They want to choose students who show creative and critical thinking. And that is completely acceptable.

There are kids at TJ that got that question wrong.

I heard the tip, it is better to answer wrong with correct explanation, other than correct answer but wrong explanation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"In a June 7, 2020, email laying out her racial vision for the school, Bonitatibus said she sought to “close the equity gap” so the school would “reflect the racial composition in FCPS.” That year, the school had about 70% Asian students, about 20% white students and about 10% Black and Hispanic students. During the 2023-2024 school year, FCPS had different racial demographics, mirroring the distribution in the years earlier: 36% white, 29% Hispanic, 19% Asian, 10% Black, 6% multiple races, 0.3% Native American or Alaskan Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

She challenged TJ’s racially and ethnically diverse families, some of whom had survived the Cultural Revolution in China and economic poverty in India, to “think of privileges you hold that others may not.” With the new admissions changes, the percentage of Asian students dropped dramatically, with small increases in the number of Black and Hispanic students and larger increases in the number of white students.

Under her leadership, TJ recently fell from its long-held position as the nation’s No. 1 high school to No. 14. Bonitatibus’ tenure was also marked by the controversial withholding of student National Merit awards. This issue drew sharp global criticism. In addition, during her watch, the TJ community was struck by the first suicides of TJ students in the school’s history, with two students tragically passing away in 2018 and 2020.

In September, the number of students recognized as National Merit semifinalists decreased to 81 in the Class of 2025, the first class enrolled in the school after the new admissions changes, from 165 the year before.

The following month, Bonitatibus sent an email to TJ's parents announcing she had “pursued and accepted” a “promotion” to a role in the Fairfax County Public Schools Department of Human Resources as “Executive Director of Talent Acquisition and Management,” a move that was met with widespread skepticism considering a slew of staff and teacher departures from TJ that had marked her stewardship of the school."

https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fcps-selects-tjhsst-alum-michael-mukai-to-be-new-principal/article_675df76c-cee9-11ef-9b2a-ab958f33eb91.html

A professional epitaph if I've ever seen one.

This sound like opinion and very bias, doesn’t read as a good journalism, where is the other side of the story?

What part of the article do you think is opinion? It is mostly reciting facts.

I don't think it is fair to hang the suicides around her neck but she was motivated by concerns of "equity" throughout her tenure, she did tell a bunch of immigrant parents to check their privilege, she did play a role int he change in admissions process that led to the academic decline at TJ, and she did oversee a large exodus of TJ faculty.

That article sounds like they are interviewing you.
Where is the objectivity? And where is the voice of fhe subjects that they attack? None.

[Anonymous]

All the raging because TJ is no longer#1 … for the sake of bragging rights.
TJ students is happier now and I believe most TJ parents doesn’t care about the rank.

It is still an amazing school.

Smh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the raging because TJ is no longer#1 … for the sake of bragging rights.
TJ students is happier now and I believe most TJ parents doesn’t care about the rank.

It is still an amazing school.

Smh.

I destroyed it but I believe it looks better now. FU!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best part is in the email they had to make sure to talk of the former failed principals fake promotion to gatehouse! Lmao "following Dr. Ann Bonitatibus' promotion to a central office position."

Here is a better article calling out how awful the previous tj principal was pushing racial quotas causing TJ to fall form #1 in the nation to 14.


You are spreading RWNJ misinformation.

There are no quotas.

And TJ went from #5 to #14 out of 25,000 schools on the USNWR rankings. It was only #1 twice in the preceding decade.

It was #1 at least two years in a row before the admission change and then fell to #5, and then #14, and we’ll see where it ends up when this years rankings comes out in April. You and your #fakenews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Former classmate of accomplished VA politician Hung Cao.

Cautiously optimistic about this new TJ principal.

“Accomplished VA politician”

As long as you don’t count actually winning elections. Attending TJ was Cao’s greatest accomplishment.

Really?
Retired US Navy Captain.
Naval Academy grad and served with Special Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.
He also received his Master’s degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard.

I don't think he ever had much of a chance at beating Kaine but I thought he did well in the debate and I thought he did better than he should have in the Virginia election against a relatively popular incumbent.

I agree and he clearly has an impressive record.

It is really saddening to repeatedly encounter a few people on DCUM who harbor so much open hatred and hostility toward TJ students, past and present. To those people: what is your problem and why are you even on these threads?

I mean, I am the parent of a current TJ student; can you say the same?

PP here.
I have been a TJ parent and I have a nephew there now.
I'm conflicted a bit.
I know it's not fair to the kids that didn't get in under the new policy but my nephew is thriving in part because the competition is so much lower but the rigor is still there.
He gets to be on a team.
He gets to be in a lot of clubs that he would not join if he had to worry more about getting good grades.
There was not this much leisure of mind when my kids went there

Are you saying your nephew is getting good grades because competition is now lower? Is TJ doing grades on bell curve? Or are you saying something else? Just trying to follow along here and was confused what you were saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new principals main goal is to improve diversity with unrepresented groups, and encourage critical thinking. It is also very unlikely that he will bring the admission test along with some other application processes back, because the FCPS board refuses to listen to this controversy with TJ. Also, the new process is heavily weighted on the 1 question essay test. So, TJ is still choosing top students, just in a different way than standardized testing. They want to choose students who show creative and critical thinking. And that is completely acceptable.

There are kids at TJ that got that question wrong.

I heard the tip, it is better to answer wrong with correct explanation, other than correct answer but wrong explanation.

Honestly confused here. If they get the correct answer with wrong explanation on their essay I get that. If they get the wrong answer and the right explanation to back up their wrong answer… how does that make things better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new principals main goal is to improve diversity with unrepresented groups, and encourage critical thinking. It is also very unlikely that he will bring the admission test along with some other application processes back, because the FCPS board refuses to listen to this controversy with TJ. Also, the new process is heavily weighted on the 1 question essay test. So, TJ is still choosing top students, just in a different way than standardized testing. They want to choose students who show creative and critical thinking. And that is completely acceptable.

There are kids at TJ that got that question wrong.

I heard the tip, it is better to answer wrong with correct explanation, other than correct answer but wrong explanation.

Honestly confused here. If they get the correct answer with wrong explanation on their essay I get that. If they get the wrong answer and the right explanation to back up their wrong answer… how does that make things better.

Well off course the perfect one is the right answer and correct explanation.
Sometimes kids “accidentally” wrote the wrong number (lets see wrote 11 instead of 1, or silly mistake, thats not what they meant) but they explain it correctly.. (they understand it) I believe thats not unusual.

[Anonymous]

If a kid has the wrong explanation and a wrong essay but it corresponds with the wrong answer, would that count? (This is a dumb question but I personally know 2-3 kids who did that and got in) just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the raging because TJ is no longer#1 … for the sake of bragging rights.
TJ students is happier now and I believe most TJ parents doesn’t care about the rank.

It is still an amazing school.

Smh.

+1
- mom of a junior there

[Anonymous]

Seems like a great choice!

[Anonymous]

TJ teachers and students are happy. That's what matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Realistically, what can he to actually improve TJ that is 100% within his control?

He can shift the focus back to STEM academics and recognizing students' merit-based efforts, rather than DEI and woke stuff.

Be really specific in describing exactly how Bonitatibus focused on “DEI and woke stuff” in matters of educational policy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0wJYHnOyJM&t=3s

At about 13:30 Bonitatibus speaks on this subject during the debate about the admissions change.
She cosigns the whole diversity and representation rationale the board presents for its racial discrimination.

Oh, Asra. I can’t be the only one who is surprised that you have nothing better to do with your time. You were a person of such significance, and now… still tilting at this situation with absolutely no results after four years. Except maybe, just maybe, you got your nemesis a big raise.

The school is entirely populated with students chosen by the new admissions process, and eight of them - the first class of the new process - just made the top 300 in the Regeneron competition. Compared with seven in the class of 2024, and five in the class of 2023.

A staggering objective measure of the top researchers in America’s high schools and the new process has the arrow trending upward.

Go back to picking on the black kids at Hayfield. More people like you when you do that.

The Regeneron finalists chosen by the new admissions policy consist of….7 students that went to “wealthy feeder middle schools”. 1 from McLean (I’m not sure if the student went to Cooper or Longfellow), 3 students from Cooper (one of the Cooper students also went to Langley and then transferred to TJHSST sophomore year), 2 students from Carson, and 1 student from Longfellow. 1 student was from Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn (this school has a 62% Asian population and a fairly wealthy area of Ashburn).

0 students from any FCPS non-wealthy feeder middle schools. 0 non-Asian students.

DP. And it sounds like these students also didn't go to Curie.

Wait, if cooper, longfellow, and carson are not the affluent feeder schools where they get in because of prep then which school are you talking about?

LCPS

But the new admissions process doesn't affect LCPS. It's not affecting behavior in Loudon in any way.