How many here had students that missed being NMSF and were Commended instead

[Anonymous]

Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

Our school did mail them home. I think that's best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

It's an equity issue. Some students don't have a fixed address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine. And no, her school never informed her (Prince William County), I looked it up myself after all this current hoopla.

The list of schools is going to grow because commended doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much people scream about it or how many affiliates looking to fill time report on it.

You don't get to determine what matters to other people. It doesn't matter how much you scream that you do. Regardless of whether or not it matters to college admissions officers, if it matters to the student, and the student EARNED it, the student should be notified.

In the same way if the VHSL or VABODA or CAPPIES or National PTA or JROTC or any one of hundreds of organizations sent a letter of recogition/commendation to the school it's their job to distribute it in a timely manner. Whether anyone thinks that particular award matters or not the student earned it and should receive it. If they are a senior the administration should be mindful to be quick so it could be added to an application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine. And no, her school never informed her (Prince William County), I looked it up myself after all this current hoopla.

The list of schools is going to grow because commended doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much people scream about it or how many affiliates looking to fill time report on it.

You don't get to determine what matters to other people. It doesn't matter how much you scream that you do. Regardless of whether or not it matters to college admissions officers, if it matters to the student, and the student EARNED it, the student should be notified.

Everybody gets a trophy!

Well I'm sure you didn't because you can't even comprehend that 3 (%) does not equal 100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

It's an equity issue. Some students don't have a fixed address.

So there are students at TJ that can run the gauntlet of getting accepted but do not have a mailing address? I find that hard to believe.

FWIW, my student at a DCPS school was commended and it was mailed home. There are significant numbers of unhoused students in DCPS, yet they chose mailing and it was not a crisis.

[Anonymous]

Next fall, the new more diverse TJ class takes the PSAT. I bet none of you are going to be calling the commended students losers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

It's an equity issue. Some students don't have a fixed address.

So there are students at TJ that can run the gauntlet of getting accepted but do not have a mailing address? I find that hard to believe.

FWIW, my student at a DCPS school was commended and it was mailed home. There are significant numbers of unhoused students in DCPS, yet they chose mailing and it was not a crisis.

Students at every high school in the country are eligible for these awards, not just TJ.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Democrat, and I am completely baffled by the political posts. I'm in FCPS but don't have a kid at TJ, Langley, or Westfield. In fairness to the students at those schools, this matter absolutely MUST be examined. It is NOT much ado about nothing. As a previous poster said, 3%<<<<<<100%. Students earn this award and it's far from a participation trophy. The top high school athletes/artists/musicians/etc often receive recognitions if they are a top 3%er. My kids were varsity athletes, and often the top 10% were recognized with all-conference honors. Why can't students be recognized for their success on their junior year PSAT?

The deferred withholding of these awards until AFTER many college applications were already submitted is unfair to the hard working students of FCPS. At TJ, the Commended kids may feel a little embarrassed in front of their peers, but it is their right to include the award on their college applications if desired.

I disagree that all kids know about Commended. At private schools, the Commended list is shared with the entire school community. This does not happen at the public schools, so I'm sure there are kids and parents who have no idea.

Based on a previous post, it looks like more than 25% of the TJ seniors were NMSF. I'm guessing that more than 50% of the seniors were Commended (no data behind this--as I stated, it's just a guess, and we will likely hear the number in the coming days). I think the withholding was possibly done so that the remaining 25% with no National Merit recognition weren't made to feel badly. If you try out for a varsity sport and only 25% of the kids make it, you're not as crushed if you don't make the team. But if 75% of the kids make the team, you walk away feeling not too great. Perhaps this is why the Commended letters were intentionally never released--to protect the bottom 25%?

For all of you that are dismissing Commended, please know that you come off sounding bitter that your child wasn't Commended and that the Commended kids now have something to add to their app that yours does not. This may not be your intent, but it certainly comes off that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Democrat, and I am completely baffled by the political posts. I'm in FCPS but don't have a kid at TJ, Langley, or Westfield. In fairness to the students at those schools, this matter absolutely MUST be examined. It is NOT much ado about nothing. As a previous poster said, 3%<<<<<<100%. Students earn this award and it's far from a participation trophy. The top high school athletes/artists/musicians/etc often receive recognitions if they are a top 3%er. My kids were varsity athletes, and often the top 10% were recognized with all-conference honors. Why can't students be recognized for their success on their junior year PSAT?

The deferred withholding of these awards until AFTER many college applications were already submitted is unfair to the hard working students of FCPS. At TJ, the Commended kids may feel a little embarrassed in front of their peers, but it is their right to include the award on their college applications if desired.

I disagree that all kids know about Commended. At private schools, the Commended list is shared with the entire school community. This does not happen at the public schools, so I'm sure there are kids and parents who have no idea.

Based on a previous post, it looks like more than 25% of the TJ seniors were NMSF. I'm guessing that more than 50% of the seniors were Commended (no data behind this--as I stated, it's just a guess, and we will likely hear the number in the coming days). I think the withholding was possibly done so that the remaining 25% with no National Merit recognition weren't made to feel badly. If you try out for a varsity sport and only 25% of the kids make it, you're not as crushed if you don't make the team. But if 75% of the kids make the team, you walk away feeling not too great. Perhaps this is why the Commended letters were intentionally never released--to protect the bottom 25%?

For all of you that are dismissing Commended, please know that you come off sounding bitter that your child wasn't Commended and that the Commended kids now have something to add to their app that yours does not. This may not be your intent, but it certainly comes off that way.

I completely agree with your post. To go a little further with your point that I bolded, if only 25% of the athletes won't make the team, do they just decide to not have a team at all, so feelings won't be hurt? Of course not!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Democrat, and I am completely baffled by the political posts. I'm in FCPS but don't have a kid at TJ, Langley, or Westfield. In fairness to the students at those schools, this matter absolutely MUST be examined. It is NOT much ado about nothing. As a previous poster said, 3%<<<<<<100%. Students earn this award and it's far from a participation trophy. The top high school athletes/artists/musicians/etc often receive recognitions if they are a top 3%er. My kids were varsity athletes, and often the top 10% were recognized with all-conference honors. Why can't students be recognized for their success on their junior year PSAT?

The deferred withholding of these awards until AFTER many college applications were already submitted is unfair to the hard working students of FCPS. At TJ, the Commended kids may feel a little embarrassed in front of their peers, but it is their right to include the award on their college applications if desired.

I disagree that all kids know about Commended. At private schools, the Commended list is shared with the entire school community. This does not happen at the public schools, so I'm sure there are kids and parents who have no idea.

Based on a previous post, it looks like more than 25% of the TJ seniors were NMSF. I'm guessing that more than 50% of the seniors were Commended (no data behind this--as I stated, it's just a guess, and we will likely hear the number in the coming days). I think the withholding was possibly done so that the remaining 25% with no National Merit recognition weren't made to feel badly. If you try out for a varsity sport and only 25% of the kids make it, you're not as crushed if you don't make the team. But if 75% of the kids make the team, you walk away feeling not too great. Perhaps this is why the Commended letters were intentionally never released--to protect the bottom 25%?

For all of you that are dismissing Commended, please know that you come off sounding bitter that your child wasn't Commended and that the Commended kids now have something to add to their app that yours does not. This may not be your intent, but it certainly comes off that way.

I completely agree with your post. To go a little further with your point that I bolded, if only 25% of the athletes won't make the team, do they just decide to not have a team at all, so feelings won't be hurt? Of course not!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

It's an equity issue. Some students don't have a fixed address.

So there are students at TJ that can run the gauntlet of getting accepted but do not have a mailing address? I find that hard to believe.

FWIW, my student at a DCPS school was commended and it was mailed home. There are significant numbers of unhoused students in DCPS, yet they chose mailing and it was not a crisis.

Students at every high school in the country are eligible for these awards, not just TJ.

The high schools decide how to distribute. TJ's distribution is being faulted here, it was not mailed. As I noted, my child in DCPS was commended and it was mailed home. That is all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t the schools just mail them home? That way no one has to feel left out at school if that’s really what the administration is concerned about

It's an equity issue. Some students don't have a fixed address.

So there are students at TJ that can run the gauntlet of getting accepted but do not have a mailing address? I find that hard to believe.

FWIW, my student at a DCPS school was commended and it was mailed home. There are significant numbers of unhoused students in DCPS, yet they chose mailing and it was not a crisis.

Students at every high school in the country are eligible for these awards, not just TJ.

The high schools decide how to distribute. TJ's distribution is being faulted here, it was not mailed. As I noted, my child in DCPS was commended and it was mailed home. That is all.

TJ distributed the certificates in homeroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Democrat, and I am completely baffled by the political posts. I'm in FCPS but don't have a kid at TJ, Langley, or Westfield. In fairness to the students at those schools, this matter absolutely MUST be examined. It is NOT much ado about nothing. As a previous poster said, 3%<<<<<<100%. Students earn this award and it's far from a participation trophy. The top high school athletes/artists/musicians/etc often receive recognitions if they are a top 3%er. My kids were varsity athletes, and often the top 10% were recognized with all-conference honors. Why can't students be recognized for their success on their junior year PSAT?

The deferred withholding of these awards until AFTER many college applications were already submitted is unfair to the hard working students of FCPS. At TJ, the Commended kids may feel a little embarrassed in front of their peers, but it is their right to include the award on their college applications if desired.

I disagree that all kids know about Commended. At private schools, the Commended list is shared with the entire school community. This does not happen at the public schools, so I'm sure there are kids and parents who have no idea.

Based on a previous post, it looks like more than 25% of the TJ seniors were NMSF. I'm guessing that more than 50% of the seniors were Commended (no data behind this--as I stated, it's just a guess, and we will likely hear the number in the coming days). I think the withholding was possibly done so that the remaining 25% with no National Merit recognition weren't made to feel badly. If you try out for a varsity sport and only 25% of the kids make it, you're not as crushed if you don't make the team. But if 75% of the kids make the team, you walk away feeling not too great. Perhaps this is why the Commended letters were intentionally never released--to protect the bottom 25%?

For all of you that are dismissing Commended, please know that you come off sounding bitter that your child wasn't Commended and that the Commended kids now have something to add to their app that yours does not. This may not be your intent, but it certainly comes off that way.

TJ distributed the certificates months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next fall, the new more diverse TJ class takes the PSAT. I bet none of you are going to be calling the commended students losers.

The only losers are the RWNJs who are trying to make this a political issue.