Reasons why one would not accept TJ offer?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I think the kids are more well-rounded coming out of our local base HS, and I care about social things - wanted my kid to be with friends from the neighborhood and at a school closer to our house more than I care about prestige. He never applied in the first place because he agreed with me on these things. He's in 9th grade now and trust me - my husband and I don't use this loosely - but we think one of his friends is an actual genius. We've only said that about one other kid - a third grader who pushed up to our middle son's 5th grade AAP math class, and I think still knows more than the 5th graders. Anyway, this friend is applying to TJ for 10th grade, and they are idiots if they don't accept him. That said - I don't know if it wouldn't behoove him to stay at the base and be #1 there for college admissions. I hear the kids from TJ have a harder time getting into UVA because they think it's their safety school. ANYWAY - not my circus, not my monkey - so I'll mind my own business.

Very good points.

My child was at base in 9th grade and at TJ afterwards. The primary reason is social for the move.

My child cared very much about 2 activities. A sport that would be too competitive for child to be able to be on the team at base. Child likes it very much but weak in that sport. Child was able to play at TJ. Another activity had literally one other child who is interested in at base. Child had (well I had to remind child) to remind teachers about due dates to apply to that activity. It was lonely. At TJ, it is tough to get into the top 30 in that activity and there are nearly 100 who are interested. This is a fantastic social experience and the one of the most enjoyable parts of TJ for child.

Anyway went to TJ for the social aspects and HS experience in our case, but not due to prestige or college admissions perspective.

I really don’t see the justification to maintain a magnet school and provide transportation if one of the main remaining benefits is that it allows some kids to make sports teams they couldn’t make at their base schools.

There is also the fact that base was ridiculously easy even while taking the most rigorous course load possible. In all of 9th grade, child probably put maybe 5 hours of effort at home for the entire year on all classes combined. All the home work used to be finished at school itself. In 3 of the courses ended up with over 100% due to bonus points.

So yes there is a need for TJ for some children.

How are the grades at TJ now?

It is an inverted bell or U-shaped curve, with bottom half of class struggling with Cs & Ds requiring math remediation, the distant top half with mostly As, and a nominal number in the middle.

What are benefits of joining TJ if student not expected to be in top half?

You get a phenomenal STEM-focused education that sets you up really well for college and an eventual career in STEM. Even if you don't get into the school you want to right off the bat, you'll probably be prepared to dominate at the school you go to and be well-positioned to transfer to a better school after a year if that's what you want to do. It might be easier to get into a T20 school from, say, Langley or McLean, but you'll be far less prepared and far more likely to drop out after a year and be replaced by a TJ kid who spent a year killing it at Virginia Tech and saving money on in-state tuition.

You get access to facilities, materials, and faculty that are the envy of many college STEM departments. Kids at TJ frequently get early internships and quality employment considerations at major STEM companies because they get experience with this high-end equipment at such an early age.

You get to go school at a place where literally 100% of the kids there care about school. There are virtually zero security concerns or classroom management issues and while not every teacher is perfect, there are none of them who are incompetent.

Because everyone eats lunch at the same time, you're guaranteed to get to eat lunch every day with your friends. That's not the case at most high schools with multiple lunch periods.

Because 8th period exists, you get to participate in tons of clubs and activities without having to stay after school - and because sports take place after school, you can do both clubs and sports with basically no conflict.

I don't see that much benefit attending TJ now coming from Langley, McLean, Chantilly, or Oakton. The main benefit now is if your alternative is a school like Annandale or Mount Vernon. The peer group at the top neighborhood schools is being upgraded, and the peer group at TJ is being downgraded, but of course it's still more academically focused than many high schools in FCPS. The faculty, by most accounts, is no better and in some cases worse (i.e., relies more on students to teach themselves the material) than at other schools.

The access to facilities is nice but the dynamics with more kids who aren't really prepared to take advantage of all that TJ once had to offer aren't great. If they maintain their standards, they will stress out more kids, but the alternative is lowering their standards, in which case there's less reason to put up with the longer commute.

Your assessment isn't far off when viewed from the outside. However, inside, there are clearly two segments within the class that have been admitted randomly from the applicant pool, with equity rather than merit as the objective. As one would expect with a random selection, there is an even distribution of student talent from top to bottom caliber. The difference between the top segment entering with advanced math & science skills and the very bottom struggling with algebra 1 basics is quite stark, from day one.

The irony is that the bottom segment of innocent students is being subjected to a rigor they are not prepared to handle. Most parents of this bottom segment are puzzled, unfortunately too late into the freshman year, as to why their child was even admitted when their middle school preparation was deficient to meet the expected minimum TJ standard. While there are mental health and child psychologist resources available for this segment, it feels like an inhumane experiment being conducted to satisfy a politically motivated diversity composition. Meanwhile, the accomplishments of the top segment are what the TJ administration and FCPS superintendent gladly rely on to report the state of TJ's performance, never highlighting the suffering of the bottom segment.

Classifying all data into two categories is neither accurate, nor statistically meaningful.

The world is not binary; it's a wide analog spectrum of abilities.

The comment could easily be rephrased in continuous terms if you really carer (you don't)

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

Still using the same old build up to promote Curie?

Is Curie the enrichment center? We heard their curriculum is one of the toughest and a good number quit partway for that reason and likely others. Do they teach anything more than above grade math, science, english, etc.?

We first heard about Curie from this forum almost three years ago, and enrolled our child in math and english combined program. Thank you all.
Yes, Cure is not easy and not for everyone. Initially, they do placement evaluation, and enroll in bridge courses if child is weak in an area. Keeping up with homework is required and there are periodic evaluations. A good number of kids we know have quit halfway as their curriculum is tough, almost year and a half to two years above school grade. Instruction is excellent, but few kids find it frustrating not getting advanced concepts at the pace taught. They recommend moving down a level, and few kids do, but others leave as they dont not want to sit with lower grade kids. But if child likes Curie, then they really enjoy the challenge. Price is comparable to other enrichment, like kumon, rsm, etc., but way cheaper than AoPs. Our child does basketball travel league, and Curie costs less than what we spend on basketball yearly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

Still using the same old build up to promote Curie?

Is Curie the enrichment center? We heard their curriculum is one of the toughest and a good number quit partway for that reason and likely others. Do they teach anything more than above grade math, science, english, etc.?

It is geared toward advanced learners and parents who can afford the best for their children. Many invest tens of thousands into prep in the hope their often slightly above average child presents as gifted.

It is geared towards parents who will pay $$$.

Thanks Capt Redundant. That's what they said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

Still using the same old build up to promote Curie?

Is Curie the enrichment center? We heard their curriculum is one of the toughest and a good number quit partway for that reason and likely others. Do they teach anything more than above grade math, science, english, etc.?

We first heard about Curie from this forum almost three years ago, and enrolled our child in math and english combined program. Thank you all.
Yes, Cure is not easy and not for everyone. Initially, they do placement evaluation, and enroll in bridge courses if child is weak in an area. Keeping up with homework is required and there are periodic evaluations. A good number of kids we know have quit halfway as their curriculum is tough, almost year and a half to two years above school grade. Instruction is excellent, but few kids find it frustrating not getting advanced concepts at the pace taught. They recommend moving down a level, and few kids do, but others leave as they dont not want to sit with lower grade kids. But if child likes Curie, then they really enjoy the challenge. Price is comparable to other enrichment, like kumon, rsm, etc., but way cheaper than AoPs. Our child does basketball travel league, and Curie costs less than what we spend on basketball yearly.

That is right. We prepare kids who would never be able to get a good grade without fully learning the material in advance.

So for example, we would fully teach your kid AP Physics C, even before they step into the classroom. That way they can think of school as just review - having already learnt all the material beforehand. Having practiced all the tests beforehand. So you do not leave it chance. They can play video games in school if they want (an additional advantage).

We hope you employ our services when your child goes to college as well, so they are fully prepared before each course. Of course, you have the option of getting tutors.

Thanks again for your patronage.

- The Real Curie Owner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

No one bought test answers, but I agree that many kids got in due to extensive prep rather than talent. At least the heavily prepped kids are used to working their tails off, should already have some idea that they're still going to end up in the bottom half of TJ, and accept the fact that they will have worse college admissions than they would have at their base schools. That's better than blindsiding a bunch of kids who thought they were well prepared for TJ.

what is heavily prepped? is it like doing enrichment homework more than once? lol
DC does both academic enrichment as well as basketball, and we insist applying the concept of 'practice makes one perfect' to both. Given how religious they are with basketball "homework", DC can now dunk over other kids. Does handles twice and drops about a couple of hundred shots, previous evening and morning before the game. No prep, no ride to the game. lol, I came up with the rule. With this kind of heavy prep, DC really cooks tough defenders.
We are relatively humble when it comes to mentioning DC's academic achievements, but you get the idea. Cooking!

[Anonymous]

We just continue with the "cram" approach that people are used to in their native country. We do not want kids to be stressed by actually having to "think" during school which is needless stress. So we pump the information beforehand, so they can by heart the answers and respond quickly and without any thought.

- The Real Curie Owner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just continue with the "cram" approach that people are used to in their native country. We do not want kids to be stressed by actually having to "think" during school which is needless stress. So we pump the information beforehand, so they can by heart the answers and respond quickly and without any thought.

- The Real Curie Owner

Racist!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

Still using the same old build up to promote Curie?

Is Curie the enrichment center? We heard their curriculum is one of the toughest and a good number quit partway for that reason and likely others. Do they teach anything more than above grade math, science, english, etc.?

It is geared toward advanced learners and parents who can afford the best for their children. Many invest tens of thousands into prep in the hope their often slightly above average child presents as gifted.

It is geared towards parents who will pay $$$.

Thanks Capt Redundant. That's what they said.

No it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Real Curie Owner,
If you’re legit, I feel bad for you that your company has some a negative stigma by most of the community. You seem well intentioned.

I don’t have a problem with the type of work you mention in your example of helping a kid pre-learn the material before a class. But many many people thought that prepping for a test meant to find intrinsic scholastic aptitude was gaming the system. That’s what the test was scrapped and it’s never getting brought back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Real Curie Owner,
If you’re legit, I feel bad for you that your company has some a negative stigma by most of the community. You seem well intentioned.

I don’t have a problem with the type of work you mention in your example of helping a kid pre-learn the material before a class. But many many people thought that prepping for a test meant to find intrinsic scholastic aptitude was gaming the system. That’s what the test was scrapped and it’s never getting brought back.

DP. No that's not why. While I believe that prepping for the Cogat wrecks it, they have not become TO for AAP. For TJ, the situation was different. Prepping for the quant test does wreck it but the cheating scandal was much worse, when they were working off of actual test questions, copied by students and given to the prep school in violation of the honor code. A bad business all around and not something for anyone to be proud of.

[Anonymous]

Does Curie offer Summer classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I support equity but not equity politics. In the realm of equity politics, political gains are often achieved at the expense of the suffering of the target segment that they claim to uplift. The callous school board members are gambling with the lives of innocent students from poorly equipped middle schools and their less informed parents.

So you feel things were better when only kids who could afford to buy the test answers got in?

Still using the same old build up to promote Curie?

Is Curie the enrichment center? We heard their curriculum is one of the toughest and a good number quit partway for that reason and likely others. Do they teach anything more than above grade math, science, english, etc.?

We first heard about Curie from this forum almost three years ago, and enrolled our child in math and english combined program. Thank you all.
Yes, Cure is not easy and not for everyone. Initially, they do placement evaluation, and enroll in bridge courses if child is weak in an area. Keeping up with homework is required and there are periodic evaluations. A good number of kids we know have quit halfway as their curriculum is tough, almost year and a half to two years above school grade. Instruction is excellent, but few kids find it frustrating not getting advanced concepts at the pace taught. They recommend moving down a level, and few kids do, but others leave as they dont not want to sit with lower grade kids. But if child likes Curie, then they really enjoy the challenge. Price is comparable to other enrichment, like kumon, rsm, etc., but way cheaper than AoPs. Our child does basketball travel league, and Curie costs less than what we spend on basketball yearly.

I saw a kid in geometry at school, his Curie homework was trigonometry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:epping for the Cogat wrecks it, they have not become TO for AAP. For TJ, the situation was different. Prepping for the quant test does wreck it but the cheating scandal was much worse, when they were working off of actual test questions, copied by students and given to the prep school in violation of the honor code. A bad business all around and not something for anyone to be proud of.

This is just a guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:epping for the Cogat wrecks it, they have not become TO for AAP. For TJ, the situation was different. Prepping for the quant test does wreck it but the cheating scandal was much worse, when they were working off of actual test questions, copied by students and given to the prep school in violation of the honor code. A bad business all around and not something for anyone to be proud of.

This is just a guess.

Not a guess.

[Anonymous]

Wierd they couldn’t figure out new questions every year?