Advice for the new TJ batch

[Anonymous]

APS is contemplating cutting busing to TJ, which would be horrendous. Recommend new families from APS email school Board to fight this and try to go to school board meeting 2.28.19 to voice concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone take TJ Math 6?

Yes. But not a lot of kids. Kids who feel borderline going into Calc and have an extra semester after Math 5 and don’t want RS2 or crypto. It’s not many kids.

[Anonymous]

People do apparently move to be closer to the school. But the number is small in comparison to the number of kids who do 2 or 3 sports, or march in the band and do 1-2 sports and commute.

Personally, I never would, and my kid does 2 significantly time consuming after school ECs, one fall one springs. We have a younger child, and no school, and certainly no sport, is worth dividing my family or uprooting DC2, who is happy and thriving. And TJ has a not insignificant dropback rate, and I would want my kid to remain eligible for our base HS.

Many, many, many kids do the commute.

[Anonymous]

My advice as a TJ mom is: think before you say yes. It’s a very flattering offer and the impulse is to say yes yes yes. But TJ is a very hard school and time consuming. Expect every weekend to be consumed with homework. If sports are added expect to never see your student. Take into consideration commuting time.
If your student is borderline (like you wonder why accepted) it might be better to decline. Being in the bottom half of TJ class is pretty terrible for a bright student. And no colleges won’t say “but it’s TJ...”. and accept the student anyway. Especially if you want UVA.

[Anonymous]

After the first semester you will be driving. The bus from our home (10 miles away) was 1.5 hours each way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After the first semester you will be driving. The bus from our home (10 miles away) was 1.5 hours each way.

This is very commute specific. We live on the Fairfax side of the Fairfax/Loudoun border. Bus pickup at 7:30. Kid returns when he doesn’t stay after at about 5. When you factor in Kiss and Ride lines, it would be almost exactly the same if we drive.

Traffic is traffic. If you drop your kid at a depot, I’m not sure why it would take less time to drive than bus.

Also, to the PP above, I don’t think TJ success is as much about smart and efficient. If your kid does homework on the bus and soon after getting home, vs wasting time on YouTube. And the middle of the class has great college options. An 80+% admit rate to WM and VT. And my kid is middle of the class and also looking at SLACs. Not competing with many classmates and schools definitely are saying “But TJ”.

[Anonymous]

when will they give/post bus routes

[Anonymous]

For bus routes - you fill out a preference form after accepting admission, but you do not get the bus route/schedule until a few days before school starts just like the other FCPS schools. And no, they don't post current schedules so you can get an idea - I spent a long time trying to get them! You can ask any TJ parent in your neighborhood about the current schedules as they won't change much. Two years ago, TJ changed up the bus stops pretty significantly - ours went from base high school to local elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone take TJ Math 6?

Yes. But not a lot of kids. Kids who feel borderline going into Calc and have an extra semester after Math 5 and don’t want RS2 or crypto. It’s not many kids.

Does it help to take it to be more ready for Calculus the next year, or is it kinda unrelated like RS2 or Cryptography?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats! Now a reality check. Look at the extended hours for TJ. Add on the commute. Add on time after school for any extracurriculars. Sit down as a family and look at when your kid will leave and when they will get home every day. Add in time for a shower and dinner. Then 3-4 hours for homework. And most of the weekends.

Make sure you are going into this with your eyes open. That your kid can live with that kind of schedule, day after day and week after week. Make sure you can live with the carpools and giving your kid the extra support they need and still be there for your other kid(s). TJ is a huge family commitment. Make sure you are okay if if, like half the class, your kid “only” goes to UVA, WM or VT. Assume your kid does not get into a better college because of TJ, but is much better prepared for where they do go. That is the most likely outcome 4 years. Will it be worth it? Or will you and your kid be disappointed and feel like all that effort and lost sleep and stress was a waste.

Your kid will make Bs. They will flunk STEM tests. Their GPA will be lower than base school GPAs. They will take AP level classes, like CS and World History, and not get AP credit. Make peace with that now.

Encourage your kid to get involved in the schools non-STEM programs or keep their non-STEM interest. If that is art, music, or drama, or journalism, have them do summer school to keep the class in their schedule. Many of the happiest, healthiest, most well balanced kids are the ones who play one or more sports, march in the band, take fine arts classes, or do the drama production. That break during the school day where they can do something different, or that they love, is important.


This -- 100%. The author of this post clearly knows the school and what it's like to have a kid there. I've had two go, one get in and decide not to go and THIS is all 1005 true.

And AP Physics arenwhere junior year GPAs go to die. 90% of kids are better served by taking physics 1 first. And most kids doing well in AP Physics are seniors who have had physics 1.

That’s all I got. Good luck and welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New pp here. Thank you for all your input here and our first DC got in.

Can first PP or others expand on this : "They will take AP level classes, like CS and World History, and not get AP credit. Make peace with that now. " '

Does that mean, they don't get AP Credit at all for many classes?

Please keep your views coming and your opinions are extremely helpful for parents like me and OP.

It means there are several classes at TJ that are taught at an AP level with AP text books but they aren't called AP classes so you don't get the GPA boost. It sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also contemplating on moving. DC wants to try 2 sports, so with practice times and late pickup, we were thinking if it makes sense to move. We are ready to ease the next 4 years as much as possible. Any thoughts is appreciated.

My kid does 2 sports at TJ from western Fairfax County. They rode the bus freshman and sophomore year and we picked up. Bus situation was bad and deteriorated junior year. We sucked it up and bought an extra car. Transportation problem solved, congestion increased.

[Anonymous]

Check out the bulletin board with all of the academic integrity reminders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New pp here. Thank you for all your input here and our first DC got in.

Can first PP or others expand on this : "They will take AP level classes, like CS and World History, and not get AP credit. Make peace with that now. " '

Does that mean, they don't get AP Credit at all for many classes?

Please keep your views coming and your opinions are extremely helpful for parents like me and OP.

It means there are several classes at TJ that are taught at an AP level with AP text books but they aren't called AP classes so you don't get the GPA boost. It sucks.

Even freshman bio is taught from the AP textbook so it's basically an AP-level course just with a couple of topics short of tge full curriculum (which one could independently review to write the AP exam if there isnt room later in the students course plan to take the "real" AP bio course. Ditto for CS foundations which covers java during the year - you could with a bit of extra studying write the CS A AP exam. The first-level courses at TJ are taught at the senior-level depth of "normal" high schools. The kids at TJ are all pretty sharp and can handle a robust curriculum and pace of learning. (I'm sure the top kids at other FCPS high schools could learn at this pace as well if they loaded up on AP level courses earlier in their high school careers.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New pp here. Thank you for all your input here and our first DC got in.

Can first PP or others expand on this : "They will take AP level classes, like CS and World History, and not get AP credit. Make peace with that now. " '

Does that mean, they don't get AP Credit at all for many classes?

Please keep your views coming and your opinions are extremely helpful for parents like me and OP.

It means there are several classes at TJ that are taught at an AP level with AP text books but they aren't called AP classes so you don't get the GPA boost. It sucks.

Even freshman bio is taught from the AP textbook so it's basically an AP-level course just with a couple of topics short of tge full curriculum (which one could independently review to write the AP exam if there isnt room later in the students course plan to take the "real" AP bio course. Ditto for CS foundations which covers java during the year - you could with a bit of extra studying write the CS A AP exam. The first-level courses at TJ are taught at the senior-level depth of "normal" high schools. The kids at TJ are all pretty sharp and can handle a robust curriculum and pace of learning. (I'm sure the top kids at other FCPS high schools could learn at this pace as well if they loaded up on AP level courses earlier in their high school careers.)

It is really the post-AP and lab courses that distinguish the TJ curriculum (and the peer group and some of the high-level academic extracurriculars).