What changes in the TJ admissions procedure do you predict this year ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummons of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

Right because the #1 high school in the nation just happened by itself.

So what? If Westchester County decided a magnet would be better than having a wide array of great high schools, that magnet would likely be higher ranked than TJ. Same for Nassau County in NY, Montgomery County in MD, Santa Clara County in CA, etc.

Better to have the #1 school system than the #1 high school.

[Anonymous]

With regard to dumbing down the curriculum, posting this here from the other thread:

I have a friend whose two children went to TJ, one in 2004, the other in 2011. She said there was a world of difference between these experiences, and the one in 2011 was way watered down. This is a person who is a scientist at a large high-tech company, with a "mathy" family and mathy kids. This is what she had to say:

"Here is a typical sequence of math classes in school:
Pre-algebra
Algebra 1;
Geometry;
Algebra 2;
Pre-Calculus;
AP Calculus AB;
AP Calculus BC;
Multi variable Calculus;
Linear (Matrix) Algebra;
Ordinary Differential Equations;
Complex Analysis;
and may be a few others.
Now.
***The trick is that different kids take these courses at very different grades! And many kids skip many of the steps!***
Pre-Algebra is regularly skipped. Geometry and Algebra-2 sometimes are taken during the same year, in parallel. AP Calculus AB is regularly skipped. Algebra-1 can be taken as early as 3-rd grade (I know one case) or as late as grade 10.
As a result, the kids who are coming to TJ **now** may have taken all math including AP Calculus BC already, before their 9-th grade. Or at least Pre Calculus. **These kids are ready to take Calculus based Physics right then, in 9-th grade.** And they are ready to understand complex algorithms taught in Artificial Intelligence courses.
How was TJ getting kids who are that advanced? The answer is simple - very tough entrance exams provided that preparedness filter.
Now take away the entrance exams. The kids who will come to TJ on lottery will be getting their GPA 3.5 in courses as simple as Allegra-1. The kids who were taking tough exams were able to pass them because they were getting their GPA 3.5 in courses as complex as AP Calculus BC. It is a **tremendous** difference in the level of preparedness. Can be as much as SIX YEARS WORTH OF DIFFERENCE!!! Naturally the level of math courses offered in the "new TJ" will have to go down to accommodate the new crop of students.

This can be achieved with zero private tutors and zero dollars. My son came to TJ having finished AP Calculus BC in 8-th grade. This was completed in his regular school. He took AP Calculus BC while still in middle school (he had to cross the football field and enter the high school building). " END QUOTE

Now, if you want to make an argument that TJ should NOT teach classes that advanced, that's up to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My European neighbors send their DD to TJ prep school twice a week and she studies on weekends. Lot of parental pressure to study, music, and extra activities... I feel bad for her.

Parents who can afford the prep schools and tutoring, can afford to send their kids to private school.

WHO CARES if TJ loses its top spot. My tax dollars want STEM labs/activities for all students and all high schools!

Love this perspective.

+1. This is what equitable access to these programs should look like -- all schools need to give their students opportunities for enrichment and deeper learning instead of hoarding those resources in a single school's programming.

Then you need to tell Brabrand his plan is garbage and that TJ needs to serve its surrounding community once again.

The lottery approach doesn't change the concentration of resources at one high school; it just spreads out geographically those with access to those resources in a more random manner.

I like that there is a TJ. I like that there is a space for kids who are very focused, and very interested in STEM work to go. The labs and classes that are taught at TJ would not have enough students at any other individual high school to teach and they would be cost prohibitive. You could argue that we need a second TJ, maybe in a different part of the county, given the number of kids who are qualified to attend TJ. With Amazon and other companies moving here, there might be the private money to help fund such a school.

Kids at the base high schools have access to labs and materials for many advanced classes, but not the specialty classes. And that is ok. No one is denied the ability to take AP Biology, Chemistry, Physics and the like because TJ exists.

My only issue with TJ is that I am not certain that the majority of the kids who are there really want to be there. I have co-workers who have flat out said that they bribed their kid with the promise of a new car if they graduated from TJ. The kid did and then went to college and became an English teacher. There is nothing wrong with that but my co-worker knew that her kid had no interest in STEM and didn't want to work in STEM but wanted her kid to attend TJ because it was TJ. So while the child was perfectly capable of doing the work and graduating, the kid really had no interest in what TJ was offering. The kid was very interested in the car.

I fear that there are many more kids at TJ who are there because their parents want them at TJ and not because the kid wants to be at TJ. I don't doubt that there are kids who are very interested in STEM education and programs. I think there are more then enough to fill up a TJ or two. I think that it is cool to have those programs for those kids. I don't think they hurt other kids or take away resources. I just hope that the kids attending really want to be there and are not just there because it makes Mom and Dad happy.

I am glad that they are moving to regional quotas within the County. I think it will make TJ more accessible to kids who might be interested but don't apply because they don't think they would fit in or have a shot at making it due to the lack of extra curricular that were not offered at their schools.

I hope that the changes release some of the pressure on kids whose parents are enrolling them in extras so that their application for TJ looks good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummans of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

I posted the "radical" post - and just wanted to acknowledge this post as being thoughtful and adding good perspective. Thanks! I perhaps live in a bit of a naive bubble where I don't care what my community "looks" like - I care how it acts, feels, innovates, supports, and competes - but I recognize that is not reflective of the experiences of many. Count me as one of the last of the Gen X types who drank the kool aid on having common national bonds of integrity, industry, and kindness - and therefore am struggling to get with the times in understanding the ethos of tribalism and identity politics plagued by so much political and public discourse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummans of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

I posted the "radical" post - and just wanted to acknowledge this post as being thoughtful and adding good perspective. Thanks! I perhaps live in a bit of a naive bubble where I don't care what my community "looks" like - I care how it acts, feels, innovates, supports, and competes - but I recognize that is not reflective of the experiences of many. Count me as one of the last of the Gen X types who drank the kool aid on having common national bonds of integrity, industry, and kindness - and therefore am struggling to get with the times in understanding the ethos of tribalism and identity politics plagued by so much political and public discourse.

If you don't acknowledge race, then you can pretend problems that are obvious don't actually exist

[Anonymous]

I am all in for increased the diversity and cutting the influence of prep centers on TJ entrance test and admissions. But, I do not like the low bar to get into the selection pool and final selection via lottery. Its a bad solution to a genuine issue. A top student who excels at everything in school will have an equal chance of getting admitted as a student who barely met the cut off requirements. The lottery is not fair truly gifted students who belong in TJ. I wish there is a minimum bar of around 40 kids for each region, which accommodates more qualified students from some regions. On the contrary, this change will help get rid of rat race many kids are currently in to get into TJ i.e., years of preparation, push from parents and all the stress that goes with it. Also, since getting into TJ is mostly going to be a matter of luck (with a little of merit based GPA), the importance and fierce reputation of TJ will slowly go down.

In some regions (1, 2 and 5), there will be quite a few kids who would now go to base school who would otherwise have gone to TJ. So, hopefully to accommodate additional set of motivated kids, base schools may eventually start offering interesting STEM courses and activities. TJ will still be better than all the schools, but since base schools are expected to catch up, the difference between TJ and base schools will not be as significant as it is right now. We might see many kids from base schools easily compete with TJ kids in STEM activities, AP participation, SATs and college admissions etc.

In any case, student enrichment will not stop. Motivated parents and students will always seek opportunities to improve themselves, go group enrichment centers or tutoring, though the exclusive need for preparing for TJ will go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummans of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

I posted the "radical" post - and just wanted to acknowledge this post as being thoughtful and adding good perspective. Thanks! I perhaps live in a bit of a naive bubble where I don't care what my community "looks" like - I care how it acts, feels, innovates, supports, and competes - but I recognize that is not reflective of the experiences of many. Count me as one of the last of the Gen X types who drank the kool aid on having common national bonds of integrity, industry, and kindness - and therefore am struggling to get with the times in understanding the ethos of tribalism and identity politics plagued by so much political and public discourse.

If you don't acknowledge race, then you can pretend problems that are obvious don't actually exist

True. But if none of us acknowledged race, then there would be no problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummans of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

I posted the "radical" post - and just wanted to acknowledge this post as being thoughtful and adding good perspective. Thanks! I perhaps live in a bit of a naive bubble where I don't care what my community "looks" like - I care how it acts, feels, innovates, supports, and competes - but I recognize that is not reflective of the experiences of many. Count me as one of the last of the Gen X types who drank the kool aid on having common national bonds of integrity, industry, and kindness - and therefore am struggling to get with the times in understanding the ethos of tribalism and identity politics plagued by so much political and public discourse.

If you don't acknowledge race, then you can pretend problems that are obvious don't actually exist

True. But if none of us acknowledged race, then there would be no problems.

not really, URM would just be replaced by poor kids as the excluded group. The kids living along route 1 are under represented at TJ, right now it's a glaring racial issue, but if you remove race, it's a glaring class issue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With regard to dumbing down the curriculum, posting this here from the other thread:

I have a friend whose two children went to TJ, one in 2004, the other in 2011. She said there was a world of difference between these experiences, and the one in 2011 was way watered down. This is a person who is a scientist at a large high-tech company, with a "mathy" family and mathy kids. This is what she had to say:

"Here is a typical sequence of math classes in school:
Pre-algebra
Algebra 1;
Geometry;
Algebra 2;
Pre-Calculus;
AP Calculus AB;
AP Calculus BC;
Multi variable Calculus;
Linear (Matrix) Algebra;
Ordinary Differential Equations;
Complex Analysis;
and may be a few others.
Now.
***The trick is that different kids take these courses at very different grades! And many kids skip many of the steps!***
Pre-Algebra is regularly skipped. Geometry and Algebra-2 sometimes are taken during the same year, in parallel. AP Calculus AB is regularly skipped. Algebra-1 can be taken as early as 3-rd grade (I know one case) or as late as grade 10.
As a result, the kids who are coming to TJ **now** may have taken all math including AP Calculus BC already, before their 9-th grade. Or at least Pre Calculus. **These kids are ready to take Calculus based Physics right then, in 9-th grade.** And they are ready to understand complex algorithms taught in Artificial Intelligence courses.
How was TJ getting kids who are that advanced? The answer is simple - very tough entrance exams provided that preparedness filter.
Now take away the entrance exams. The kids who will come to TJ on lottery will be getting their GPA 3.5 in courses as simple as Allegra-1. The kids who were taking tough exams were able to pass them because they were getting their GPA 3.5 in courses as complex as AP Calculus BC. It is a **tremendous** difference in the level of preparedness. Can be as much as SIX YEARS WORTH OF DIFFERENCE!!! Naturally the level of math courses offered in the "new TJ" will have to go down to accommodate the new crop of students.

This can be achieved with zero private tutors and zero dollars. My son came to TJ having finished AP Calculus BC in 8-th grade. This was completed in his regular school. He took AP Calculus BC while still in middle school (he had to cross the football field and enter the high school building). " END QUOTE

Now, if you want to make an argument that TJ should NOT teach classes that advanced, that's up to you.

They're still going to teach classes that are that advanced. There will probably be fewer students in them, but that's okay. People really need to stop panicking like the caliber of student is going to dive through the floor. FCPS is not going to let that happen. I guarantee you they will siphon kids off through the holistic review process with a profile that indicates they won't be successful.

If it were a straight lottery, I'd be worried about this. But that layer of review will cover FCPS and ensure that kids who obviously won't succeed are not placed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am all in for increased the diversity and cutting the influence of prep centers on TJ entrance test and admissions. But, I do not like the low bar to get into the selection pool and final selection via lottery. Its a bad solution to a genuine issue. A top student who excels at everything in school will have an equal chance of getting admitted as a student who barely met the cut off requirements. The lottery is not fair truly gifted students who belong in TJ. I wish there is a minimum bar of around 40 kids for each region, which accommodates more qualified students from some regions. On the contrary, this change will help get rid of rat race many kids are currently in to get into TJ i.e., years of preparation, push from parents and all the stress that goes with it. Also, since getting into TJ is mostly going to be a matter of luck (with a little of merit based GPA), the importance and fierce reputation of TJ will slowly go down.

In some regions (1, 2 and 5), there will be quite a few kids who would now go to base school who would otherwise have gone to TJ. So, hopefully to accommodate additional set of motivated kids, base schools may eventually start offering interesting STEM courses and activities. TJ will still be better than all the schools, but since base schools are expected to catch up, the difference between TJ and base schools will not be as significant as it is right now. We might see many kids from base schools easily compete with TJ kids in STEM activities, AP participation, SATs and college admissions etc.

In any case, student enrichment will not stop. Motivated parents and students will always seek opportunities to improve themselves, go group enrichment centers or tutoring, though the exclusive need for preparing for TJ will go away.

TJ Admissions is not going to put kids in the lottery pipeline that won't succeed at TJ. They will want this to succeed for the Class of 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all in for increased the diversity and cutting the influence of prep centers on TJ entrance test and admissions. But, I do not like the low bar to get into the selection pool and final selection via lottery. Its a bad solution to a genuine issue. A top student who excels at everything in school will have an equal chance of getting admitted as a student who barely met the cut off requirements. The lottery is not fair truly gifted students who belong in TJ. I wish there is a minimum bar of around 40 kids for each region, which accommodates more qualified students from some regions. On the contrary, this change will help get rid of rat race many kids are currently in to get into TJ i.e., years of preparation, push from parents and all the stress that goes with it. Also, since getting into TJ is mostly going to be a matter of luck (with a little of merit based GPA), the importance and fierce reputation of TJ will slowly go down.

In some regions (1, 2 and 5), there will be quite a few kids who would now go to base school who would otherwise have gone to TJ. So, hopefully to accommodate additional set of motivated kids, base schools may eventually start offering interesting STEM courses and activities. TJ will still be better than all the schools, but since base schools are expected to catch up, the difference between TJ and base schools will not be as significant as it is right now. We might see many kids from base schools easily compete with TJ kids in STEM activities, AP participation, SATs and college admissions etc.

In any case, student enrichment will not stop. Motivated parents and students will always seek opportunities to improve themselves, go group enrichment centers or tutoring, though the exclusive need for preparing for TJ will go away.

TJ Admissions is not going to put kids in the lottery pipeline that won't succeed at TJ. They will want this to succeed for the Class of 2025.

You really don't know what their definition of success will be.

And if they are REALLY going to only take kids who are super-prepared, there's no guarantee the new pool won't be just like the old pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
They're still going to teach classes that are that advanced. There will probably be fewer students in them, but that's okay. People really need to stop panicking like the caliber of student is going to dive through the floor. FCPS is not going to let that happen. I guarantee you they will siphon kids off through the holistic review process with a profile that indicates they won't be successful.

If it were a straight lottery, I'd be worried about this. But that layer of review will cover FCPS and ensure that kids who obviously won't succeed are not placed.

Then what grounds do you have to believe the new pool won't be like the old pool? If they are still going to only take kids who already completed AP Calculus BC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all in for increased the diversity and cutting the influence of prep centers on TJ entrance test and admissions. But, I do not like the low bar to get into the selection pool and final selection via lottery. Its a bad solution to a genuine issue. A top student who excels at everything in school will have an equal chance of getting admitted as a student who barely met the cut off requirements. The lottery is not fair truly gifted students who belong in TJ. I wish there is a minimum bar of around 40 kids for each region, which accommodates more qualified students from some regions. On the contrary, this change will help get rid of rat race many kids are currently in to get into TJ i.e., years of preparation, push from parents and all the stress that goes with it. Also, since getting into TJ is mostly going to be a matter of luck (with a little of merit based GPA), the importance and fierce reputation of TJ will slowly go down.

In some regions (1, 2 and 5), there will be quite a few kids who would now go to base school who would otherwise have gone to TJ. So, hopefully to accommodate additional set of motivated kids, base schools may eventually start offering interesting STEM courses and activities. TJ will still be better than all the schools, but since base schools are expected to catch up, the difference between TJ and base schools will not be as significant as it is right now. We might see many kids from base schools easily compete with TJ kids in STEM activities, AP participation, SATs and college admissions etc.

In any case, student enrichment will not stop. Motivated parents and students will always seek opportunities to improve themselves, go group enrichment centers or tutoring, though the exclusive need for preparing for TJ will go away.

TJ Admissions is not going to put kids in the lottery pipeline that won't succeed at TJ. They will want this to succeed for the Class of 2025.

I sincerely hope you are correct and kids who truly belong to TJ will not be replaced by kids who barely meet the minimum requirements and struggle to compete. If base schools improve (in standards or participation) because of this change, then there is at least something to cheer about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a radical rethinking of the purpose of having a TJ. TJ in theory should be serving the top 1% of intellectually bright minds in the county to foster the next generation of innovation and keep our country competitive. I certainly get that there is strong possibility that the system is gamed by test prep, tiger parents and the like, but this will significantly water down a pretty exceptional program. We may increase diversity but at quite a cost to the historical purpose of TJ. Mealy mouthed “leaders” like Braebrand are searching for an easy band-aid solution without addressing issues that will positively affect inequality and diversity. This is spineless and shameful. It would be far better to form a 10 year plan aimed at giving bright minds equal opportunity to do well on tests and be academically prepared for the rigors of TJ - and not to dilute it and thereby change the purpose of the school.

Did TJ ever have a clear purpose and, if so, was it this one?

In the mid-80s enrollments were down locally and nationally. FCPS thought it might need to close Annandale, Jefferson or Stuart. Meanwhile real estate developers were building suburban office parks to lure the East Coast operations of West Coast defense contractors during the Reagan era.

Someone had an "aha" moment and decided they could repurpose Jefferson as a regional magnet, thereby keeping the school open and giving the Board of Supervisors something else to market about Fairfax County to the Northrup Grummans of the world. It wasn't like they did a study of FCPS and concluded its courses or schools were inadequate.

At one point TJ had a mission statement that it could serve as a type of lab school to experiment with new ways of teaching and learning that could be applied more broadly. But that went by the wayside. At some point it seems like TJ became the point of TJ, and all the talk about it fostering the next generation of innovative leaders and scientists was a retrofit to justify the competitiveness to attend the school. When you embrace that rhetoric, and then admit cohorts of kids that look nothing like the communities it serves, it is a recipe for disaster. No one should be surprised that we ended up where we are today, because the thinking behind the school's opening wasn't really that deep or thoughtful to begin with.

I posted the "radical" post - and just wanted to acknowledge this post as being thoughtful and adding good perspective. Thanks! I perhaps live in a bit of a naive bubble where I don't care what my community "looks" like - I care how it acts, feels, innovates, supports, and competes - but I recognize that is not reflective of the experiences of many. Count me as one of the last of the Gen X types who drank the kool aid on having common national bonds of integrity, industry, and kindness - and therefore am struggling to get with the times in understanding the ethos of tribalism and identity politics plagued by so much political and public discourse.

Thank you for the kind response. One doesn't always find that here, especially among those who may disagree as to the right policy choices.

I read the bracketed sentence to mean you still believe in the notion of equal opportunity before equal outcome. For those advocating for change at TJ, they see too many indicators that, in fact, we don't have equal opportunity in FCPS. Obviously some people focus on the racial component, but one can also look at the economic component (TJ currently has the lowest FARMS rate of any FCPS high school), the geographic component (the vast majority of TJ students who live in the county come from either northern Fairfax or western Fairfax, but not central or southern Fairfax), and the feeder school component (three middle schools - Carson, Longfellow, and Rocky Run - and four high school pyramids - Chantilly, Langley, McLean, and Oakton - account for a disproportionate share of TJ students). Put that all together and you now have a critical mass of school officials who believe that TJ, in its current form, undermines rather than exemplifies FCPS's values and commitment to equal opportunity.

I don't doubt that others see TJ as a shining example of meritocracy, or that the proposed reform would weaken rather than strengthen the school. It may be too much to ask that they try to step into someone else's shoes for a while, but it might not be a totally fruitless exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all in for increased the diversity and cutting the influence of prep centers on TJ entrance test and admissions. But, I do not like the low bar to get into the selection pool and final selection via lottery. Its a bad solution to a genuine issue. A top student who excels at everything in school will have an equal chance of getting admitted as a student who barely met the cut off requirements. The lottery is not fair truly gifted students who belong in TJ. I wish there is a minimum bar of around 40 kids for each region, which accommodates more qualified students from some regions. On the contrary, this change will help get rid of rat race many kids are currently in to get into TJ i.e., years of preparation, push from parents and all the stress that goes with it. Also, since getting into TJ is mostly going to be a matter of luck (with a little of merit based GPA), the importance and fierce reputation of TJ will slowly go down.

In some regions (1, 2 and 5), there will be quite a few kids who would now go to base school who would otherwise have gone to TJ. So, hopefully to accommodate additional set of motivated kids, base schools may eventually start offering interesting STEM courses and activities. TJ will still be better than all the schools, but since base schools are expected to catch up, the difference between TJ and base schools will not be as significant as it is right now. We might see many kids from base schools easily compete with TJ kids in STEM activities, AP participation, SATs and college admissions etc.

In any case, student enrichment will not stop. Motivated parents and students will always seek opportunities to improve themselves, go group enrichment centers or tutoring, though the exclusive need for preparing for TJ will go away.

TJ Admissions is not going to put kids in the lottery pipeline that won't succeed at TJ. They will want this to succeed for the Class of 2025.

I sincerely hope you are correct and kids who truly belong to TJ will not be replaced by kids who barely meet the minimum requirements and struggle to compete. If base schools improve (in standards or participation) because of this change, then there is at least something to cheer about.

14:41 here - may be rolling admissions every quarter will take care of it.. some students who cannot handle the load or get bad grades will drop out, which will pave way for new students missed out in the lottery order and eventually by senior year the cohort will consists of the students who are well adjusted to TJ work load and able to compete with their peers. This coupled with the fact TJ might have to water down to accommodate less prepared students, it will event out somewhere in the middle. So, if the student is qualified and can wait long enough, may eventually make it to TJ by the time they graduate. .