TJ Commended Student Emails Released - Who is really responsible?

[Anonymous]

No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous[b wrote:]No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

[/b]


This is completely false. All colleges and universities, including my SLAC and even my law school, always brag on the number of National Merit Scholars they have in each class. And, yes, scholarships are awarded to National Merit Scholars as a way to entice them to enroll at said colleges. It IS a very big deal, and what the school did, was wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this even the school’s responsibility to notify students? College Board is a business— they can do it themselves.

Say it louder for the people in the back!!! So tired of College Board taking money and making others do their work.

It's not the College Board, it's National Merit, and this is the way it's always been done. Don't now blame an entity for what the school should have done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone say the letters showed up a week late? Showed up where?

The letters were supposed to be delivered to students in Sept (that’s why they were dated Sept). TJ received the letters mid October. Bonitatibus signed letters within 48 hrs. That’s still roughly mid October. Students received letters on Nov 14. So almost 1 month after TJ received the letters. Also college applications were due Nov 1. Students received the letters almost two weeks after the Nov 1 deadline.

They say that because they are working against the VA AG and trying to downplay what happened at the school. It was indeed over a full month. And you can see the admin's reason why - which is inexcusable - and which the principal called him out on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great parent letters, IMO (not a high school parent, so no dog in this fight)

Starts off reasonable then quickly goes off the rails.

“[b]You lied to me!”

[/b]


No no no. That was brilliant. A CYA move. As an attorney, I applaud it! No wonder she released these emails - they are positively damning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If TJ has decided that they’re more interested in equity now than excellence then I agree they should just shut it down. The problems come from pretending. Rename it and let it be a regular neighborhood school.

I don't care about equity per see, but they did a great job revamping the old admissions by providing a system that made it harder for wealthy residents to game.[/quote]


That's not what they did at all. Prove your allegation with citations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

Don't be silly and you can really only speak for yourself or your DC. Just like tax returns - unless you are the tax payer or preparer ... Well it's better to have it than not have it. It is not a subjective doc. Qualifiation is based on a state's statistics. Students put stuff on apps from actual verified awards etc to other. Over 10 file types accepted by most. Even video files- compare to a schoolplay or musical or orchestra. Lead or 1st chair at one place not the same as at another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, he screwed up, finally admitted it and seemingly is working to fix things.

+1
This. It's unfortunate but for sure I've dropped the ball occasionally in my own job and I imagine everyone has at some point as well. Sounds like he forgot about the packet for a few weeks. Also perhaps notable re: timing - TJ only has advisory on Mondays I believe. No school 10/24 or 10/31 so prior to 11/14 there was just one other Monday: 11/7 and it too was after the 11/1 cut-off. Naturally they could have figured out some other way to hand them out but really it seems like just an error. One that's been apologized for, that TJ's working to help clean up with outreach to colleges, and that he already said they would handle it differently moving forward.

Are you trying to make excuse for him? Where are the accountability and responsibility?

He already apologized (accountability) and reached out to all schools applied to by the affected students (responsibility). What else do you think he should do?

Dropping the ball at work happens. Dropping the ball on an important, time sensitive process you have managed for 15+ years and then making of some dumb excuse about not hurting kids feelings? He should probably be reassigned to a different position that has less risk for impacting students with applications. Perhaps a central administrative job or grades below HS.

Delaying the distribution of some information which already publicly available, to my standard, is not important. Whether it is important to the kid? My kids don’t think so, the kids showed up in last week’s meeting don’t think so, but some parents think so. They care so much for the education of their kid, so for such an important award, they have to wait for the school to hand over the certificate, ideally as a part of big ceremony, otherwise, their high achieving kids will miss the opportunities to put it in the college applications. Honestly, I feel really sorry for their kids now….

BTW, if CB put on enough postage in the first place, it probably won’t be any issues now. Why no one questioning their motivation and responsibility? Those tests are not free, FCPS paid them already, why they have to ask the school to deliver the result, but not themselves, like what they did for SAT?

But it's not publicly available. Have you not read the posts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So kids got digital notices during the deadly global pandemic, and they showed up a week late this year. I just don't see the problem here. Is someone deliberately trying to make this big nothing into something?

I think it has more to do with the reason given, not hurting the feelings of those who didn't get the award.

Exactly. The reason given was BS and Kosatka was using an unrelated talking point to cover his ass. That’s why he has to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

Don't be silly and you can really only speak for yourself or your DC. Just like tax returns - unless you are the tax payer or preparer ... Well it's better to have it than not have it. It is not a subjective doc. Qualifiation is based on a state's statistics. Students put stuff on apps from actual verified awards etc to other. Over 10 file types accepted by most. Even video files- compare to a schoolplay or musical or orchestra. Lead or 1st chair at one place not the same as at another.

+1. Of COURSE they put it on their applications. It goes right to acceptance chances and merit scholarship offers. To argue otherwise is just insipid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

[/b]


This is completely false. All colleges and universities, including my SLAC and even my law school, always brag on the number of National Merit Scholars they have in each class. And, yes, scholarships are awarded to National Merit Scholars as a way to entice them to enroll at said colleges. It IS a very big deal, and what the school did, was wrong.

We’re not talking about NM Scholars. We are talking about Commended Students.

Kids who were in the running for NM Scholarships were notified on time. This is well established.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

[/b]


This is completely false. All colleges and universities, including my SLAC and even my law school, always brag on the number of National Merit Scholars they have in each class. And, yes, scholarships are awarded to National Merit Scholars as a way to entice them to enroll at said colleges. It IS a very big deal, and what the school did, was wrong.

We’re not talking about NM Scholars. We are talking about Commended Students.

Kids who were in the running for NM Scholarships were notified on time. This is well established.

+1

This isn’t about the Finalists. Or even Semifinalists.

This is third tier. And they are no more eligible for the “special corporate scholarships” than non-commended kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, he screwed up, finally admitted it and seemingly is working to fix things.

+1
This. It's unfortunate but for sure I've dropped the ball occasionally in my own job and I imagine everyone has at some point as well. Sounds like he forgot about the packet for a few weeks. Also perhaps notable re: timing - TJ only has advisory on Mondays I believe. No school 10/24 or 10/31 so prior to 11/14 there was just one other Monday: 11/7 and it too was after the 11/1 cut-off. Naturally they could have figured out some other way to hand them out but really it seems like just an error. One that's been apologized for, that TJ's working to help clean up with outreach to colleges, and that he already said they would handle it differently moving forward.

Agreed. He indeed messed up and made it worse by trying to cover it up. When certain parents' names pop up in the email, he should be more prepared when crafting the answers. Anyway, the remediation methods have been taken, and most importantly, there is no real impact on the kids, the kids probably won't even care.

Is it warrant an apology from the school? Yes, an Attorney General's investigation? No.

BTW, I am just one of the NORMAL Asian parents in TJ, who don't think this is a big deal, and it is definitely not an act of racism.

But the Attorney General's office didn't know about these emails prior to the release yesterday, did they?

And the AG's involvement, and the national attention, forced FCPS (Miyares) to announce that their office of civil rights was doing an investigation and appointing an outside investigator. Actions have consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]No Commended student I know put it on their college application (whether they be at TJ or elsewhere). It is an also ran second place sort of thing.

[/b]


This is completely false. All colleges and universities, including my SLAC and even my law school, always brag on the number of National Merit Scholars they have in each class. And, yes, scholarships are awarded to National Merit Scholars as a way to entice them to enroll at said colleges. It IS a very big deal, and what the school did, was wrong.

We’re not talking about NM Scholars. We are talking about Commended Students.

Kids who were in the running for NM Scholarships were notified on time. This is well established.

+1

This isn’t about the Finalists. Or even Semifinalists.

This is third tier. And they are no more eligible for the “special corporate scholarships” than non-commended kids.

No, you are wrong. It's about property rights (ownership in a valuable asset) and the school's manipulation to effect a stated desire - that the students who did not receive the award (non-Asian) be not overly taxed about it. Go back and read the emails. That is clear. It is correct that both the FCPS Civil rights counsel and the AG's office be involved. The admins. at TJ have taken this too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If TJ has decided that they’re more interested in equity now than excellence then I agree they should just shut it down. The problems come from pretending. Rename it and let it be a regular neighborhood school.

I don't care about equity per see, but they did a great job revamping the old admissions by providing a system that made it[b] harder for wealthy residents to game[b].

That's not what they did at all. Prove your allegation with citations

DP. They changed the admissions process to give kids from ALL middle schools - even the poor ones - a chance at admissions.

From class of 24 to 25:
> more students from all over the county; every single MS is now represented

> more students from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds, increasing from 0.7% to ~25% of the freshman class
(27% of FCPS students are ED)

> more Hispanic students, going from 3% to 11%
(27% of FCPS)

> more black/mixed students, going from 6% to 13%
(30% of FCPS)

> more white students, going from 18% to 22%
(38% of FCPS)

> more female students, going from 42% to 46%
(48% of FCPS)

> fewer Asian students, going from 73% to 54%
(20% of FCPS)

> fewer private school students, going from 10% to 3%