Alexandria HSs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People get on here to complain about how huge TC is and voice how concerned they are that their DC will get lost in such a big environment. Now people are complaining about ACPS trying to do something about the size of the HS???? Make up your minds, folks! Which one is it? Do you want one huge school, or do you want two more reasonably sized schools? And where in any of these planning documents does it say anything about "building a low-level school" without "full academic access?"

What we want is one high school, if it's good. Dividing it doesn't improve anything and just diverts attention, money, and energy.

I don’t want one large high school with capacity issues. Let them build another school! I applaud them!

There are no capacity issues now. Roomier than most high schools, and 1 in every 7 classrooms is vacant each period.

Obviously you are not a teacher.

Vacant of students does not mean it is unused. Having itinerant teachers in the building is sometimes a necessary evil but it saps morale and reduces the learning environment for the students. It's like living in a motel vs an apartment. Can the kids be successful in that environment? Sure - but you would rather have a better situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People get on here to complain about how huge TC is and voice how concerned they are that their DC will get lost in such a big environment. Now people are complaining about ACPS trying to do something about the size of the HS???? Make up your minds, folks! Which one is it? Do you want one huge school, or do you want two more reasonably sized schools? And where in any of these planning documents does it say anything about "building a low-level school" without "full academic access?"

What we want is one high school, if it's good. Dividing it doesn't improve anything and just diverts attention, money, and energy.

I don’t want one large high school with capacity issues. Let them build another school! I applaud them!

There are no capacity issues now. Roomier than most high schools, and 1 in every 7 classrooms is vacant each period.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I retired from and still sub at TC sometimes and I can tell you that there are ABSOLUTELY capacity issues. If you think there aren't, then you've either never set foot inside during the school day OR you're at Braddock Place and playing spin doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of threads about TC Williams if you search.

Summary: Lots of bashers and a few over-the-top boosters trying to overcompensate for the general poor reputation of the school. Kids CAN do well there, especially UMC white kids who are high-achievers. But they tend to live in a bubble at the school. And some cynically believe that somehow performing well at TC gives them a leg up on college admissions since it's a virtue to have "survived" the school.

What's 'cynical' about doing well in a HS of FOUR THOUSAND KIDS?

The viewpoint that it is something to have survived. Ie doing well DESPITE the environment not because of it.

It is something to be survived. It's basically a juvenile detention facility with a small corner carved out to educate the kids of the very few wealthy white families that actually send their kids there instead of private. You can attack that all you want and from any angle, but you know it's the truth.

How do you know you’re speaking the truth? Your kids go there?

Hell no. I wouldn't send my kids there. They did public grade school through middle school and then jumped to private, exactly what those in the know do.

Look, my claims are common knowledge. Ask the white kids that graduated from there. They'll tell you the same. Yale or Jail, baby. Yale or Jail.

Well, if your kids are in the Yale part of your equation, the what’s the problem? Did your kids end up at Yale?

I don't have a problem except when a bunch of head in the sand rich white housewives claim TC is just fine. It isn't. It's a shithole. And the kids that do survive it deserve more credit for their accomplishments than the kids from SSSAS, BI, EHS, ACDS, Burgundy, etc.

And no, my kids didn't go to (or apply to) Yale. Yale's over rated. It's only part of the phrase because it rhymes with jail.

I have one at Brown and another working on apps as we type.

What planet do you live on?

Back to the OP's question:

Yes, I have kids at TC (who also went to ACPS elementary and middle schools), and we (and they) are happy and doing well. There is a lot of room for improvement at TC, but there is a lot that's good about it too.

-- White UMC WOHM who went to TC (and Yale, for law school; UVA undergrad)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People get on here to complain about how huge TC is and voice how concerned they are that their DC will get lost in such a big environment. Now people are complaining about ACPS trying to do something about the size of the HS???? Make up your minds, folks! Which one is it? Do you want one huge school, or do you want two more reasonably sized schools? And where in any of these planning documents does it say anything about "building a low-level school" without "full academic access?"

What we want is one high school, if it's good. Dividing it doesn't improve anything and just diverts attention, money, and energy.

I don’t want one large high school with capacity issues. Let them build another school! I applaud them!

There are no capacity issues now. Roomier than most high schools, and 1 in every 7 classrooms is vacant each period.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I retired from and still sub at TC sometimes and I can tell you that there are ABSOLUTELY capacity issues. If you think there aren't, then you've either never set foot inside during the school day OR you're at Braddock Place and playing spin doctor.

Yeah, there are trailers out front for classrooms. Do they think they are there for show?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of threads about TC Williams if you search.

Summary: Lots of bashers and a few over-the-top boosters trying to overcompensate for the general poor reputation of the school. Kids CAN do well there, especially UMC white kids who are high-achievers. But they tend to live in a bubble at the school. And some cynically believe that somehow performing well at TC gives them a leg up on college admissions since it's a virtue to have "survived" the school.

What's 'cynical' about doing well in a HS of FOUR THOUSAND KIDS?

The viewpoint that it is something to have survived. Ie doing well DESPITE the environment not because of it.

It is something to be survived. It's basically a juvenile detention facility with a small corner carved out to educate the kids of the very few wealthy white families that actually send their kids there instead of private. You can attack that all you want and from any angle, but you know it's the truth.

How do you know you’re speaking the truth? Your kids go there?

Hell no. I wouldn't send my kids there. They did public grade school through middle school and then jumped to private, exactly what those in the know do.

Look, my claims are common knowledge. Ask the white kids that graduated from there. They'll tell you the same. Yale or Jail, baby. Yale or Jail.

Well, if your kids are in the Yale part of your equation, the what’s the problem? Did your kids end up at Yale?

I don't have a problem except when a bunch of head in the sand rich white housewives claim TC is just fine. It isn't. It's a shithole. And the kids that do survive it deserve more credit for their accomplishments than the kids from SSSAS, BI, EHS, ACDS, Burgundy, etc.

And no, my kids didn't go to (or apply to) Yale. Yale's over rated. It's only part of the phrase because it rhymes with jail.

I have one at Brown and another working on apps as we type.

What planet do you live on?

Back to the OP's question:

Yes, I have kids at TC (who also went to ACPS elementary and middle schools), and we (and they) are happy and doing well. There is a lot of room for improvement at TC, but there is a lot that's good about it too.

-- White UMC WOHM who went to TC (and Yale, for law school; UVA undergrad)

Hot.

[Anonymous]

Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

A student stabbed another student off campus this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

A student stabbed another student off campus this year.

Did this make the news? I can't find anything about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

Imho, Yale or jail is a bit over the top and I live here and my kids went.

Kids being kids and are influenced by fellow attendees where ever they meet in a school be it at lunch, recess, class , hallway, bathrooms, clubs, after school sports, other adjuncts. Then too there are the weekend gatherings of sports, parties, dances, movies within the community, hang outs. I don't blame the kids. It can drag students down in spite of their waspy parents hoping for the best. ACPS won't mention it though. It's a very difficult subject to address within Alexandria City. How would you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

Imho, Yale or jail is a bit over the top and I live here and my kids went.

Kids being kids and are influenced by fellow attendees where ever they meet in a school be it at lunch, recess, class , hallway, bathrooms, clubs, after school sports, other adjuncts. Then too there are the weekend gatherings of sports, parties, dances, movies within the community, hang outs. I don't blame the kids. It can drag students down in spite of their waspy parents hoping for the best. ACPS won't mention it though. It's a very difficult subject to address within Alexandria City. How would you?

?? The weekend hangouts - like down by the river? I think you're watching too much Riverdale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I search for TC williams in the news, I never find anything disparaging. The worst I have seen are bad test scores. Where is this 'jail' part of yale or jail coming from?

A student stabbed another student off campus this year.

Did this make the news? I can't find anything about this.

Off campus so maybe didn't make the news.

Look at the online crime database for Alexandria City. Search for crimes around TC Williams - which is on the 3300 block of King Street.

Compare the assault arrests with crimes around a place like Edison HS in Fairfax County over the past 3 months. Maybe Fairfax police are lazy and didn't arrest anyone around Edison during that time period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t checked this, so I don’t know whether it’s true, but I had a mom tell me that T.C. has sent more kids to Princeton in the last three years than any other public school in NOVA.

Certainly not more than TJ.

I can't imagine many more schools in the entire country getting more acceptances than TJ.

TJ had 9 accepted to Princeton last year and 6 enroll.

Also:

Yale 8/4
Harvard: not on Naviance, but the school said 4 attending
Brown 8/3
Cornell 25/13 (Duh, STEM)
Dartmouth 5/1 (low number of applicants compared to other Ivys)
U Penn. 16/6
Columbia 9/4

Stanford 7/5
Duke 13/7
U Chicago 12/6
MIT 10/8
Cal Tech 4/1
CMU 36/15

And rounded my out top 10 Engineering:

Berkley: 34/11
Michigan: 16 attended, not on Naviance
GA Tech: 35/1 (what’s up with this?)
Illinois: 48/11
UT Austin: 9/1
Purdue: 46/7

And the top in state:

UVA. 191/65
WM 142/47
VT. 185/44

Last year was was widely considered to be a weak class, and an off year for TJ admissions. It will be interesting to see this year.

So, if you want the strongest high school in Alexandria, I would move to an RRMS/ Carson/ Longfellow feeder and get an kid in AAP.

[Anonymous]

I like TJ as much as the next striving parent but come on, to tell a person to move to an fcps feeder middle school because TJ is the best HS in Alexandria is just a troll job.

TCW is fine, but if you could afford to change your commute and move elsewhere then do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like TJ as much as the next striving parent but come on, to tell a person to move to an fcps feeder middle school because TJ is the best HS in Alexandria is just a troll job.

TCW is fine, but if you could afford to change your commute and move elsewhere then do so.

It’s a joke. Clearly if you want to live in Alexandria, you don’t move to Chantilly so your kid can commute to an Alexandria school.

But don’t to TC either. Even a meh FCPS area Alexandria HS in a much better call.

BTW— I have lived here 12 years and followed schools pretty closely as my kids have gotten older. I get how badly FCPS screwed over the Eastern County with IB and redistricting. And I get how Arlington got itself into its overcrowding problem. But Alexandria is in a great location with some nice neighborhoods and educated citizens. How can TC be so BAD? It just makes no sense. From the outside it seems like they make some jaw droppingly bad decisions about public education. Like pulling out of TJ, which pulls parents who care about education out of ACPS. Why can’t they get their sh*t together? If the schools were any good it would be an incredibly desirable location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like TJ as much as the next striving parent but come on, to tell a person to move to an fcps feeder middle school because TJ is the best HS in Alexandria is just a troll job.

TCW is fine, but if you could afford to change your commute and move elsewhere then do so.

It’s a joke. Clearly if you want to live in Alexandria, you don’t move to Chantilly so your kid can commute to an Alexandria school.

But don’t to TC either. Even a meh FCPS area Alexandria HS in a much better call.

BTW— I have lived here 12 years and followed schools pretty closely as my kids have gotten older. I get how badly FCPS screwed over the Eastern County with IB and redistricting. And I get how Arlington got itself into its overcrowding problem. But Alexandria is in a great location with some nice neighborhoods and educated citizens. How can TC be so BAD? It just makes no sense. From the outside it seems like they make some jaw droppingly bad decisions about public education. Like pulling out of TJ, which pulls parents who care about education out of ACPS. Why can’t they get their sh*t together? If the schools were any good it would be an incredibly desirable location.

It is because of Alexandria's school board. Talk to one of them. A bunch of real idiots. Everybody hates them but they've turned the job into full time, so no one else can afford to run.