TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

There are many ways to evaluate the academic merits. Prep test is just one of them. Most students who do well in prep test, also do well with other evaluations. Most students who fail with the prep test, also fail with other evaluations. They have to rely on changing the rules to win.
As long it is a fair academic evaluation, it doesn't matter if we do prep test or not. So please stop using the prep test as the excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

DP, you can't obtain perfect. Requiring that we sacrifice the 99% so that we chase after that 1% is irrational foolishness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

Here's a wild idea. Just get all the information that you can about a student and then be very public about the fact that, because diversity in the classroom across multiple metrics is PROVEN to create a stronger educational environment, ACTUALLY engage in a full-scale holistic review and accept a class of students every year which is both excellent and diverse. End the horrible practice of using a rubric to obtain an imprimatur of "objectivity" and just do what EVERY SINGLE ELITE ACADEMIC INSTITUTION IN AMERICA does already and pick the kids that you want to pick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

Here's a wild idea. Just get all the information that you can about a student and then be very public about the fact that, because diversity in the classroom across multiple metrics is PROVEN to create a stronger educational environment, ACTUALLY engage in a full-scale holistic review and accept a class of students every year which is both excellent and diverse. End the horrible practice of using a rubric to obtain an imprimatur of "objectivity" and just do what EVERY SINGLE ELITE ACADEMIC INSTITUTION IN AMERICA does already and pick the kids that you want to pick.

thanks. but what's with the caps ACTUALLY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

DP, you can't obtain perfect. Requiring that we sacrifice the 99% so that we chase after that 1% is irrational foolishness.

I also don’t like encouraging parents to push their kids into geometry prematurely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

6-10 are irrelevant for a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

That is an excellent proposal. Should satisfy everyone but the diehards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

This is purely for the sake of discussion (or argument for some) and none what we say will actually happen. Its good if everyone enters TJ have a higher base so school doesn't have to cater several skill levels. Having said, I would love to see
1. Geometry HN as a requirement (open up Algebra I to all in 7th)
2. Require HN for all the courses available in school.
3. Yes, min unweighted 3.75 GPA (weighted GPA will not matter as we are upping min requirements)
4. Use geographic quotas, but based on school pyramids instead of attending school, so we do not discriminate against AAP centers. Since center kids come from the whole pyramid, we still get a desired distribution.
5. Limit the geographic quotas to say 60% of total available admissions and leave the remaining 40% into an open pool.
6. Use teacher recommendations.
7. Give credit for STEM electives and after-school programs offered by the attending school. Every school offers them, though they may differ from school to school. Those who reject this, I would like to remind that TJ is a STEM school and we are looking for students who are interested in STEM and take advantage of opportunities available to them.
8. Any other recognizable achievements.
9. Yes, I support giving boost to poor kids, but qualifications need to be strictly evaluated. However, it should be like 35-40% of admissions go to poor students as its unfair to the rest. It should be more like 20%.
10. More importantly, the weightage should be adjusted appropriately and not like what it is now where creative essay writing essentially determines the admission. In 'my' opinion, we should have weightage 50% GPA, 20% essay and portrait sheet, 15% teacher/principal rec, 10% electives/after-school activities, 5% other achievements.

That is an excellent proposal. Should satisfy everyone but the diehards.

I agree person that wrote this you should run for school board. Alternatively, the school board could setup a separate committee to figure all this out with reps from each faction, existing parents, teachers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

DP, you can't obtain perfect. Requiring that we sacrifice the 99% so that we chase after that 1% is irrational foolishness.

I also don’t like encouraging parents to push their kids into geometry prematurely.

Well, if doing geometry is push and pre-mature for 8th grades, where at least 20% of 8th graders (those who are in advanced math or Level IV) already do it, then do you honestly think the belongs to TJ and all the challenges they face? Or TJ should be dumbed down to cater to these kids (I am sure quite a few agree in this forum) ? Heck, since last year there are already tons of middle school kids that took Geometry HN and even PreCal HN 8th, got As in all the courses, but going to base school because they couldn't get into TJ under new process. My kid was very sad that she couldn't get in in spite of perfect GPA, plenty of stem electives/courses, but took comfort that she will have plenty of company at base HS to keep her challenged.

Honestly, Algebra I should be open to all 7th graders and TJ should require Geometry HN by 8th and all core courses as HN with min 3.75 GPA. There is no need to gate keep math track and those who are up for the challenge should be allowed to take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

DP, you can't obtain perfect. Requiring that we sacrifice the 99% so that we chase after that 1% is irrational foolishness.

I also don’t like encouraging parents to push their kids into geometry prematurely.

I don't like encouraging parents to push their kids who aren't smart at STEM into schools like TJ.
Algebra I in 7th is NOT a high bar. Smart kids all over the world do fine with it. If a kid can't hack algebra in 7th, that kid is at best somewhat above average. About 10% of FCPS kids take Algebra in 7th and are fine with it. There is no reason to dip down into the pool of kids who are slightly above average in math for a magnet STEM school.

I'd rather see kids get pushed into geometry prematurely, struggle, and get bad grades in their middle schools than see them pushed into TJ, where they will struggle and wash out of the school. Overaccelerated kids who get bad grades in middle school can expunge the grade and retake the class the following year. Kids who wash out of TJ can't really recover from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:improve the qualification bar then:

minimum requirement: Geometry HN, weighted GPA 3.8+
give extra credits for national awards, state awards and regional awards
use teacher's recommendation (better let the teacher mark a recommendation score to make it easier for calculation)
remove geographic quota. let's be fair. It's all about academic merit.

Even better

HN Geometry req
Use Unweighted GPA from STEM classes
Do Not use teacher recs they are unreliable and have shown to be racially biased
Add hard geographic quotas proportional to the region's population

I like this.

If there aren’t enough qualified applicants then put those spots into pool for remaining applicants.

I’m torn on Geometry though. I know great STEM kids who ended up in Alg I honors in 8th. And by requiring Geometry we’ll get parents pushing more kids to take it too soon. Bad consequence.

Maybe this will help you. If you take Algebra I in 8th the base school can generally meet all the math needs. TJ should be for the most advanced students who have a harder time getting their needs met at a base school.

Not universally true. There are various reasons why kids may end up in Alg I. I wouldn’t want to eliminate 100% of those kids.

And do we want parents to push their kids into geometry any more than they already do? As we’ve seen, they will do anything to get their kids in. We already have way more kids in Geometry than should be there.

DP, you can't obtain perfect. Requiring that we sacrifice the 99% so that we chase after that 1% is irrational foolishness.

I also don’t like encouraging parents to push their kids into geometry prematurely.

I don't like encouraging parents to push their kids who aren't smart at STEM into schools like TJ.
Algebra I in 7th is NOT a high bar. Smart kids all over the world do fine with it. If a kid can't hack algebra in 7th, that kid is at best somewhat above average. About 10% of FCPS kids take Algebra in 7th and are fine with it. There is no reason to dip down into the pool of kids who are slightly above average in math for a magnet STEM school.

I'd rather see kids get pushed into geometry prematurely, struggle, and get bad grades in their middle schools than see them pushed into TJ, where they will struggle and wash out of the school. Overaccelerated kids who get bad grades in middle school can expunge the grade and retake the class the following year. Kids who wash out of TJ can't really recover from that.

One of my kids friends who was actually from AAP, couldn't qualify for Algebra I 7th grade and got a B+ in 8th grade Algebra I in 8th grade along with couple of other B+/A- etc, made it to TJ. I presume the kid had impressive and creative essays. There are several other kids perfect GPAs, stem electives, plenty of after school activities, some of those who took Algebra 2 or even Pre-cal in 8th, couldn't get into TJ. May be their essays weren't as impressive, but is it fair? Not sure, but I am sure some of you think that its perfectly fair and every smart kid should be able to write stellar essays and do not accept that stem smartness doesn't always translate into creating writing abilities. Anyways!