TJ Environment Now

[Anonymous]

Passing an AP exam? What is the score required? 3? All TJ kids should be able to get a 3 EASILY. I'm more interested in the demographic distribution for scores of 4 and 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Passing an AP exam? What is the score required? 3? All TJ kids should be able to get a 3 EASILY. I'm more interested in the demographic distribution for scores of 4 and 5.

And why specifically are you interested in the demographic distribution for scores of 4 and 5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

This is absolutely correct. She also doesn't bend to the whims of parents in the way that Dr. Glazer did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a freshman at TJ. He loves it. He is friends with his classmates and finds them to be supportive, he feels like he fits in, the workload has been reasonable (so far—we know it ramps up), he likes the extracurricular activities baked into the day, and he likes not having to deal with the BS that exists in a lot of other high schools. He’s a bright STEM kid who is motivated but also keeps things in perspective. I think it’s important for a kid to make up their own mind on whether to attend.

What BS would that be?

Vaping, kids taking AP and honors courses who don’t belong in them, lousy teachers.

All of these things are present at TJ now.

Present and prevalent are two very different things. They have always been present at TJ for as long as vaping has been a thing - and smoking before that. Believe it or not, there were much more serious drug problems at TJ back in the 90s.

But they have never been prevalent to the extent that they are at many high schools. By and large, kids at TJ do not let things get in the way of their academic pursuits. The best thing about going there (and for any new-admissions-process naysayers, this hasn't changed at all in the past few years) is that essentially 100% of the student population cares about school and wants to do well.

The only real constant at TJ is the over-the-top self-congratulation, which readily adapts to changes in the student population. Too bad you’re not all that academically distinctive any longer.

There's no evidence yet to support that assertion. The next couple of years will be the proof, but right now there's no reason to suspect things will be much different than they were in years past. Just as in parenting, nurture over nature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

Where do you find school AP data? Is it broken down by subject or just aggregated?

https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/

In the test results tab for the school. It's aggregated unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a freshman at TJ. He loves it. He is friends with his classmates and finds them to be supportive, he feels like he fits in, the workload has been reasonable (so far—we know it ramps up), he likes the extracurricular activities baked into the day, and he likes not having to deal with the BS that exists in a lot of other high schools. He’s a bright STEM kid who is motivated but also keeps things in perspective. I think it’s important for a kid to make up their own mind on whether to attend.

What BS would that be?

Vaping, kids taking AP and honors courses who don’t belong in them, lousy teachers.

All of these things are present at TJ now.

Present and prevalent are two very different things. They have always been present at TJ for as long as vaping has been a thing - and smoking before that. Believe it or not, there were much more serious drug problems at TJ back in the 90s.

But they have never been prevalent to the extent that they are at many high schools. By and large, kids at TJ do not let things get in the way of their academic pursuits. The best thing about going there (and for any new-admissions-process naysayers, this hasn't changed at all in the past few years) is that essentially 100% of the student population cares about school and wants to do well.

The only real constant at TJ is the over-the-top self-congratulation, which readily adapts to changes in the student population. Too bad you’re not all that academically distinctive any longer.

There's no evidence yet to support that assertion. The next couple of years will be the proof, but right now there's no reason to suspect things will be much different than they were in years past. Just as in parenting, nurture over nature.

I think it was pointed out that the average PSAT score dropped by more than 100 points for the new class. Still higher than other FCPS schools though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

Where do you find school AP data? Is it broken down by subject or just aggregated?

https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/

In the test results tab for the school. It's aggregated unfortunately.

The results for other schools are quite shocking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

Where do you find school AP data? Is it broken down by subject or just aggregated?

https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/

In the test results tab for the school. It's aggregated unfortunately.

The results for other schools are quite shocking.

DP. Not shocking but a reminder that not every kid gets all 5s on scores of AP tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

Where do you find school AP data? Is it broken down by subject or just aggregated?

https://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/

In the test results tab for the school. It's aggregated unfortunately.

Thank you for sharing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

Many of the students who got in under the old system only did so because they had bought the test answers. They were unscrupulous and willing to do anything to succeed. This seems less true now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

Many of the students who got in under the old system only did so because they had bought the test answers. They were unscrupulous and willing to do anything to succeed. This seems less true now.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

Many of the students who got in under the old system only did so because they had bought the test answers. They were unscrupulous and willing to do anything to succeed. This seems less true now.

+1

It's best not to defame students who can not defend themselves whether they came through the old or current admissions process. Neither process has been perfect and you will find problems and benefits with each. There are very few true geniuses at TJ or any other high school despite what people want to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

This is absolutely correct. She also doesn't bend to the whims of parents in the way that Dr. Glazer did.

That usually doesn't work out well for them. I mean high-maintenance parents will make her life hellish.

[Anonymous]

Overall good for all schools. Local schools are now retaining some great kids too. Competitions with TJHSST should no longer be 1-sided. This weekend for Virginia Science Olympiad (Centreville regionals) Fairfax HS received the 1st place trophy ahead of 3 TJHSST teams. Performance of all TJ teams was exceptional but Fairfax took the 1st place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The student body now is a little bit more Black and Hispanic, but not by much. Last year Hispanic kids at TJ passed 100% of their AP exams and there was only one Black kid that did not pass their exam, so clearly Black and Hispanic kids aren't dragging anything down. Asian kids have AP pass rates that remain very, very high at 99.5% given they had 650 Asian kids take an AP exam. So, the new admission standards and the effect it has on the make-up of the student body shouldn't be of concern. It's still the same rigorous TJ.

It also seems a lot less toxic than before but I think it had more to do with the type of students that did anything to get in.

I think the current principal has driven an intentional effort to help ratchet down the stress and competitive feel for students’ mental health and that is why it feels different than in the past. I like her

Many of the students who got in under the old system only did so because they had bought the test answers. They were unscrupulous and willing to do anything to succeed. This seems less true now.

From where?