Excellent, but not crazy competitive school districts in VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t want competitive schools but you do want gifted and talented program. It shows that you are a very competitive parent and want to pave an easy way for your kids. In that case, find a school pyramid like South Arlington, and I will guarantee your kids will get all As and be selected into the gifted service with no effort.

I think as one poster has repeatedly shown, avoid the TJ mania areas and you will likely be fine.

So every area served by a middle school AAP center that has a higher acceptance rate to TJ than Lake Braddock has "TJ Mania," but you're "normal" and have a map to prove it?

That seems a tad insecure. OP, make sure this is really what you want.

Yes OP. Make sure to parse out all of that data. Really delve into the performance of the different cohorts and cross check that with other school’s application and acceptance rates to TJ. Really stew on this.
Very laid back...

[Anonymous]

6:17 is right. The more Asian the area, the more TJ mania there is. I've lived in different zones. Experience with several different centers. TJ Mania is 100% real. In some areas, people don't care... and they don't really fight to get into AAP in 3rd grade. In other areas, I guarantee you, these kids are prepping for CogAT, for IAAT, and TJ. This is very important in some cultures. In others, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6:17 is right. The more Asian the area, the more TJ mania there is. I've lived in different zones. Experience with several different centers. TJ Mania is 100% real. In some areas, people don't care... and they don't really fight to get into AAP in 3rd grade. In other areas, I guarantee you, these kids are prepping for CogAT, for IAAT, and TJ. This is very important in some cultures. In others, not so much.

Hmm. Seems "crazy competitive" in its own way to spend so much time demonizing certain areas, or "some cultures," all to bolster the case that your slightly above-average schools are ideal. You probably have another map that labels some of the "Normal People" areas "ghetto," so that all that's left is Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield. Those schools are fine, but the people certainly aren't any nicer. That's very clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t want competitive schools but you do want gifted and talented program. It shows that you are a very competitive parent and want to pave an easy way for your kids. In that case, find a school pyramid like South Arlington, and I will guarantee your kids will get all As and be selected into the gifted service with no effort.

I think as one poster has repeatedly shown, avoid the TJ mania areas and you will likely be fine.

So every area served by a middle school AAP center that has a higher acceptance rate to TJ than Lake Braddock has "TJ Mania," but you're "normal" and have a map to prove it?

That seems a tad insecure. OP, make sure this is really what you want.

Yes OP. Make sure to parse out all of that data. Really delve into the performance of the different cohorts and cross check that with other school’s application and acceptance rates to TJ. Really stew on this.
Very laid back...

You two do know that this TJ map is a running joke on dcum going on several years now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6:17 is right. The more Asian the area, the more TJ mania there is. I've lived in different zones. Experience with several different centers. TJ Mania is 100% real. In some areas, people don't care... and they don't really fight to get into AAP in 3rd grade. In other areas, I guarantee you, these kids are prepping for CogAT, for IAAT, and TJ. This is very important in some cultures. In others, not so much.

Hmm. Seems "crazy competitive" in its own way to spend so much time demonizing certain areas, or "some cultures," all to bolster the case that your slightly above-average schools are ideal. You probably have another map that labels some of the "Normal People" areas "ghetto," so that all that's left is Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield. Those schools are fine, but the people certainly aren't any nicer. That's very clear.

That map has been around for years.

It is a dcum staple, a bit like Larla but not quite so universal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t want competitive schools but you do want gifted and talented program. It shows that you are a very competitive parent and want to pave an easy way for your kids. In that case, find a school pyramid like South Arlington, and I will guarantee your kids will get all As and be selected into the gifted service with no effort.

I think as one poster has repeatedly shown, avoid the TJ mania areas and you will likely be fine.

So every area served by a middle school AAP center that has a higher acceptance rate to TJ than Lake Braddock has "TJ Mania," but you're "normal" and have a map to prove it?

That seems a tad insecure. OP, make sure this is really what you want.

Yes OP. Make sure to parse out all of that data. Really delve into the performance of the different cohorts and cross check that with other school’s application and acceptance rates to TJ. Really stew on this.
Very laid back...

You two do know that this TJ map is a running joke on dcum going on several years now?

+1

Read the dates on the map -- 2015-2016!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don’t want competitive schools but you do want gifted and talented program. It shows that you are a very competitive parent and want to pave an easy way for your kids. In that case, find a school pyramid like South Arlington, and I will guarantee your kids will get all As and be selected into the gifted service with no effort.

I think as one poster has repeatedly shown, avoid the TJ mania areas and you will likely be fine.

So every area served by a middle school AAP center that has a higher acceptance rate to TJ than Lake Braddock has "TJ Mania," but you're "normal" and have a map to prove it?

That seems a tad insecure. OP, make sure this is really what you want.

Yes OP. Make sure to parse out all of that data. Really delve into the performance of the different cohorts and cross check that with other school’s application and acceptance rates to TJ. Really stew on this.
Very laid back...

You two do know that this TJ map is a running joke on dcum going on several years now?

I think PP was referring to the series of posts well into the midnight hours last night parsing the data, and not just this map.

[Anonymous]

What drove us to consider West Springfield was when we parsed the data, the school actually had the strongest performance of African American students in all of NOVA. I looked at the performance of black students in McLean, in Yorktown, etc. We could afford to live there and our commutes would be somewhat shorter to Tysons, but when I drilled down, I saw an achievement gap for black students and realized I needed to find a pyramid where my kids would be as successful as the others.

We have loved living in West Springfield. My kids are thriving and doing incredibly well in elementary and middle school. I have been impressed with how nurturing the schools have been and can attest that there's a strong culture hear that values learning, but also isn't crazy competitive. My kids' experience has been much more cooperative than I had anticipated.

One side effect of living around here is that it's unapologetic-ally middle class. I find it refreshing after living in NW DC and North Arlington. People are just normal folks. It's just nice.

[Anonymous]

TJ is the mothership of evil. Poisons the whole FCPS schooling experience from the top down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6:17 is right. The more Asian the area, the more TJ mania there is. I've lived in different zones. Experience with several different centers. TJ Mania is 100% real. In some areas, people don't care... and they don't really fight to get into AAP in 3rd grade. In other areas, I guarantee you, these kids are prepping for CogAT, for IAAT, and TJ. This is very important in some cultures. In others, not so much.

Hmm. Seems "crazy competitive" in its own way to spend so much time demonizing certain areas, or "some cultures," all to bolster the case that your slightly above-average schools are ideal. You probably have another map that labels some of the "Normal People" areas "ghetto," so that all that's left is Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield. Those schools are fine, but the people certainly aren't any nicer. That's very clear.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ is the mothership of evil. Poisons the whole FCPS schooling experience from the top down.

Oh it is not. Most kids don't even care about TJ. It attracts businesses here and most Fairfax Schools would not be any better if TJ went away. The people I know who graduated from TJ are great people. Smart and nice and even somewhat athletic. Much nicer than the posters here at least.

[Anonymous]

Students would be better off socially, emotionally. Separate gifted education centers split-up families, kids from their friends and siblings. Separates communities. It goes against everything that public education stands for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington, especially in the Yorktown pyramid. Amazing resources for kids, close to DC and families that nurture kids in a healthy environment. We do not see the competitiveness that you find nearby.

What a load of sh!t

Why do you say this? Do you feel the YTown pyramid does not have the resources or nurturing, or do you disagree that it is not competitive? Schools in the YTown pyramid are big, but not as large as the FCPS, for instance.

Listen, competitive parents who want top scores move the 3 feet over to McLean, so folks in Yorktown chose it for shorter commute and smaller county, which is more laid back choices.

Top scores for what? Grades, test scores? Yorktown is healthy environment, although it does have some entitlement issues and there are probably more inviting districts for non-whites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington, especially in the Yorktown pyramid. Amazing resources for kids, close to DC and families that nurture kids in a healthy environment. We do not see the competitiveness that you find nearby.

What a load of sh!t

Why do you say this? Do you feel the YTown pyramid does not have the resources or nurturing, or do you disagree that it is not competitive? Schools in the YTown pyramid are big, but not as large as the FCPS, for instance.

Listen, competitive parents who want top scores move the 3 feet over to McLean, so folks in Yorktown chose it for shorter commute and smaller county, which is more laid back choices.

Top scores for what? Grades, test scores? Yorktown is healthy environment, although it does have some entitlement issues and there are probably more inviting districts for non-whites.

Healthy environment for what? Getting drunk in public? Making national news for being intolerant? For police searches? Seriously? STFU about Yorktown. It blows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ is the mothership of evil. Poisons the whole FCPS schooling experience from the top down.

Oh it is not. Most kids don't even care about TJ. It attracts businesses here and most Fairfax Schools would not be any better if TJ went away. The people I know who graduated from TJ are great people. Smart and nice and even somewhat athletic. Much nicer than the posters here at least.

I would agree with this.
Also that they aren’t doing anything particularly special with their lives. Just normal, productive people. Not a golden ticket.