Expanded High school electives at TJ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone unpack this objectively? Surprised by the negativity, particularly want to check the following:

1. The new offerings lower academic rigor by replacing TJ-specific courses with APs? --True or false?
2. If so, and if causes grade inflation, would that paradoxically put TJ students on more equal footing with base-school students where GPAs are already inflated? --True or false?
3. The new courses reduce or eliminate interdisciplinary, collaborative teaching at TJ. --True or false?
4. The principal is pursuing an agenda to make TJ less rigorous and more "consistent with" other FCPS schools? --True or false?

Please no bias no spin, if you can.

1. This probably varies, but as someone who has taught several different AP courses, the college board curriculum is very watered-down. AP does not necessarily mean more rigor.
2. Maybe true on paper, but this also means that TJ students cannot distinguish themselves as much as non-TJ students.
3. True. This has already happened, especially in Humanities. It would not surprise me at all if IBET eventually goes away.
4. Mukai doesn't care about rigor either way. He is simply a numbers person and just wants to boost AP numbers as much as possible.

Do you have specific examples?

He forced in AP Seminar, is getting rid of Global Studies next year, and by moving AP Lang to 11th grade, this eliminates the English 11 Honors and APUSH teaming. HUM 1, HUM 2, and Global Studies had been benchmarks of the Humanities division for many years.

That’s too bad. I thought that humanities combo approach was a really good thing.

It's very obvious that Mukai does not care at all about Humanities courses given the way he treats the teachers and has gutted the teamed courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone unpack this objectively? Surprised by the negativity, particularly want to check the following:

1. The new offerings lower academic rigor by replacing TJ-specific courses with APs? --True or false?
2. If so, and if causes grade inflation, would that paradoxically put TJ students on more equal footing with base-school students where GPAs are already inflated? --True or false?
3. The new courses reduce or eliminate interdisciplinary, collaborative teaching at TJ. --True or false?
4. The principal is pursuing an agenda to make TJ less rigorous and more "consistent with" other FCPS schools? --True or false?

Please no bias no spin, if you can.

1. This probably varies, but as someone who has taught several different AP courses, the college board curriculum is very watered-down. AP does not necessarily mean more rigor.
2. Maybe true on paper, but this also means that TJ students cannot distinguish themselves as much as non-TJ students.
3. True. This has already happened, especially in Humanities. It would not surprise me at all if IBET eventually goes away.
4. Mukai doesn't care about rigor either way. He is simply a numbers person and just wants to boost AP numbers as much as possible.

Do you have specific examples?

He forced in AP Seminar, is getting rid of Global Studies next year, and by moving AP Lang to 11th grade, this eliminates the English 11 Honors and APUSH teaming. HUM 1, HUM 2, and Global Studies had been benchmarks of the Humanities division for many years.

HUM 1 is still the recommended 10th grade course path but it is now AP seminar and AP world History, instead of AP seminar and honors world history but you can choose several other option.
HUM 2 is still the recommended 11th grade course path but it is not AP English and AP US History.

Like I said, he is mostly slapping a buynch of AP labels on TJ honors classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

All I have heard is that the culture at TJ has been negative and toxic in the 8 years I have been on this board. It doesn’t seem to matter who the Principal is or what they are doing, it is bad.

As someone with direct experience for several years, the culture has taken a nosedive since Mukai took over. He is not a leader. That would require actually being present and caring about his staff and students.

He's removed almost all channels for students and faculty to have meaningful dialogue about what happens at the school. Say what you will about Dr. B, and Dr. Glazer before her, but they allowed the SGA to have a voice, they had lunch time meetings with kids and town halls and were generally transparent and open to feedback. Mukai discontinued those meetings. The only kids' names he knows are the ones who win big stuff. So if he doesn't know the kids, how is he to make decisions about curriculum that is actually in their best interest? Zero pulse on the community, it's kind of gross actually.

Yes! All of this is true. Mukai avoids interacting with staff and students as much as possible. His excuse is that he is always pulled to Gatehouse or he blames the Collective Bargaining Agreement for his limited availability, which is absolute BS. He came into TJ saying that his door is always open and he is open to staff sharing different ideas and perspectives when the actual experience has been the complete opposite. He runs the school like a dictator. When staff try to share how overworked and overstressed they are this year, he just brushes off their concerns and says maybe they should teach somewhere else, instead of working to identify the root of the problems.

Gee, he had such a good reputation among teachers at WSHS where he was principal before this.
I wonder what happened?
Oh yeah, you're lying.

TJ staff had also heard good things about him from WSHS and now they are wondering maybe they were just happy to see him leave.

No, they're not. They are mostly indifferent or in favor of turning their honors class into an AP class.
I know one treacher in the spanish department doesn't like him and the woke brigade among the faculty doesn't like that he isn't moving heaven and earth to try and keep underperforming kids at TJ.
Nobody has a right to teach at TJ. if you don't like teaching at a school that is geared towards serving a gifted population rather than serving as a social experiment to uplift URM kids then you are teaching at the wropng school. A couple of teachers like this exist. They were very happy under bonitatibus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

Any specific examples?
Because Mukai has held more useful parent zoom calls in the first year than Bonitatibus did her entire tenure.
He seems significantly more engaged with the parents. I can't comment on his dynamic with the teachers but I have heard good things from the teachers at his old high school. Why would his management style have changed so drastically for the worse?

If the info shared here is to be believed:

1. He is courting the parents, but ignoring the students and faculty. A good leader collects input from ALL stakeholders.
2. He's withholding climate survey data, which I think is meant to be public, so that seems problematic without knowing the reason for this.
3. He's making curricular changes that are more in line with a base school than a unique, magnet school. I can see how WSHS folks might've been pleased with this kind of decision-making, but attending TJ is a choice. Families select it because they like the vision or the class choices or whatever reason. If the classes now offered at TJ are essentially the same on paper as my kid's base school, and they can take those courses without a longer day and terrible commute, PLUS possibly get better college outcomes, why the heck would they choose TJ?

TJ parent here.

Mukai is a dramatic improvement over Bonitatibus for the parents.
The clarity and transparency is something we never saw with Bonitatibus.
His primary goal as the principal of a school for gifted kids is to be the principal of a school for gifted kids.

The students overwhelmingly approve of the course curriculum changes because they were doing AP level work honors level weighting.
The juniors are jealous of the sophomores AP Pre-Calc and the sophomores are jealous of the freshman AP everything.
None of the students are salty about this.

I can't speak to every teacher but the ones I have heard of seem to think Mukai is interested in being the principal of TJ as a magnet school rather than TJ as a launching pad for bigger and better things.
Most teachers seem to like their classes becoming AP classes, AP sets a floor on rigor, not a cap.
Some of the teachers are upset that TJ is no longer as focused on being a social experiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/inline-files/Course%20Selection%20Sheet%20V.12.15.25.pdf

A lot of new language options and new english options and more.

Losing a solid, team-taught humanities (history/English) program in grades 10 and 11—replaced by a much easier AP Sem class that I am told does not cover world literature or novels. So when, exactly, would students read challenging novels? Only 9th and AP Lit as seniors. (Watch those SAT reading scores drop, though that’s the least of the problem.)
The foreign language options have always existed on paper, with not enough enrollment by course to actually happen in practice.

Seminar is teaching kids how to write.

You can still take honors english, it's still available.

[Anonymous]

Here is an explanation of the courses.

As you can see, the old courses are still available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luGsJEZ3kvM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is an explanation of the courses.

As you can see, the old courses are still available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luGsJEZ3kvM

They won't be for long as kids flock to the higher-weighted AP options. Mukai is not so stupid as to not realize this, he just doesn't care because it will bring the AP numbers up.

[Anonymous]

TJ parent here.

I had no complaints with the changes.

I do hope the Latin teachers stay- we love the Latin program.

As for everything else: let’s be clear- it’s still TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ parent here.

I had no complaints with the changes.

I do hope the Latin teachers stay- we love the Latin program.

As for everything else: let’s be clear- it’s still TJ.

Yes, and college know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

Any specific examples?
Because Mukai has held more useful parent zoom calls in the first year than Bonitatibus did her entire tenure.
He seems significantly more engaged with the parents. I can't comment on his dynamic with the teachers but I have heard good things from the teachers at his old high school. Why would his management style have changed so drastically for the worse?

If the info shared here is to be believed:

1. He is courting the parents, but ignoring the students and faculty. A good leader collects input from ALL stakeholders.
2. He's withholding climate survey data, which I think is meant to be public, so that seems problematic without knowing the reason for this.
3. He's making curricular changes that are more in line with a base school than a unique, magnet school. I can see how WSHS folks might've been pleased with this kind of decision-making, but attending TJ is a choice. Families select it because they like the vision or the class choices or whatever reason. If the classes now offered at TJ are essentially the same on paper as my kid's base school, and they can take those courses without a longer day and terrible commute, PLUS possibly get better college outcomes, why the heck would they choose TJ?

He's not Courting parents so much as he is including them (or at least keeping them informed). Parents used to be excluded except for the woke DEI parents.
The kids are generally very happy with the curriculum changes because nothing is actually changing except for AP credit (the AP seminar change is a real change but improving writing seems pretty important).
The families are generally very happy with the changes.
The faculty is generally happy with the changes.
The woke crowd is very unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone unpack this objectively? Surprised by the negativity, particularly want to check the following:

1. The new offerings lower academic rigor by replacing TJ-specific courses with APs? --True or false?
2. If so, and if causes grade inflation, would that paradoxically put TJ students on more equal footing with base-school students where GPAs are already inflated? --True or false?
3. The new courses reduce or eliminate interdisciplinary, collaborative teaching at TJ. --True or false?
4. The principal is pursuing an agenda to make TJ less rigorous and more "consistent with" other FCPS schools? --True or false?

Please no bias no spin, if you can.

1. This probably varies, but as someone who has taught several different AP courses, the college board curriculum is very watered-down. AP does not necessarily mean more rigor.
2. Maybe true on paper, but this also means that TJ students cannot distinguish themselves as much as non-TJ students.
3. True. This has already happened, especially in Humanities. It would not surprise me at all if IBET eventually goes away.
4. Mukai doesn't care about rigor either way. He is simply a numbers person and just wants to boost AP numbers as much as possible.

Do you have specific examples?

He forced in AP Seminar, is getting rid of Global Studies next year, and by moving AP Lang to 11th grade, this eliminates the English 11 Honors and APUSH teaming. HUM 1, HUM 2, and Global Studies had been benchmarks of the Humanities division for many years.

That’s too bad. I thought that humanities combo approach was a really good thing.

They still exist but you are opening up a new pathway that includes AP credits for the same amount of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is an explanation of the courses.

As you can see, the old courses are still available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luGsJEZ3kvM

They won't be for long as kids flock to the higher-weighted AP options. Mukai is not so stupid as to not realize this, he just doesn't care because it will bring the AP numbers up.

So we shouldn't offer Ap classes because the kids might take it to the exclusion of other classes that you prefer they take?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

Any specific examples?
Because Mukai has held more useful parent zoom calls in the first year than Bonitatibus did her entire tenure.
He seems significantly more engaged with the parents. I can't comment on his dynamic with the teachers but I have heard good things from the teachers at his old high school. Why would his management style have changed so drastically for the worse?

If the info shared here is to be believed:

1. He is courting the parents, but ignoring the students and faculty. A good leader collects input from ALL stakeholders.
2. He's withholding climate survey data, which I think is meant to be public, so that seems problematic without knowing the reason for this.
3. He's making curricular changes that are more in line with a base school than a unique, magnet school. I can see how WSHS folks might've been pleased with this kind of decision-making, but attending TJ is a choice. Families select it because they like the vision or the class choices or whatever reason. If the classes now offered at TJ are essentially the same on paper as my kid's base school, and they can take those courses without a longer day and terrible commute, PLUS possibly get better college outcomes, why the heck would they choose TJ?

He's not Courting parents so much as he is including them (or at least keeping them informed). Parents used to be excluded except for the woke DEI parents.
The kids are generally very happy with the curriculum changes because nothing is actually changing except for AP credit (the AP seminar change is a real change but improving writing seems pretty important).
The families are generally very happy with the changes.
The faculty is generally happy with the changes.
The woke crowd is very unhappy.

I can guarantee that the faculty is not happy with the changes. You have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe he is including parents more while shutting teachers out of any actual conversations or collaboration. He treats teachers as if they are easily irreplaceable and seems more interested in being a figurehead that actually leading the school. He has zero presence in the school. I can't recall a single time that I have seen him during the school day. He actively avoids interacting with staff and will make up a million excuses why he can't meet with divisions or one-on-one with staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

Any specific examples?
Because Mukai has held more useful parent zoom calls in the first year than Bonitatibus did her entire tenure.
He seems significantly more engaged with the parents. I can't comment on his dynamic with the teachers but I have heard good things from the teachers at his old high school. Why would his management style have changed so drastically for the worse?

If the info shared here is to be believed:

1. He is courting the parents, but ignoring the students and faculty. A good leader collects input from ALL stakeholders.
2. He's withholding climate survey data, which I think is meant to be public, so that seems problematic without knowing the reason for this.
3. He's making curricular changes that are more in line with a base school than a unique, magnet school. I can see how WSHS folks might've been pleased with this kind of decision-making, but attending TJ is a choice. Families select it because they like the vision or the class choices or whatever reason. If the classes now offered at TJ are essentially the same on paper as my kid's base school, and they can take those courses without a longer day and terrible commute, PLUS possibly get better college outcomes, why the heck would they choose TJ?

He's not Courting parents so much as he is including them (or at least keeping them informed). Parents used to be excluded except for the woke DEI parents.
The kids are generally very happy with the curriculum changes because nothing is actually changing except for AP credit (the AP seminar change is a real change but improving writing seems pretty important).
The families are generally very happy with the changes.
The faculty is generally happy with the changes.
The woke crowd is very unhappy.

I can guarantee that the faculty is not happy with the changes. You have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe he is including parents more while shutting teachers out of any actual conversations or collaboration. He treats teachers as if they are easily irreplaceable and seems more interested in being a figurehead that actually leading the school. He has zero presence in the school. I can't recall a single time that I have seen him during the school day. He actively avoids interacting with staff and will make up a million excuses why he can't meet with divisions or one-on-one with staff.

I can't speak to faculty happiness but there hasn't been a surge of faculty departures over the last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohhhh Japanese is back. Awesome! That could be good for my kid if they are accepted this year.

I really like that this new Principal is doing things to make TJ academically excellent rather than engaging in social engineering.

By making TJ like any other high school?

+1
I like the guy (and I liked Dr B too) but this is my sr TJ kid's complaint. They've been stripping out some of the things that makes it different.

Like what?

The entire culture at TJ has become very negative and toxic and this all a result of Mukai's lack of leadership. He doesn't respect his teachers and has shut them out and even the division leaders out of actual collaboration. Instead of coming in and getting to know the staff and the students first, he has dictated everything without any clear vision or justification. He flip-flops constantly to the point that teachers cannot trust anything he says and he bullies any teachers who question anything he says or does.

Any specific examples?
Because Mukai has held more useful parent zoom calls in the first year than Bonitatibus did her entire tenure.
He seems significantly more engaged with the parents. I can't comment on his dynamic with the teachers but I have heard good things from the teachers at his old high school. Why would his management style have changed so drastically for the worse?

If the info shared here is to be believed:

1. He is courting the parents, but ignoring the students and faculty. A good leader collects input from ALL stakeholders.
2. He's withholding climate survey data, which I think is meant to be public, so that seems problematic without knowing the reason for this.
3. He's making curricular changes that are more in line with a base school than a unique, magnet school. I can see how WSHS folks might've been pleased with this kind of decision-making, but attending TJ is a choice. Families select it because they like the vision or the class choices or whatever reason. If the classes now offered at TJ are essentially the same on paper as my kid's base school, and they can take those courses without a longer day and terrible commute, PLUS possibly get better college outcomes, why the heck would they choose TJ?

He's not Courting parents so much as he is including them (or at least keeping them informed). Parents used to be excluded except for the woke DEI parents.
The kids are generally very happy with the curriculum changes because nothing is actually changing except for AP credit (the AP seminar change is a real change but improving writing seems pretty important).
The families are generally very happy with the changes.
The faculty is generally happy with the changes.
The woke crowd is very unhappy.

I can guarantee that the faculty is not happy with the changes. You have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe he is including parents more while shutting teachers out of any actual conversations or collaboration. He treats teachers as if they are easily irreplaceable and seems more interested in being a figurehead that actually leading the school. He has zero presence in the school. I can't recall a single time that I have seen him during the school day. He actively avoids interacting with staff and will make up a million excuses why he can't meet with divisions or one-on-one with staff.

I can't speak to faculty happiness but there hasn't been a surge of faculty departures over the last year.

Did they go with the last principal?