Why don't people want to go to tj just because there are "too many" asians?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you folks commenting on this thread actually have a kid at TJ?

I do. And I would think long and hard before sending my kid to be the lone white face in the class. It’s lonely and worse.

so why did you send him/her there?

I didn’t realize how bad it would be. 13-14 is a tender age and a lot of HS is learning about social interactions. TJ was far from our house so a lot of time lost in commuting. Then all the time lost on the weekends to homework. And the social scene was very difficult with 90% Asians and every club dance after school etc dominated by this. It just wasn’t worth it. In my neighborhood everyone says “no thank you!” To TJ but we had just moved here and didn’t know better. It wasn’t worth it for us.

Yeah.. We are Asian and have a similar experience (long commute, lack of social scene, etc.). We don't have any neighbors going to TJ so DC does not really have a social scene. He does hang out with a few of the base HS kids. Even among the Asians, there are cliches. If you are from Loudoun or from one of the major feeders, kids know each other and they have their groups. If not, it's more difficult to "join the gang". I'm sure those dynamics are the same everywhere.. However, DS enjoys the challenging courses so it's a plus from an academic perspective. College admissions will tell me if it was worth it or not from an outcome perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ parents should not be deciding the school’s future use. It gets an outsized amount of attention and resources, yet 96-97% of FCPS students derive no benefit from TJ and many are affirmatively injured by having to attend schools further from their homes or that are unnecessarily overcrowded.

But they do have a voice in the decision just like every other taxpayer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you folks commenting on this thread actually have a kid at TJ?

I do. And I would think long and hard before sending my kid to be the lone white face in the class. It’s lonely and worse.

so why did you send him/her there?

I didn’t realize how bad it would be. 13-14 is a tender age and a lot of HS is learning about social interactions. TJ was far from our house so a lot of time lost in commuting. Then all the time lost on the weekends to homework. And the social scene was very difficult with 90% Asians and every club dance after school etc dominated by this. It just wasn’t worth it. In my neighborhood everyone says “no thank you!” To TJ but we had just moved here and didn’t know better. It wasn’t worth it for us.

First of all, it’s not 90% of Asians as you claimed. Second, why do you find the social scene to be difficult with the existence of Asians? Are you a racist who doesn’t want to socialize with other races? Sounds like that’s the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ parent here (white, from Title I feeder, kid loves TJ, plenty of friends)

I am sorry to hear all this. From my perspective going through the Title I schools, the root cause of the lack of diversity at TJ starts in ES AAP. Our ES had a local Level IV with lots of support from principal. Very good at identifying FARMS kids who would benefit from AAP services (often joint with ESOL!).

FCPS needs to put a full time AART and Local Level IV in all Title I ES and get creative with identifying the kids in ESOL program who have potential for AAP.

This is where it starts folks! Increase taxes if necessary. Find the kids who are smart and cultivate them. Not only that, reach out to their parents to educate and prepare them for the sacrifices involved in a TJ experience. Shutting down TJ is not the answer.. That's a very communist way of thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you folks commenting on this thread actually have a kid at TJ?

I do. And I would think long and hard before sending my kid to be the lone white face in the class. It’s lonely and worse.

so why did you send him/her there?

I didn’t realize how bad it would be. 13-14 is a tender age and a lot of HS is learning about social interactions. TJ was far from our house so a lot of time lost in commuting. Then all the time lost on the weekends to homework. And the social scene was very difficult with 90% Asians and every club dance after school etc dominated by this. It just wasn’t worth it. In my neighborhood everyone says “no thank you!” To TJ but we had just moved here and didn’t know better. It wasn’t worth it for us.

First of all, it’s not 90% of Asians as you claimed. Second, why do you find the social scene to be difficult with the existence of Asians? Are you a racist who doesn’t want to socialize with other races? Sounds like that’s the case.

I don't think she meant anything negative with her comment. Even as an asian parent, we found the social scene (meeting with friends after school, going to a party, etc.) difficult for the kid only because we live far away with no TJ kids nearby. Every get together was a drop off and pickup and the affinity was not the same as it would have been if the kids were in the neighborhood.

At the end of the day, the value proposition has to be there for each family and as long as people accept that and move on, we can all live in peace. It's people wanting to shut down TJ or calling Asians racist because of their shortcomings is what pisses me off..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But TJ opened my eyes to how racist and clannish many Asian parents are. There is a definitely a Master Race/ superior culture/ unwillingness to consider American cultural norms/ sense of academic entitlement going on with many of the that is disturbing. Like PP.

As an Asian-American who has immigrant parents, this doesn't ring true to me. From my perspective, it always seemed like Asians would have rather associated with whites, but whites weren't interested in associating outside of their race (for the most part...of course, there are exceptions). And subtle (and not so subtle) racist interactions are painful, so it's just more comfortable to associate within your own race, especially when there is a language barrier. I think the only part of your comment about that rings true to me is the part about believing Asian culture is superior, but only in relation to nutrition. Asians think their eating habits are better because their food is more fresh and less processed. I do admit, there is a superiority complex about that. But doesn't every race think they're better for one reason or another? In the words of Rodney King, can't we all just get along?

Too many Asian TJ parents think “getting along“ means perpetuating a school that admits next to no blacks and Hispanics, where the Asian kids often stick to themselves, and where every call for FCPS to take a look at the impact that TJ has had on other schools and the surrounding neighborhoods is met with hostility and allegations of racism. It is beyond toxic and eventually our leaders will stop pandering. Replacing Moon on the School Board was a step in the right direction.

You are just projecting your insecurities and wrong perception on an entire community which is inherently racist by itself. We (as in Asians) do not actively preach or propagate racism of any sort. If fighting for a program that provides a higher level of education for our children is extrapolated using convoluted logic as racist, that's just moronic.

Here are the facts:
- Homes get rezoned all the time across the county. FCPS does provide bus service to schools. So I see the "kids can't walk to school" as a non-issue.
- TJ is open to EVERYONE who has an interest in STEM, willing to show STEM interest, and willing to put in a LOT of effort during the 4 years of school. I didn't make up the rules for admission. No Asian did. Change the rules to suit your convenience. No kid at TJ is actively building barricades to keep Blacks and Hispanics out. Fix the system without being jealous of the current beneficiaries, most of who are first gen immigrants who worked their ass off to be where they are today without handouts.
- Kids in a school tend to hangout with other kids in the school. Just so happens most of the kids in that school are Asian. What do you want them to do? Walk out on the street looking for non-Asians to hang out with? How can they "stick to themselves" if "themselves" are all there is?!?!
- Issues of equity need to be addressed across the system. As another posters have pointed out, a lot of programs have been put in place to fix the perceived inequity with no results. Why not make AAP pervasive? Everyone has access to it at all schools. See what that does. How do we pay for it? increase taxes. I'd gladly pay. I'm sure you would too.

At the end of the day we live in a capitalistic democracy (at least for now). Merit and hard work that made this country great still work. TJ is an institution where this manifests itself. Do we need to accommodate others who are less fortunate? Absolutely! Let's figure that out! That's equitable.
Do we we need to accommodate others that are less able in the name of equity? Absolutely not! They will eventually drag the institution down.

Before you jump on me and call me racist, I have 2 kids - one fitting the able category that goes to TJ and the other less able that's going to a base HS. No shame in that.

Shutting institutions that don't comply with your worldview is just a communist way of doing things. Disagreeing with that is not racist..

+1

[Anonymous]

We are in a language immersion program in elementary school. About 1/3 of my sons classmates are from out of the base school boundary. We rarely see those kids in afterschool programs or for play dates and the like. It is far harder to get together with them then it is the kids who live in the neighborhood. I can imagine that it is similar for the kids at TJ. The distance for the high school students probably makes it far harder to get together to just hang out.

That social piece is one reason we decided to keep our son at the base school and not send him to the Center next year. The feedback we received from neighbours who have kids at the Center is that the social issue are large. Their kids never see the other kids outside of school for birthday parties or play dates. It was the biggest complaints that parents had.

High School students probably feel the social pressure and isolation, due to distance, far more than an elementary age kid.

As for an advantage going to college, lots of kids do well in college, including going to great colleges, out of non-TJ schools.

I think TJ is great and have no problem with it but I think it needs to be far more student desired and less parent driven. I think that there are too many kids who attend TJ because their parents pressure them to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a language immersion program in elementary school. About 1/3 of my sons classmates are from out of the base school boundary. We rarely see those kids in afterschool programs or for play dates and the like. It is far harder to get together with them then it is the kids who live in the neighborhood. I can imagine that it is similar for the kids at TJ. The distance for the high school students probably makes it far harder to get together to just hang out.

That social piece is one reason we decided to keep our son at the base school and not send him to the Center next year. The feedback we received from neighbours who have kids at the Center is that the social issue are large. Their kids never see the other kids outside of school for birthday parties or play dates. It was the biggest complaints that parents had.

High School students probably feel the social pressure and isolation, due to distance, far more than an elementary age kid.

As for an advantage going to college, lots of kids do well in college, including going to great colleges, out of non-TJ schools.

I think TJ is great and have no problem with it but I think it needs to be far more student desired and less parent driven. I think that there are too many kids who attend TJ because their parents pressure them to attend.

Completely agree and believe it makes a HUGE difference in the TJ experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ parents should not be deciding the school’s future use. It gets an outsized amount of attention and resources, yet 96-97% of FCPS students derive no benefit from TJ and many are affirmatively injured by having to attend schools further from their homes or that are unnecessarily overcrowded.

But they do have a voice in the decision just like every other taxpayer.

They routinely suggest that they are better informed and that other views should be discounted or ignored. Their voices should be weighted no more heavily than anyone else's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But TJ opened my eyes to how racist and clannish many Asian parents are. There is a definitely a Master Race/ superior culture/ unwillingness to consider American cultural norms/ sense of academic entitlement going on with many of the that is disturbing. Like PP.

As an Asian-American who has immigrant parents, this doesn't ring true to me. From my perspective, it always seemed like Asians would have rather associated with whites, but whites weren't interested in associating outside of their race (for the most part...of course, there are exceptions). And subtle (and not so subtle) racist interactions are painful, so it's just more comfortable to associate within your own race, especially when there is a language barrier. I think the only part of your comment about that rings true to me is the part about believing Asian culture is superior, but only in relation to nutrition. Asians think their eating habits are better because their food is more fresh and less processed. I do admit, there is a superiority complex about that. But doesn't every race think they're better for one reason or another? In the words of Rodney King, can't we all just get along?

Too many Asian TJ parents think “getting along“ means perpetuating a school that admits next to no blacks and Hispanics, where the Asian kids often stick to themselves, and where every call for FCPS to take a look at the impact that TJ has had on other schools and the surrounding neighborhoods is met with hostility and allegations of racism. It is beyond toxic and eventually our leaders will stop pandering. Replacing Moon on the School Board was a step in the right direction.

You are just projecting your insecurities and wrong perception on an entire community which is inherently racist by itself. We (as in Asians) do not actively preach or propagate racism of any sort. If fighting for a program that provides a higher level of education for our children is extrapolated using convoluted logic as racist, that's just moronic.

Here are the facts:
- Homes get rezoned all the time across the county. FCPS does provide bus service to schools. So I see the "kids can't walk to school" as a non-issue.
- TJ is open to EVERYONE who has an interest in STEM, willing to show STEM interest, and willing to put in a LOT of effort during the 4 years of school. I didn't make up the rules for admission. No Asian did. Change the rules to suit your convenience. No kid at TJ is actively building barricades to keep Blacks and Hispanics out. Fix the system without being jealous of the current beneficiaries, most of who are first gen immigrants who worked their ass off to be where they are today without handouts.
- Kids in a school tend to hangout with other kids in the school. Just so happens most of the kids in that school are Asian. What do you want them to do? Walk out on the street looking for non-Asians to hang out with? How can they "stick to themselves" if "themselves" are all there is?!?!
- Issues of equity need to be addressed across the system. As another posters have pointed out, a lot of programs have been put in place to fix the perceived inequity with no results. Why not make AAP pervasive? Everyone has access to it at all schools. See what that does. How do we pay for it? increase taxes. I'd gladly pay. I'm sure you would too.

At the end of the day we live in a capitalistic democracy (at least for now). Merit and hard work that made this country great still work. TJ is an institution where this manifests itself. Do we need to accommodate others who are less fortunate? Absolutely! Let's figure that out! That's equitable.
Do we we need to accommodate others that are less able in the name of equity? Absolutely not! They will eventually drag the institution down.

Before you jump on me and call me racist, I have 2 kids - one fitting the able category that goes to TJ and the other less able that's going to a base HS. No shame in that.

Shutting institutions that don't comply with your worldview is just a communist way of doing things. Disagreeing with that is not racist..

Guess what? TJ operated very nicely as a neighborhood school for decades. Returning it to its original, intended use given the current challenges makes a lot of sense Otherwise TJ is just the facade that FCPS likes to show off to make it seem like a good school system when a very large number of parents think it's declining fast.

And your profound disregard for the negative impact that it has on other families whose kids' experiences are diminished because they have to travel further to school or are forced into overcrowded facilities speaks volumes.

So call me Communist if you want. You will never understand what the American way really means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ parents should not be deciding the school’s future use. It gets an outsized amount of attention and resources, yet 96-97% of FCPS students derive no benefit from TJ and many are affirmatively injured by having to attend schools further from their homes or that are unnecessarily overcrowded.

But they do have a voice in the decision just like every other taxpayer.

They routinely suggest that they are better informed and that other views should be discounted or ignored. Their voices should be weighted no more heavily than anyone else's.

I'm the PP you responded to. I absolutely agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But TJ opened my eyes to how racist and clannish many Asian parents are. There is a definitely a Master Race/ superior culture/ unwillingness to consider American cultural norms/ sense of academic entitlement going on with many of the that is disturbing. Like PP.

As an Asian-American who has immigrant parents, this doesn't ring true to me. From my perspective, it always seemed like Asians would have rather associated with whites, but whites weren't interested in associating outside of their race (for the most part...of course, there are exceptions). And subtle (and not so subtle) racist interactions are painful, so it's just more comfortable to associate within your own race, especially when there is a language barrier. I think the only part of your comment about that rings true to me is the part about believing Asian culture is superior, but only in relation to nutrition. Asians think their eating habits are better because their food is more fresh and less processed. I do admit, there is a superiority complex about that. But doesn't every race think they're better for one reason or another? In the words of Rodney King, can't we all just get along?

Too many Asian TJ parents think “getting along“ means perpetuating a school that admits next to no blacks and Hispanics, where the Asian kids often stick to themselves, and where every call for FCPS to take a look at the impact that TJ has had on other schools and the surrounding neighborhoods is met with hostility and allegations of racism. It is beyond toxic and eventually our leaders will stop pandering. Replacing Moon on the School Board was a step in the right direction.

You are just projecting your insecurities and wrong perception on an entire community which is inherently racist by itself. We (as in Asians) do not actively preach or propagate racism of any sort. If fighting for a program that provides a higher level of education for our children is extrapolated using convoluted logic as racist, that's just moronic.

Here are the facts:
- Homes get rezoned all the time across the county. FCPS does provide bus service to schools. So I see the "kids can't walk to school" as a non-issue.
- TJ is open to EVERYONE who has an interest in STEM, willing to show STEM interest, and willing to put in a LOT of effort during the 4 years of school. I didn't make up the rules for admission. No Asian did. Change the rules to suit your convenience. No kid at TJ is actively building barricades to keep Blacks and Hispanics out. Fix the system without being jealous of the current beneficiaries, most of who are first gen immigrants who worked their ass off to be where they are today without handouts.
- Kids in a school tend to hangout with other kids in the school. Just so happens most of the kids in that school are Asian. What do you want them to do? Walk out on the street looking for non-Asians to hang out with? How can they "stick to themselves" if "themselves" are all there is?!?!
- Issues of equity need to be addressed across the system. As another posters have pointed out, a lot of programs have been put in place to fix the perceived inequity with no results. Why not make AAP pervasive? Everyone has access to it at all schools. See what that does. How do we pay for it? increase taxes. I'd gladly pay. I'm sure you would too.

At the end of the day we live in a capitalistic democracy (at least for now). Merit and hard work that made this country great still work. TJ is an institution where this manifests itself. Do we need to accommodate others who are less fortunate? Absolutely! Let's figure that out! That's equitable.
Do we we need to accommodate others that are less able in the name of equity? Absolutely not! They will eventually drag the institution down.

Before you jump on me and call me racist, I have 2 kids - one fitting the able category that goes to TJ and the other less able that's going to a base HS. No shame in that.

Shutting institutions that don't comply with your worldview is just a communist way of doing things. Disagreeing with that is not racist..

Guess what? TJ operated very nicely as a neighborhood school for decades. Returning it to its original, intended use given the current challenges makes a lot of sense Otherwise TJ is just the facade that FCPS likes to show off to make it seem like a good school system when a very large number of parents think it's declining fast.

And your profound disregard for the negative impact that it has on other families whose kids' experiences are diminished because they have to travel further to school or are forced into overcrowded facilities speaks volumes.

So call me Communist if you want. You will never understand what the American way really means.

We will have to agree to disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in a language immersion program in elementary school. About 1/3 of my sons classmates are from out of the base school boundary. We rarely see those kids in afterschool programs or for play dates and the like. It is far harder to get together with them then it is the kids who live in the neighborhood. I can imagine that it is similar for the kids at TJ. The distance for the high school students probably makes it far harder to get together to just hang out.

That social piece is one reason we decided to keep our son at the base school and not send him to the Center next year. The feedback we received from neighbours who have kids at the Center is that the social issue are large. Their kids never see the other kids outside of school for birthday parties or play dates. It was the biggest complaints that parents had.

High School students probably feel the social pressure and isolation, due to distance, far more than an elementary age kid.

As for an advantage going to college, lots of kids do well in college, including going to great colleges, out of non-TJ schools.

I think TJ is great and have no problem with it but I think it needs to be far more student desired and less parent driven. I think that there are too many kids who attend TJ because their parents pressure them to attend.

Completely agree and believe it makes a HUGE difference in the TJ experience.

I've probably spent way too much time on this thread and been called names.. . I completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ My White kid is also graduating from TJ this year. No legacy admissions lined up (anywhere I would want my kid to attend). Saving like heck to pay college, but still needed in state or merit. My kid went through the Carson feeder pipeline and I used to like and defend the Asian parenting mentality. Kids work hard, focus on education, parents are actively involved, kids stay out of trouble. It was a peer group I wanted for my own kids. I still think the kids make great peers.

But TJ opened my eyes to how racist and clannish many Asian parents are. There is a definitely a Master Race/ superior culture/ unwillingness to consider American cultural norms/ sense of academic entitlement going on with many of the that is disturbing. Like PP.

The academics at TJ are first rate. The kids are first rate. A lot of their parents are not. I think it has done my kid good to have the experience of being a minority. I think seeing how some of the “adults” like PP has been very eye opening to him. I find it disgusting. I certainly am much less comfortable with Asian parents and Asian parenting than I was 4 years ago. Then again, so are many of the Asian kids talking in the backseat of my car during carpools.

It wasn’t very kind of you to subject your DC to this. Asia’s are unapologetically racist at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But TJ opened my eyes to how racist and clannish many Asian parents are. There is a definitely a Master Race/ superior culture/ unwillingness to consider American cultural norms/ sense of academic entitlement going on with many of the that is disturbing. Like PP.

As an Asian-American who has immigrant parents, this doesn't ring true to me. From my perspective, it always seemed like Asians would have rather associated with whites, but whites weren't interested in associating outside of their race (for the most part...of course, there are exceptions). And subtle (and not so subtle) racist interactions are painful, so it's just more comfortable to associate within your own race, especially when there is a language barrier. I think the only part of your comment about that rings true to me is the part about believing Asian culture is superior, but only in relation to nutrition. Asians think their eating habits are better because their food is more fresh and less processed. I do admit, there is a superiority complex about that. But doesn't every race think they're better for one reason or another? In the words of Rodney King, can't we all just get along?

Too many Asian TJ parents think “getting along“ means perpetuating a school that admits next to no blacks and Hispanics, where the Asian kids often stick to themselves, and where every call for FCPS to take a look at the impact that TJ has had on other schools and the surrounding neighborhoods is met with hostility and allegations of racism. It is beyond toxic and eventually our leaders will stop pandering. Replacing Moon on the School Board was a step in the right direction.

You are just projecting your insecurities and wrong perception on an entire community which is inherently racist by itself. We (as in Asians) do not actively preach or propagate racism of any sort. If fighting for a program that provides a higher level of education for our children is extrapolated using convoluted logic as racist, that's just moronic.

Here are the facts:
- Homes get rezoned all the time across the county. FCPS does provide bus service to schools. So I see the "kids can't walk to school" as a non-issue.
- TJ is open to EVERYONE who has an interest in STEM, willing to show STEM interest, and willing to put in a LOT of effort during the 4 years of school. I didn't make up the rules for admission. No Asian did. Change the rules to suit your convenience. No kid at TJ is actively building barricades to keep Blacks and Hispanics out. Fix the system without being jealous of the current beneficiaries, most of who are first gen immigrants who worked their ass off to be where they are today without handouts.
- Kids in a school tend to hangout with other kids in the school. Just so happens most of the kids in that school are Asian. What do you want them to do? Walk out on the street looking for non-Asians to hang out with? How can they "stick to themselves" if "themselves" are all there is?!?!
- Issues of equity need to be addressed across the system. As another posters have pointed out, a lot of programs have been put in place to fix the perceived inequity with no results. Why not make AAP pervasive? Everyone has access to it at all schools. See what that does. How do we pay for it? increase taxes. I'd gladly pay. I'm sure you would too.

At the end of the day we live in a capitalistic democracy (at least for now). Merit and hard work that made this country great still work. TJ is an institution where this manifests itself. Do we need to accommodate others who are less fortunate? Absolutely! Let's figure that out! That's equitable.
Do we we need to accommodate others that are less able in the name of equity? Absolutely not! They will eventually drag the institution down.

Before you jump on me and call me racist, I have 2 kids - one fitting the able category that goes to TJ and the other less able that's going to a base HS. No shame in that.

Shutting institutions that don't comply with your worldview is just a communist way of doing things. Disagreeing with that is not racist..

Guess what? TJ operated very nicely as a neighborhood school for decades. Returning it to its original, intended use given the current challenges makes a lot of sense Otherwise TJ is just the facade that FCPS likes to show off to make it seem like a good school system when a very large number of parents think it's declining fast.

And your profound disregard for the negative impact that it has on other families whose kids' experiences are diminished because they have to travel further to school or are forced into overcrowded facilities speaks volumes.

So call me Communist if you want. You will never understand what the American way really means.

wow! I'm and (Asian) American and am stunned by this racist statement!