Alexandria HSs

[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.

TC is so "bad" because it's the only high school in the city with many under-privileged kids in attendance. TC is not lacking for qualified and dedicated staff, so those who also have support at home do well at the school. But teachers cannot undo years of neglect at home, so those who attend TC from impoverished backgrounds give the school the reputation it has. The school board does not have a panacea for this social problem, and it should bot be expected to have one. And I'm not sure how opting into TJ would help TC. What exactly is your point here, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

TC is so "bad" because it's the only high school in the city with many under-privileged kids in attendance. TC is not lacking for qualified and dedicated staff, so those who also have support at home do well at the school. But teachers cannot undo years of neglect at home, so those who attend TC from impoverished backgrounds give the school the reputation it has. The school board does not have a panacea for this social problem, and it should bot be expected to have one. And I'm not sure how opting into TJ would help TC. What exactly is your point here, PP?

My point is that I personally know families who have left ACPS for APS or FCPS because they wanted their kid to attend TJ. And these are the families and kids you want in you school if you are trying for a turn around. People are moving out of ACPS so that their kids can apply to atJ. TJ has a 15% admit rate. Those kids would never go to TC. But the 85% who did not get in are still excellent students with supportive involved parents. The exact kids you want in your schools. You should not be giving them a reason to leave after ES.

Plus, TJ has a trickle down affect to ES and MS. Some parents write ACPS off entirely and never move there because they do not send kids. And, kids in MS who want TJ work their asses off, get great grades, are very involved in extracurriculars at a high level and stay out of trouble. They are still upper motivated, because they want TJ. So why are you forcing this cohort of kids to leave ACPD for APS or FCPS.

ACPS is lieteraaly forcing its highest achievinjg kids with the most involved and invested families out.

[Anonymous]

Here’s the thing w/ TC- the teachers are doing the best they can with the resources they have available to them. Any progress they make is in spite of, not thanks to, the support of both building admin and central office. The central office is made up of people who’ve either never worked in a classroom and don’t understand the basics of a teacher’s day OR people who’ve only ever worked in ACPS and thus don’t have the frame of reference to realize that there are other, perhaps better, ways to do things (or they DO realize and just don’t care). Building admin is a mess too. The new principal is trying- he really is- but in an oversized, overcrowded cluster-eff that is a school of that size, he needs a top-notch admin staff under him. Unfortunately, they waited until almost summer to fill his roster; if you know anything about the school hiring process, you know that by May, for the most part, you’re stuck with the dregs and leftovers- the people who nobody else wanted to hire. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part that’s what TCW was stuck with- either administrators that flamed out in other districts (*cough* PG *cough* DCPS *cough*) or a bunch of people who’ve bounced around ACPS for years, never staying terribly long in one job, and in a couple cases had been demoted from significantly more senior positions. I won’t name names but a quick glance at the leadership team on the school website will tell you who’s who.

So until this cycle is broken, TCW will continue to struggle. They have two potential things working in their favor: a first-year principal who’s a marked upgrade over his predecessor and an incoming new superintendent who may be hamstrung by the school board to a degree but still has the power to do some housecleaning. Or they can just stay the course and watch the good teachers flee to other districts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing w/ TC- the teachers are doing the best they can with the resources they have available to them. Any progress they make is in spite of, not thanks to, the support of both building admin and central office. The central office is made up of people who’ve either never worked in a classroom and don’t understand the basics of a teacher’s day OR people who’ve only ever worked in ACPS and thus don’t have the frame of reference to realize that there are other, perhaps better, ways to do things (or they DO realize and just don’t care). Building admin is a mess too. The new principal is trying- he really is- but in an oversized, overcrowded cluster-eff that is a school of that size, he needs a top-notch admin staff under him. Unfortunately, they waited until almost summer to fill his roster; if you know anything about the school hiring process, you know that by May, for the most part, you’re stuck with the dregs and leftovers- the people who nobody else wanted to hire. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part that’s what TCW was stuck with- either administrators that flamed out in other districts (*cough* PG *cough* DCPS *cough*) or a bunch of people who’ve bounced around ACPS for years, never staying terribly long in one job, and in a couple cases had been demoted from significantly more senior positions. I won’t name names but a quick glance at the leadership team on the school website will tell you who’s who.

So until this cycle is broken, TCW will continue to struggle. They have two potential things working in their favor: a first-year principal who’s a marked upgrade over his predecessor and an incoming new superintendent who may be hamstrung by the school board to a degree but still has the power to do some housecleaning. Or they can just stay the course and watch the good teachers flee to other districts.

Thanks for this. For those of us who are trying to support TC, what do you recommend we do as parent advocates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the thing w/ TC- the teachers are doing the best they can with the resources they have available to them. Any progress they make is in spite of, not thanks to, the support of both building admin and central office. The central office is made up of people who’ve either never worked in a classroom and don’t understand the basics of a teacher’s day OR people who’ve only ever worked in ACPS and thus don’t have the frame of reference to realize that there are other, perhaps better, ways to do things (or they DO realize and just don’t care). Building admin is a mess too. The new principal is trying- he really is- but in an oversized, overcrowded cluster-eff that is a school of that size, he needs a top-notch admin staff under him. Unfortunately, they waited until almost summer to fill his roster; if you know anything about the school hiring process, you know that by May, for the most part, you’re stuck with the dregs and leftovers- the people who nobody else wanted to hire. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part that’s what TCW was stuck with- either administrators that flamed out in other districts (*cough* PG *cough* DCPS *cough*) or a bunch of people who’ve bounced around ACPS for years, never staying terribly long in one job, and in a couple cases had been demoted from significantly more senior positions. I won’t name names but a quick glance at the leadership team on the school website will tell you who’s who.

So until this cycle is broken, TCW will continue to struggle. They have two potential things working in their favor: a first-year principal who’s a marked upgrade over his predecessor and an incoming new superintendent who may be hamstrung by the school board to a degree but still has the power to do some housecleaning. Or they can just stay the course and watch the good teachers flee to other districts.

+1. Teachers with less than 12+ years are not waiting around to find out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You mean the same school board that exempts their own children from redistricting all the while telling families that they need to uproot and attend another school after 10 years at their current school? And to do so for two grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You mean the same school board that exempts their own children from redistricting all the while telling families that they need to uproot and attend another school after 10 years at their current school? And to do so for two grades?

BINGO. This is the issue. The Alexandria School Board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

TC is so "bad" because it's the only high school in the city with many under-privileged kids in attendance. TC is not lacking for qualified and dedicated staff, so those who also have support at home do well at the school. But teachers cannot undo years of neglect at home, so those who attend TC from impoverished backgrounds give the school the reputation it has. The school board does not have a panacea for this social problem, and it should bot be expected to have one. And I'm not sure how opting into TJ would help TC. What exactly is your point here, PP?

The problem with your argument is that many of those kids entering TC this year and in previous years, have been in the ACPS system since Pre K or K.

So despite many years in the school system with tons of social services provided every year - supplies, clothes, uniforms, food, dental care, Christmas gifts, after school care, summer camp - there has been almost no difference whatsoever in educational outcomes for those children.

And wait - before you tell me that many of those children are immigrants - check the stats across all the schools. There are many times ESL students scores are the same as or almost the same as AA students or in some instances slightly better than AA students.

I think the schools need to scale way back on the social services, allow the actual social services dept to provide that help, and focus on education.

[Anonymous]

Just a data point: TC Williams has significantly more math and science AP offerings than the private high schools in Alexandria. Probably not as many as TJ but definitely more than the local alternatives. With excellent teachers, too.

[Anonymous]

TJ offers math above the AP level - after calculus, you can do multivariate calculus, differential equations, and numerical analysis. There are also computer science courses above the AP computer science level and post-AP science classeses like optics. Even if a regular school offered all AP classes, there's still no comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ offers math above the AP level - after calculus, you can do multivariate calculus, differential equations, and numerical analysis. There are also computer science courses above the AP computer science level and post-AP science classeses like optics. Even if a regular school offered all AP classes, there's still no comparison.

I don't think anyone on here is trying to say that TC is better than TJ. Not sure why you felt the need to post this. Everyone knows that TJ is, hands down, the best school in the area, and one of the best schools in the entire country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ offers math above the AP level - after calculus, you can do multivariate calculus, differential equations, and numerical analysis. There are also computer science courses above the AP computer science level and post-AP science classeses like optics. Even if a regular school offered all AP classes, there's still no comparison.

I don't think anyone on here is trying to say that TC is better than TJ. Not sure why you felt the need to post this. Everyone knows that TJ is, hands down, the best school in the area, and one of the best schools in the entire country.

Is it? Academically, perhaps. It seems to be increasingly less diverse and interest in TJ has been fairly flat. Many parents and students now prefer to stay at their base schools where they can have more well-rounded high school experiences.

[Anonymous]

I posted about the TJ offerings because the poster said that TC would "probably" have less offerings of AP than TJ. My point is even if a school had comparable AP offerings to TJ, that would not take into account the post-AP offerings there. This is an element of TJ that I have found people unaware of - they think it just a certain type of student taking the same classes offered by other high schools.

Certainly other schools are more conducive toward producing a more well-rounded student. There are various reasons to avoid TJ.

[Anonymous]

Alexandrian's pay taxes to the State of Virginia for TJ, and it is a travesty that a few of their own kids can't even apply/go there because of the Alexandria City School Board.

ACPS=way out of touch with the times

[Anonymous]

Would it be better for Alexandria to let those students go to TJ and then cut the post-AP math classes at TC?