I’m so glad TJ is more inclusive!

[Anonymous]

They've been working on the pipeline for years. Young Scholars is a good program and they're expanding it more and more.

Expanding the pipeline is not the solution though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Frequently these two solutions:

1) improving admissions standards to account for imbalances in opportunities and resources
2) "fixing the pipeline" by providing additional resources and attention to areas of need prior to the admissions process

... are posed as a binary choice - we should do one or the other. Worse yet, frequently advocates of focusing all of our attention on choice #2 don't actually do anything or advocate for any actual attention to be paid to those areas - and indeed sometimes go on to advocate AGAINST those resources being diverted once they realize that they're being diverted from areas of privilege.

PP here. I agree. The best choice is adjusting the admissions now so they can't just continue kicking the can down the road, but also be mindful of the resources needed to lift the lower performing schools.

I usually assume that the administration will take the laziest, easiest approach that will obfuscate the issue and not make meaningful changes. In this case, I'm worried that they with think that changing the admissions standards is enough in and of itself, and thus not address any of the underlying issues. Fixing the pipeline costs money, and I doubt that FCPS has the will to allocate the money that would be needed. It's much easier for them tweak the admissions process and then declare the equity issues fixed.

If they had embraced the pipeline choice as the main option, then my worry is that they would make a few superficial changes, but mostly just kick the can down the road.

The fact that you believe in this notion of lower-performing schools tells me all I need to know. These metrics are simply a reflection of a school's SES and have little to do with the number of talented students. Further, these schools all have the same teachers and curriculum. The same kid will do exactly the same at any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They've been working on the pipeline for years. Young Scholars is a good program and they're expanding it more and more.

Expanding the pipeline is not the solution though.

The teachers at our elementary school have no idea what Young Scholars is. I've asked several different teachers in hopes of getting more information. If the program is expanding, it certainly isn't everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They've been working on the pipeline for years. Young Scholars is a good program and they're expanding it more and more.

Expanding the pipeline is not the solution though.

The teachers at our elementary school have no idea what Young Scholars is. I've asked several different teachers in hopes of getting more information. If the program is expanding, it certainly isn't everywhere.

It's not everywhere, no. It's in some schools and they are expanding it to some more schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They've been working on the pipeline for years. Young Scholars is a good program and they're expanding it more and more.

Expanding the pipeline is not the solution though.

The teachers at our elementary school have no idea what Young Scholars is. I've asked several different teachers in hopes of getting more information. If the program is expanding, it certainly isn't everywhere.

It's not everywhere, no. It's in some schools and they are expanding it to some more schools.

But the middle school teachers or counselors hopefully do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP here. I agree. The best choice is adjusting the admissions now so they can't just continue kicking the can down the road, but also be mindful of the resources needed to lift the lower performing schools.

I usually assume that the administration will take the laziest, easiest approach that will obfuscate the issue and not make meaningful changes. In this case, I'm worried that they with think that changing the admissions standards is enough in and of itself, and thus not address any of the underlying issues. Fixing the pipeline costs money, and I doubt that FCPS has the will to allocate the money that would be needed. It's much easier for them tweak the admissions process and then declare the equity issues fixed.

If they had embraced the pipeline choice as the main option, then my worry is that they would make a few superficial changes, but mostly just kick the can down the road.

The fact that you believe in this notion of lower-performing schools tells me all I need to know. These metrics are simply a reflection of a school's SES and have little to do with the number of talented students. Further, these schools all have the same teachers and curriculum. The same kid will do exactly the same at any of them.

Huh? The lower income schools have a lot fewer opportunities for STEM extracurriculars and enrichment than the wealthier schools. I didn't think that was in dispute. It's not that they have fewer talented kids. The issue is that they lack the nurturing and opportunities to help those kids shine. Some of the wealthy TJ feeder schools have special math classes or middle school Algebra II classes that aren't available in the less wealthy schools. They have numerous math and STEM after school activities and electives. It's also not the case that the curriculum is the same. In FCPS, there isn't a curriculum, and the schools adjust based on the needs, real or perceived, of their students. People on here talk about the extra math differentiation within AAP for their kids in McLean. Or they talk about other neat things that their kids were doing in AAP in their centers. My kids had none of the same opportunities for differentiation or enrichment in their lower income AAP center.

My DD did attend a school with a very robust Young Scholars program. The Young Scholars did field trips to the Science Fair and Math conventions held in the DC convention center. They did field trips to the TJ STEM fair. They got enrichment pull outs. They got a free STEM summer camp. This type of thing should be happening at every school to support disadvantaged kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP here. I agree. The best choice is adjusting the admissions now so they can't just continue kicking the can down the road, but also be mindful of the resources needed to lift the lower performing schools.

I usually assume that the administration will take the laziest, easiest approach that will obfuscate the issue and not make meaningful changes. In this case, I'm worried that they with think that changing the admissions standards is enough in and of itself, and thus not address any of the underlying issues. Fixing the pipeline costs money, and I doubt that FCPS has the will to allocate the money that would be needed. It's much easier for them tweak the admissions process and then declare the equity issues fixed.

If they had embraced the pipeline choice as the main option, then my worry is that they would make a few superficial changes, but mostly just kick the can down the road.

The fact that you believe in this notion of lower-performing schools tells me all I need to know. These metrics are simply a reflection of a school's SES and have little to do with the number of talented students. Further, these schools all have the same teachers and curriculum. The same kid will do exactly the same at any of them.

Huh? The lower income schools have a lot fewer opportunities for STEM extracurriculars and enrichment than the wealthier schools. I didn't think that was in dispute. It's not that they have fewer talented kids. The issue is that they lack the nurturing and opportunities to help those kids shine. Some of the wealthy TJ feeder schools have special math classes or middle school Algebra II classes that aren't available in the less wealthy schools. They have numerous math and STEM after school activities and electives. It's also not the case that the curriculum is the same. In FCPS, there isn't a curriculum, and the schools adjust based on the needs, real or perceived, of their students. People on here talk about the extra math differentiation within AAP for their kids in McLean. Or they talk about other neat things that their kids were doing in AAP in their centers. My kids had none of the same opportunities for differentiation or enrichment in their lower income AAP center.

My DD did attend a school with a very robust Young Scholars program. The Young Scholars did field trips to the Science Fair and Math conventions held in the DC convention center. They did field trips to the TJ STEM fair. They got enrichment pull outs. They got a free STEM summer camp. This type of thing should be happening at every school to support disadvantaged kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

You sound racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

You sound racist.

Let me guess you hate diversity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

The escalation of the prep arms race that some parents have engaged in has had an unfortunate impact on the school culture. Let's hope these reforms begin to heal the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

This is such BS. I have two actual kids at TJ and there is no such palpable “change in environment.” Maybe your kids, if they exist, just relish seeing more non-Asian kids and appreciate the extra crowds from having 100 more kids in the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

This is such BS. I have two actual kids at TJ and there is no such palpable “change in environment.” Maybe your kids, if they exist, just relish seeing more non-Asian kids and appreciate the extra crowds from having 100 more kids in the class.

Yup. The pp doesn't have 2 kids at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

I don't have older kids there but my 9th grader so far is also having a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an 11th and a 9th grader at TJ and this new class is a breath of fresh air. It's as if a dark cloud was lifted. I'm so glad these new policies are helping to heal the toxic environment that had developed over these past few years.

The escalation of the prep arms race that some parents have engaged in has had an unfortunate impact on the school culture. Let's hope these reforms begin to heal the school.

Yes, the forced deescalation in the prep arms race seems to have helped detox TJ, but this was just a good first step in righting that ship.