FCPS plans to "reform" TJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will pry FCPS’s systemic racism from its cold, dead hand.

So long as white moms roam the county, yes.

Did you fall asleep 30 years ago? It’s test-prep Asians who want to keep TJ as it is with no changes.

Ha ha! The intensity of the TJ program right now (thanks to 30 years on "prep Asians") is so high that most of the soccer/football/basketball kids and their parents would get bent over and run back to base school before the end of the first week. Be careful what you wish for.

yup it's how it is in most asian countries go to school and then go to test prep/hw camp to get into the elite colleges

it's sad we have let that culture permeate which was once an actual STEM magnet to now being populated by people who have been prepping since elementary school

What's sadder is that the TJ teachers are now so punch-drunk on power that they refuse to tone down their curriculum. The new principal was supposedly brought in to bring some level of homework normalcy to the school. Didn't work out. She's now implementing programs that encourage the students not to focus on grades! WTF!.

We have a kid at TJ and there's no way I'm sending my second there. Terrible school/life balance. It's almost like we sent a kid to boarding school except that the kid still lives with us and we do a lot more driving around than we would have otherwise.. and to what end? And yeah, we tried to get him back to base over the course of the past 2-3 years but to no avail...

I think a change along these lines (top 10% of the kids go to TJ) would work but will take a while to pan out.. Either the school will change its approach to teaching and have a more diverse population or the lower SES asian parents will just move to the appropriate school districts to make sure their kids get in..

This makes no sense.

First, “punch drunk on power” and refuse to tone down curriculum? Yes, the school as a whole— not power hungry teachers— refuses to make the curriculum easier. That’s because the kids are there for the rigorous curriculum. The whole point is to be rigorous.

And you seemed to have miss the challenge success meetings. The school is in the process of 1. “Decoupling workload and rigor”— trying to keep the same level or rigor while curbing out busy work and projects that take a lot of time but don’t have a proportional “bang”. They are trying to decrease homework without decreasing rigor. And 2. Encouraging students to focus less on grades and more on learning. I’m. It sure it will happen. But they are just starting. Nothing has failed yet.

You tried to get your kid back to base over 2-3 years to no avail? That’s BS. If you are the parents, it’s your absolute right to move your kid, and 60 or so do each year. TJ clearly is a bad for you. You hate it. So leave. No one is holding your kid hostage.

TJ is the best in the country at what it does. There are many other options if you want a more normal HS experience.

I didn't say we couldn't walk away anytime. My kid doesn't want to. Where did I say teh school is holding him hostage?

I suspect you are one of the parents that's pushing the "challenge success" kool-aid or a teacher. Nothing has changed in terms of busywork or homework. NOTHING!

Everyone knows TJ is best at what it does. All I'm saying is that it should be available to more people who don't "know the ropes" on how to get in.

[Anonymous]

The bottom line seems to be that "reform" to TJ may be necessary to preserve it, when you consider that TJ's student is not remotely representative of the student demographics of FCPS and more FCPS students could be educated at that site.

I don't see the School Board as having the political will to do much more than Tweet about it occasionally, as Pat Hynes did many months ago. So I'm also skeptical it deserves a lot of attention here.

But if they did "reform" TJ, it likely would be accompanied by having AAP at every middle school (doing away with the Carson "mega-center") and setting aside a certain number of seats for students from each middle school. If parents then tried to "game" that system, they'd still be serving the goal of strengthening some of the middle schools that currently lag behind. Not all the kids who would move to those schools would get into TJ, and not every family that moved into those districts would pull their kids out of the pyramids if they didn't. Even if TJ still ended up 75% Asian and 2% FARMS, there could still be a positive impact on pyramids like Annandale, Lee and Mount Vernon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bottom line seems to be that "reform" to TJ may be necessary to preserve it, when you consider that TJ's student is not remotely representative of the student demographics of FCPS and more FCPS students could be educated at that site.

I don't see the School Board as having the political will to do much more than Tweet about it occasionally, as Pat Hynes did many months ago. So I'm also skeptical it deserves a lot of attention here.

But if they did "reform" TJ, it likely would be accompanied by having AAP at every middle school (doing away with the Carson "mega-center") and setting aside a certain number of seats for students from each middle school. If parents then tried to "game" that system, they'd still be serving the goal of strengthening some of the middle schools that currently lag behind. Not all the kids who would move to those schools would get into TJ, and not every family that moved into those districts would pull their kids out of the pyramids if they didn't. Even if TJ still ended up 75% Asian and 2% FARMS, there could still be a positive impact on pyramids like Annandale, Lee and Mount Vernon.

This is already happening. And I understand that there are some possible boundary/feeder changes that would significantly reduce Carson's "mega-center" status as well.

[Anonymous]

TJ needs reform but I doubt that will ever happen. They are too excited by its “success “ however it’s accomplished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
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Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

My sister lives in TX where the top 10% of every high school class gets in to UT. She has friends who moved into a less desirable school district and supplemented their children's education with tutoring in order to get them into UT.

I think it has now moved to top 6% due to space limitations. The state passed the legislation after the university lost an affirmative action decision on admissions.

a

Also to be clear, it's a UT system school. You aren't guaranteed Austin, fwiw.

Yup. My nephew won’t make the automatic 6%, with his 4.5 GPA. He says he made mistakes in choosing classes his freshman year (when he moved from LCPS and didn’t take all AP classes), that lowered his GPA. EVERYONE wants to go to UT Austin, so he isn’t sure he’d otherwise get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I see you’ve got it figured out! Lol

Seriously, there is no problem with the above happening. If it would even happen like you say. Like you said it already happens to some extent. I mean, if you want to do this for your child go ahead. I don’t think it’s best but I also don’t think weekend math classes are best.

The fact that this plan upsets you in particular is probably a mark in its favor. —np

Where in my post did I say this upset me? My child is zoned for Carson at his ES so we don't have to move. We did not choose our house based on the MS or HS, we did choose it based on the ES. We had no clue about TJ when we were buying a house. I would be surprised if my DS wants to attend TJ but we have a bunch of years to go before we might have to worry about making that choice.

I was just laying out how people can game the system if the system is changed to a percentage of seats from each Middle School. If I can do it with about 5 minutes of thought, I suspect that parents who are willing to send their kids to math tutoring before kindergarten and test prep classes in first and second grade will have it figured out.

If these kids do this, then there will be more higher level classes offered, which will benefit the base students.

The kids whose parents "move" to attend a specific MS in order to game the system are going to be kids whose parents made sure that they are in AAP. They will "move" to a MS that has AAP or an AAP Center that they can attend. They will join the existing AAP population. This will not lead to more advanced classes for the kids who are already there. It will increase the number of kids in the existing AAP program and cost the local kids the change to attend TJ because they will have a growth in the number of kids whose parents are gaming the system.

Essentially, a shift to school percentages for TJ will simply spread out the kids who are already moving to the area to attend Carson and other feeder MS. Those kids will attend their new MS AAP program but are not really going to be members of the community. I don't know how that will make things better for the MS except by improving the SOL scores for those schools.

Um. Yeah. This is the point. You got there. Well done.

This is a good thing. You are upset because it might screw you down the line at Carson. And I love how mom of 2nd grader feels the need to tell us she has no idea if he will go to TJ. Thanks for that info. Helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

Sounds great!

I'm all for this plan!

+1 This would be a great incentive to get people to integrate schools by SES. Some schools in FCPS are overs 50 percent FARMS and some are 5 percent. This would help to mitigate that disparity, and would actually improve FCPS overall performance. It won't do anything for the diversity of TJ, though. I really think not having any school above 35 percent FARMS is a way better goal than integrating TJ. If dangling the carrot of an easier way into TJ would result in fixing the FARMS disparity, I don't care if TJ doesn't increase the number of URMs admitted. A high performing URM isn't disadvantaged by shining at the base HS over being one of a sea of high performing kids at TJ.

The high school I went to had a number of parachute kids. They were kids who did not pass the exams for elite high schools in Japan and South Korea. Their parents rented an apartment in our town, moved their kid, and then moved back to Japan or South Korea, leaving their child alone in the apartment. I can fully see parents renting an apartment in the area of a high FARMs school and calling that home so they can enroll the child in that MS. Then they would simply drive the kid to the school each day. There are already parents who are out of bounds for various language and magnet schools were parents drive their kids, so renting an apartment to gain access to a school that would make it easier to attend TJ is something totally feasible.

I actually wonder about some of the out of bounds folks in JI at Fox Mill. The school feeds into Carson and a JI Fox Mill student has access to Carson for MS, as long as they take JI. You can take Advanced Math at Fox Mill, which is what most people want for their kids to get into Algebra in 7th grade. Parents can get their kid into a school that feeds into Carson, qualify for Advanced Math, maybe even AAP and wait until MS to accept it, and then go to one of the larger feeder MS.

I fully believe that a good number of people choose the JI program because it is interesting, challenging, and different. I can also see people choosing it because it helps them avoid middle schools and high schools that don't have Japanese. Herndon Middle School and High School does not have Japanese.

So why is it out of the realm of possibility that people would rent and apartment, call it home, and then live some place else and drive their kid to school each day so their kid can be in the top 10% of the class and get into TJ.

And if you think those kids are going to improve anything at that MS you are crazy. The kids will be in AAP classes and their parents will enroll them in enrichment activities outside of the school.

If these kids do this, then there will be more higher level classes offered, which will benefit the base students.

.

For less than a year. They aren’t going K-8. They come in the last possible day and leave as soon as they test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have some time at hand so i’ll share something I heard from my TJ DC. Recently a teacher asked why they came to TJ. Of a class of about 30 kids only two said the only reason they were at TJ was their parents made them. The rest of the class listed other reasons. Presumably some might not be 100 percent honest I still find this interesting and contrary to many believed, that going to TJ is solely plotted and pushed by parents.

I think you are a bit literal. Presumably even kids who have been pushed and prodded understand that it is better to suggest they exercise some agency.

And you know that how? Most of them are there because they want to be. I know enough TJ kids to know this. The kids that don't want to be there either sabotge their tests or drop out after Freshman year.

Most people here correlate test prep with TJ admissions. But correlation is not causation. Not every prepped kid gets in. We'd need 20 TJs to accommodate that! The ones that do get in ARE really good and likely would have gotten in with minimal prep - a few months of classes to fill in the gaps between what the TJ test expects vs what their schools covered, exposure to the types of questions on the test, etc.

I think there are several factors keeping the non-asians away
- The rigor of TJ - This scares Parents as well as students
- Lack of awareness
- The commitment/sacrifices that the kid and parents have to make
- Not fitting in. I suspect most locals do not want to go to a place that's mostly Asian.

As a white TJ parent, they are missing out. Yep. My kid is a minority. Since he’s a white male, I’m glad. Most white men never stop and think about what it’s like not to be in the majority. I think it’s an important experience to have. I am not really interesting in my kid becoming Mr. White Male Privilege.

But here the thing. The kids are all more alike than different. Yes, it’s 70% Asian. But “Asian” is not a monolith. Chinese, Different areas of India, Korean, etc. etc. Many different religions. Many different cultures. This is a big reason I raise my kids in the DMV. So that they can be exposed to different languages, food, cultures, ways of doing things, religions. It’s a global world out there. You can sit there and pretend you can always live and work in a white enclave. Or you can learn to work with other people and how to operate in a world where people have different points of view. . You might even discover that going to iNite or a lunar New Years celebration makes your life richer.

And almost all the kids are Americanized. It’s not the Asian kids over here and the white kids over there. It’s a mixed HoCo group. Everyone on the volleyball team together. A mixed student council. They all do the robot project. They all survive Math 4. They all do the iBet project. They all work their tails off.

Speaking of work their tails off. It’s an incredibly wholesome group of kids whose parents are very involved and know what their kids are up to. They spend a lot of time studying. They spend a lot of time at ECs, many like music and sports, aren’t even academic. They spend too much time on YouTube. They’re is very little alcohol use. Almost no drug use. Nobody’s vaping pot in the bathroom. The kids have good life goals. My kid could do much worse in terms of peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will pry FCPS’s systemic racism from its cold, dead hand.

So long as white moms roam the county, yes.

Did you fall asleep 30 years ago? It’s test-prep Asians who want to keep TJ as it is with no changes.

Ha ha! The intensity of the TJ program right now (thanks to 30 years on "prep Asians") is so high that most of the soccer/football/basketball kids and their parents would get bent over and run back to base school before the end of the first week. Be careful what you wish for.

yup it's how it is in most asian countries go to school and then go to test prep/hw camp to get into the elite colleges

it's sad we have let that culture permeate which was once an actual STEM magnet to now being populated by people who have been prepping since elementary school

What's sadder is that the TJ teachers are now so punch-drunk on power that they refuse to tone down their curriculum. The new principal was supposedly brought in to bring some level of homework normalcy to the school. Didn't work out. She's now implementing programs that encourage the students not to focus on grades! WTF!.

We have a kid at TJ and there's no way I'm sending my second there. Terrible school/life balance. It's almost like we sent a kid to boarding school except that the kid still lives with us and we do a lot more driving around than we would have otherwise.. and to what end? And yeah, we tried to get him back to base over the course of the past 2-3 years but to no avail...

I think a change along these lines (top 10% of the kids go to TJ) would work but will take a while to pan out.. Either the school will change its approach to teaching and have a more diverse population or the lower SES asian parents will just move to the appropriate school districts to make sure their kids get in..

This makes no sense.

First, “punch drunk on power” and refuse to tone down curriculum? Yes, the school as a whole— not power hungry teachers— refuses to make the curriculum easier. That’s because the kids are there for the rigorous curriculum. The whole point is to be rigorous.

And you seemed to have miss the challenge success meetings. The school is in the process of 1. “Decoupling workload and rigor”— trying to keep the same level or rigor while curbing out busy work and projects that take a lot of time but don’t have a proportional “bang”. They are trying to decrease homework without decreasing rigor. And 2. Encouraging students to focus less on grades and more on learning. I’m. It sure it will happen. But they are just starting. Nothing has failed yet.

You tried to get your kid back to base over 2-3 years to no avail? That’s BS. If you are the parents, it’s your absolute right to move your kid, and 60 or so do each year. TJ clearly is a bad for you. You hate it. So leave. No one is holding your kid hostage.

TJ is the best in the country at what it does. There are many other options if you want a more normal HS experience.

I didn't say we couldn't walk away anytime. My kid doesn't want to. Where did I say teh school is holding him hostage?

I suspect you are one of the parents that's pushing the "challenge success" kool-aid or a teacher. Nothing has changed in terms of busywork or homework. NOTHING!

Everyone knows TJ is best at what it does. All I'm saying is that it should be available to more people who don't "know the ropes" on how to get in.

You aren’t making any sense. If your kid is happy there, and you would be fine if he left, but he choose to stay? What’s the issue.

And in our house, something huge changed. No. Summer. Homework. Which was pointless and miserable. And there was so much of it. It was so nice to have August without. Besides that? IDGAF. My kid is a senior. Challenge success has some ideas that make sense. I’m not sure they can implement most of them. But come January, his first semester grades go in. And then seniority’s hits hard at TJ. First semester freshmen and last semester seniors get a lot of breaks by teachers and he needs to not get rescinded. So, it just doesn’t impact him.

I’m surprised you are so spun up about CS before you see what happens with it.

[Anonymous]

+1

No summer homework, even for AP classes, is the first tangible welcome result of CS at TJ. Also, there was some change to tests allowed during first week of school - don't recall the specifics but my DS thought it was a welcome change. Give the administration a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1

No summer homework, even for AP classes, is the first tangible welcome result of CS at TJ. Also, there was some change to tests allowed during first week of school - don't recall the specifics but my DS thought it was a welcome change. Give the administration a chance.

Yep. I heard from a parent one of the math classes did give a first week test on “optional summer enrichment” . The kids went to the principal and it was nullified.

And they— thank you God- have made progress standardizing math and physics. All teachers use the same syllabus and test through AP. They now give out different forms of the test and let kids sign up for tutoring from a different math tutor than their own during 8th period. And they are reviewing the results of testing as a department and curving test or throwing out bad questions. I’m sorry, but if the average grade on comics is 60 at TJ, either the teaching is inadequate or the test is ridiculous. This is not a group of slackers. Before, a lot of them were doing their own thing and their own pace at their own rigor. They each used one test, and by 6th period, half the class had all the answers and aced it. This is huge. It’s not glamorous. But it cuts down on cheating and makes the expectations clear.

I have seen less homework this year. But I have a senior, and that’s to be expected during application season. And for seniors, period. I have heard they have better spacing of projects in freshman year. So the IBET project and Romeo and Juliet and the robot don’t all due the same week.

Last year was the first time my kid didn’t have a project or test or lab report due over “homework free” Thanksgiving, spring break and winter break. As in, it was enforced.

These are all positives in my book. Not a fan of the principal in other areas. She needs to fight for things like freshman lock-in and HackTJ to stay. She has added some dumb rules that are CYA but address non-existent problems.

But I’m not writing Challenge Success off. Because some of things that make TJ kids miserable, like getting the math teacher who can’t teach and decides to give multvariable tests to an AB class and accepts a 50 average— aren’t things that help kids learn. If anything, they hurt. And summer homework. 90% of the students are in summer school, a summer pre-college class, a summer academic camp,do summer reach or something similar. Brain drain is not an issue at TJ, and every kid needs a couple weeks before school to recharge. My kid is fine reading a book. Taking 15 hours to get to ten handwritten pages of notes to get checked for a completion grade and never used again is pointless. And not a fan of self teaching BC Calc over the summer to take AP Physics. Then half the class has to drop as failing. Getting rid of summer homework bought her some goodwill with me.

I’m not sure what PP is so livid, and I don’t see any specific complaint. Just TJ sucks. But my kid loves it and won’t leave??. Okay then. Sounds like you and your kid need to get on the same page. And if there is a specific problem articulate it.

Give challenge success a chance. I’m sure parents will gripe loud and long about any deliverables that actually decrease rigor or make things worse. This is not exactly a quiet, timid group. 2/3 of Math 4 failed the first test and there was a school wide meeting demanded by parents. And ultimately, there was an extra chance to get back points. It’ll be okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1

No summer homework, even for AP classes, is the first tangible welcome result of CS at TJ. Also, there was some change to tests allowed during first week of school - don't recall the specifics but my DS thought it was a welcome change. Give the administration a chance.

Yep. I heard from a parent one of the math classes did give a first week test on “optional summer enrichment” . The kids went to the principal and it was nullified.

And they— thank you God- have made progress standardizing math and physics. All teachers use the same syllabus and test through AP. They now give out different forms of the test and let kids sign up for tutoring from a different math tutor than their own during 8th period. And they are reviewing the results of testing as a department and curving test or throwing out bad questions. I’m sorry, but if the average grade on comics is 60 at TJ, either the teaching is inadequate or the test is ridiculous. This is not a group of slackers. Before, a lot of them were doing their own thing and their own pace at their own rigor. They each used one test, and by 6th period, half the class had all the answers and aced it. This is huge. It’s not glamorous. But it cuts down on cheating and makes the expectations clear.

I have seen less homework this year. But I have a senior, and that’s to be expected during application season. And for seniors, period. I have heard they have better spacing of projects in freshman year. So the IBET project and Romeo and Juliet and the robot don’t all due the same week.

Last year was the first time my kid didn’t have a project or test or lab report due over “homework free” Thanksgiving, spring break and winter break. As in, it was enforced.

These are all positives in my book. Not a fan of the principal in other areas. She needs to fight for things like freshman lock-in and HackTJ to stay. She has added some dumb rules that are CYA but address non-existent problems.

But I’m not writing Challenge Success off. Because some of things that make TJ kids miserable, like getting the math teacher who can’t teach and decides to give multvariable tests to an AB class and accepts a 50 average— aren’t things that help kids learn. If anything, they hurt. And summer homework. 90% of the students are in summer school, a summer pre-college class, a summer academic camp,do summer reach or something similar. Brain drain is not an issue at TJ, and every kid needs a couple weeks before school to recharge. My kid is fine reading a book. Taking 15 hours to get to ten handwritten pages of notes to get checked for a completion grade and never used again is pointless. And not a fan of self teaching BC Calc over the summer to take AP Physics. Then half the class has to drop as failing. Getting rid of summer homework bought her some goodwill with me.

I’m not sure what PP is so livid, and I don’t see any specific complaint. Just TJ sucks. But my kid loves it and won’t leave??. Okay then. Sounds like you and your kid need to get on the same page. And if there is a specific problem articulate it.

Give challenge success a chance. I’m sure parents will gripe loud and long about any deliverables that actually decrease rigor or make things worse. This is not exactly a quiet, timid group. 2/3 of Math 4 failed the first test and there was a school wide meeting demanded by parents. And ultimately, there was an extra chance to get back points. It’ll be okay.

Another TJ parent here. This times a million. There are many, many screwed up things about TJ and how they run the school. I find it appalling how terrible the math department was when you consider that it is a STEM magnet school. My younger kid actually passed on TJ (withdrew after passing the entrance exam) because of my older kid's experience. I think TJ is great in many ways, but to say there's nothing that needs to be fixed, improved or addressed is just flat wrong. There are some TERRIBLE things about the educational experience at TJ. And it isn't because the kids "can't hack it." My kid got a 1590 SAT score, a perfect math SAT score, and 5's on every AP exam. But struggled, hated and actually looks forward to taking a STEM break in college next year (he's likely heading to a SLAC, fwiw).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1

No summer homework, even for AP classes, is the first tangible welcome result of CS at TJ. Also, there was some change to tests allowed during first week of school - don't recall the specifics but my DS thought it was a welcome change. Give the administration a chance.

Yep. I heard from a parent one of the math classes did give a first week test on “optional summer enrichment” . The kids went to the principal and it was nullified.

And they— thank you God- have made progress standardizing math and physics. All teachers use the same syllabus and test through AP. They now give out different forms of the test and let kids sign up for tutoring from a different math tutor than their own during 8th period. And they are reviewing the results of testing as a department and curving test or throwing out bad questions. I’m sorry, but if the average grade on comics is 60 at TJ, either the teaching is inadequate or the test is ridiculous. This is not a group of slackers. Before, a lot of them were doing their own thing and their own pace at their own rigor. They each used one test, and by 6th period, half the class had all the answers and aced it. This is huge. It’s not glamorous. But it cuts down on cheating and makes the expectations clear.

I have seen less homework this year. But I have a senior, and that’s to be expected during application season. And for seniors, period. I have heard they have better spacing of projects in freshman year. So the IBET project and Romeo and Juliet and the robot don’t all due the same week.

Last year was the first time my kid didn’t have a project or test or lab report due over “homework free” Thanksgiving, spring break and winter break. As in, it was enforced.

These are all positives in my book. Not a fan of the principal in other areas. She needs to fight for things like freshman lock-in and HackTJ to stay. She has added some dumb rules that are CYA but address non-existent problems.

But I’m not writing Challenge Success off. Because some of things that make TJ kids miserable, like getting the math teacher who can’t teach and decides to give multvariable tests to an AB class and accepts a 50 average— aren’t things that help kids learn. If anything, they hurt. And summer homework. 90% of the students are in summer school, a summer pre-college class, a summer academic camp,do summer reach or something similar. Brain drain is not an issue at TJ, and every kid needs a couple weeks before school to recharge. My kid is fine reading a book. Taking 15 hours to get to ten handwritten pages of notes to get checked for a completion grade and never used again is pointless. And not a fan of self teaching BC Calc over the summer to take AP Physics. Then half the class has to drop as failing. Getting rid of summer homework bought her some goodwill with me.

I’m not sure what PP is so livid, and I don’t see any specific complaint. Just TJ sucks. But my kid loves it and won’t leave??. Okay then. Sounds like you and your kid need to get on the same page. And if there is a specific problem articulate it.

Give challenge success a chance. I’m sure parents will gripe loud and long about any deliverables that actually decrease rigor or make things worse. This is not exactly a quiet, timid group. 2/3 of Math 4 failed the first test and there was a school wide meeting demanded by parents. And ultimately, there was an extra chance to get back points. It’ll be okay.

Another TJ parent here. This times a million. There are many, many screwed up things about TJ and how they run the school. I find it appalling how terrible the math department was when you consider that it is a STEM magnet school. My younger kid actually passed on TJ (withdrew after passing the entrance exam) because of my older kid's experience. I think TJ is great in many ways, but to say there's nothing that needs to be fixed, improved or addressed is just flat wrong. There are some TERRIBLE things about the educational experience at TJ. And it isn't because the kids "can't hack it." My kid got a 1590 SAT score, a perfect math SAT score, and 5's on every AP exam. But struggled, hated and actually looks forward to taking a STEM break in college next year (he's likely heading to a SLAC, fwiw).

PP above. We need to get together and talk SLACs. Not a lot of that at TJ. IDK another kid doing it.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like TJHSST can be found at the corner of Narcissism Road and Masochism Drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1

No summer homework, even for AP classes, is the first tangible welcome result of CS at TJ. Also, there was some change to tests allowed during first week of school - don't recall the specifics but my DS thought it was a welcome change. Give the administration a chance.

Yep. I heard from a parent one of the math classes did give a first week test on “optional summer enrichment” . The kids went to the principal and it was nullified.

And they— thank you God- have made progress standardizing math and physics. All teachers use the same syllabus and test through AP. They now give out different forms of the test and let kids sign up for tutoring from a different math tutor than their own during 8th period. And they are reviewing the results of testing as a department and curving test or throwing out bad questions. I’m sorry, but if the average grade on comics is 60 at TJ, either the teaching is inadequate or the test is ridiculous. This is not a group of slackers. Before, a lot of them were doing their own thing and their own pace at their own rigor. They each used one test, and by 6th period, half the class had all the answers and aced it. This is huge. It’s not glamorous. But it cuts down on cheating and makes the expectations clear.

I have seen less homework this year. But I have a senior, and that’s to be expected during application season. And for seniors, period. I have heard they have better spacing of projects in freshman year. So the IBET project and Romeo and Juliet and the robot don’t all due the same week.

Last year was the first time my kid didn’t have a project or test or lab report due over “homework free” Thanksgiving, spring break and winter break. As in, it was enforced.

These are all positives in my book. Not a fan of the principal in other areas. She needs to fight for things like freshman lock-in and HackTJ to stay. She has added some dumb rules that are CYA but address non-existent problems.

But I’m not writing Challenge Success off. Because some of things that make TJ kids miserable, like getting the math teacher who can’t teach and decides to give multvariable tests to an AB class and accepts a 50 average— aren’t things that help kids learn. If anything, they hurt. And summer homework. 90% of the students are in summer school, a summer pre-college class, a summer academic camp,do summer reach or something similar. Brain drain is not an issue at TJ, and every kid needs a couple weeks before school to recharge. My kid is fine reading a book. Taking 15 hours to get to ten handwritten pages of notes to get checked for a completion grade and never used again is pointless. And not a fan of self teaching BC Calc over the summer to take AP Physics. Then half the class has to drop as failing. Getting rid of summer homework bought her some goodwill with me.

I’m not sure what PP is so livid, and I don’t see any specific complaint. Just TJ sucks. But my kid loves it and won’t leave??. Okay then. Sounds like you and your kid need to get on the same page. And if there is a specific problem articulate it.

Give challenge success a chance. I’m sure parents will gripe loud and long about any deliverables that actually decrease rigor or make things worse. This is not exactly a quiet, timid group. 2/3 of Math 4 failed the first test and there was a school wide meeting demanded by parents. And ultimately, there was an extra chance to get back points. It’ll be okay.

Another TJ parent here. This times a million. There are many, many screwed up things about TJ and how they run the school. I find it appalling how terrible the math department was when you consider that it is a STEM magnet school. My younger kid actually passed on TJ (withdrew after passing the entrance exam) because of my older kid's experience. I think TJ is great in many ways, but to say there's nothing that needs to be fixed, improved or addressed is just flat wrong. There are some TERRIBLE things about the educational experience at TJ. And it isn't because the kids "can't hack it." My kid got a 1590 SAT score, a perfect math SAT score, and 5's on every AP exam. But struggled, hated and actually looks forward to taking a STEM break in college next year (he's likely heading to a SLAC, fwiw).

PP above. We need to get together and talk SLACs. Not a lot of that at TJ. IDK another kid doing it.

Maybe we can start another thread. I know of several kids who are friends of my kid who are also applying and seriously considering SLACs.