TJ Kids that needed remedial math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should have more STEM academies. This would provide other options for students who want to pursue STEM but do not want to (or cannot meet requirements to) go to TJ.

They do. There are six academies throughout FCPS, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml. These are NOT the old voc schools of past. The Chantilly Academy has been recognized as a Govenor's STEM Academy, http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy/. Among its offerings now is cyber security. Check them out. They are for the college bound students as much as others, and can lead to skills that students can use while in college. My ds had a paid internship at the Pentagon thanks to his involvement in the Chantilly Academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should have more STEM academies. This would provide other options for students who want to pursue STEM but do not want to (or cannot meet requirements to) go to TJ.

They do. There are six academies throughout FCPS, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml. These are NOT the old voc schools of past. The Chantilly Academy has been recognized as a Govenor's STEM Academy, http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy/. Among its offerings now is cyber security. Check them out. They are for the college bound students as much as others, and can lead to skills that students can use while in college. My ds had a paid internship at the Pentagon thanks to his involvement in the Chantilly Academy.

PP here, sorry for the bad link to information on academies, here is, hopefully, a good link if you are interested in what else FCPS offers than just TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/pla/opp/academy/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should have more STEM academies. This would provide other options for students who want to pursue STEM but do not want to (or cannot meet requirements to) go to TJ.

They do. There are six academies throughout FCPS, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml. These are NOT the old voc schools of past. The Chantilly Academy has been recognized as a Govenor's STEM Academy, http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy/. Among its offerings now is cyber security. Check them out. They are for the college bound students as much as others, and can lead to skills that students can use while in college. My ds had a paid internship at the Pentagon thanks to his involvement in the Chantilly Academy.

PP here, sorry for the bad link to information on academies, here is, hopefully, a good link if you are interested in what else FCPS offers than just TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/pla/opp/academy/

PP again. Can I give up now? Wrong academy (that's what I get for trying to answer on a Friday night). Lets try this for generic information on the student academies as alternatives to TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should have more STEM academies. This would provide other options for students who want to pursue STEM but do not want to (or cannot meet requirements to) go to TJ.

They do. There are six academies throughout FCPS, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml. These are NOT the old voc schools of past. The Chantilly Academy has been recognized as a Govenor's STEM Academy, http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy/. Among its offerings now is cyber security. Check them out. They are for the college bound students as much as others, and can lead to skills that students can use while in college. My ds had a paid internship at the Pentagon thanks to his involvement in the Chantilly Academy.

PP here, sorry for the bad link to information on academies, here is, hopefully, a good link if you are interested in what else FCPS offers than just TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/pla/opp/academy/

I know about Chantilly and agree that it is a great program. Congrats to your son with his paid internship!

My point is that FCPS should have MORE STEM academies and not "just" the one located at Chantilly. For example, a STEM academy at Falls Church HS would be a great draw to the school as it already is an AP school and the academy courses would fit in nicely. Why pay for the transportation costs all the way out to Chantilly when there could be a Fairfax West STEM academy and a Fairfax East STEM academy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS should have more STEM academies. This would provide other options for students who want to pursue STEM but do not want to (or cannot meet requirements to) go to TJ.

They do. There are six academies throughout FCPS, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml. These are NOT the old voc schools of past. The Chantilly Academy has been recognized as a Govenor's STEM Academy, http://www.fcps.edu/ChantillyAcademy/. Among its offerings now is cyber security. Check them out. They are for the college bound students as much as others, and can lead to skills that students can use while in college. My ds had a paid internship at the Pentagon thanks to his involvement in the Chantilly Academy.

PP here, sorry for the bad link to information on academies, here is, hopefully, a good link if you are interested in what else FCPS offers than just TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/pla/opp/academy/

PP again. Can I give up now? Wrong academy (that's what I get for trying to answer on a Friday night). Lets try this for generic information on the student academies as alternatives to TJ, http://www.fcps.edu/is/cte/careerexperience.shtml

LOL! Thank you for the link!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Breakdown of TJ admission process:

Math score from admissions test= 20%
Math and Science GPA= 15%

So, that's 35% that is directly math and science related, and you might think okay, roughly one third, so "language must be the other two thirds."

But then you have,

Teacher recommendation= 20%
One rec must be from a math or science teacher from 7th or 8th grade. The other rec can be from any other 7th or 8th grade teacher, but many students choose another math or science teacher. The teacher recs address the student's performance in their math and/or science classes and the student's demonstrated interest in math and/or science.

Student Information Sheet= 20%
Students write about their interest in math and science in the SIS, giving specific examples of the depth of their participation in math and science related activities.

Essays= 25%
The essays are about writing, obviously, but the topics are not questions about literature or history. The questions are math and science related and sometimes have an ethical issue to consider.

Here's how the last three items are evaluated (from the TJ site):

The student’s essays, student information sheet, and teacher recommendations are reviewed in three separate evaluation processes. In each of these separate processes, all semifinalists are randomly assigned to a team of two trained educators who independently evaluate the materials using rubrics designed specifically for that evaluation. A third reader is available to review materials, when necessary, and final ratings then are based on the two highest evaluations given to the applicant.

So, while 35% of the decision process can be seen to be directly math and science related, the other 65% is actually quite related to math and science, and is meant to show how the student participates in and thinks about math and science.

Sorry this is so long, but I do think it helps to see a full picture of the process.

In addition, every class at TJ is an honors (or above) level class (except world languages). So, the accepted kids coming in have to be able to do the math and science, but at the same time, they also have to be advanced enough to handle humanities classes taught at an honors level.

[Anonymous]

Do you really beleive that those percetnages really reflect tha admissions process? It seesm to just give more wiggle room and no quanifiables to the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you really beleive that those percetnages really reflect tha admissions process? It seesm to just give more wiggle room and no quanifiables to the process.

Basing admissions on just quantifiables would lead to a really homogenous student body that wouldn't benefit anybody. ( well, maybe those nerdy kids with top grades and test scores, but lacking other skills). And of course it creates wiggle room. You would not want to see what a class based just on quantifiables looked like.

[Anonymous]

Remedial math for some I can understand, but it has also come out in recent years that some of them need remedial English..
Now what is up with that? You would assume someone capable of scoring high enough on the verbal part of the admission test and writing acceptable essays would have enough proficiency in English to understand the teachers in the classroom, but apparently not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remedial math for some I can understand, but it has also come out in recent years that some of them need remedial English..
Now what is up with that? You would assume someone capable of scoring high enough on the verbal part of the admission test and writing acceptable essays would have enough proficiency in English to understand the teachers in the classroom, but apparently not.

Many of the asian kids at TJ are from Korea and only came here for TJ. Their moms bring their kids to NoVA while the father stays in Korea to work. They return to Korea during the summer.

It's the worst kept secret and elected officials need to do something about foreigners who take up spots from local kids/families who pay taxes.

[Anonymous]

Simple solution: NO remedial classes should be taught at TJ.

[Anonymous]

But then what about all the kids getting outside extra help after school and on weekends? How would you keep track of that?