Expanded High school electives at TJ

[Anonymous]

TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

[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've met more toxic teachers at TJ than my child's entire life in schools up to that point. So maybe he wants those folks to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

That may be his goal, but by adding more AP classes as standard offerings just makes TJ students all look more uniform. Ask any admissions officer. They have to have something to differentiate with and if every single kid now takes more of the same, it becomes much more difficult. Plus, by making them look more like base school kids, that also makes it harder to differentiate. He would've been a lot smarter to ask FCPS to make more unique TJ-only courses and get out of bed with the College Board. Dual enrollment would've been a better choice--extra weighting and guaranteed credits that actually transfer to most colleges. We're likely to see this short-sighted plan backfire.

[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.

You can't guarnatee shit. You are an anonymous poster on an anonyumous board telling us that you know things that nobody else knows. Is there a child trafficking ring under the pizzaria too?

[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.

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?

Yes. We lost heads of departments, a vice principal and math and science teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

That may be his goal, but by adding more AP classes as standard offerings just makes TJ students all look more uniform. Ask any admissions officer. They have to have something to differentiate with and if every single kid now takes more of the same, it becomes much more difficult. Plus, by making them look more like base school kids, that also makes it harder to differentiate. He would've been a lot smarter to ask FCPS to make more unique TJ-only courses and get out of bed with the College Board. Dual enrollment would've been a better choice--extra weighting and guaranteed credits that actually transfer to most colleges. We're likely to see this short-sighted plan backfire.

No admissions officer looks at a TJ transcript the same way they look at a Mclean transcript. None.
Adding an Apo tag to cxore curriculum courses that everyone is already taking is low hanging fruit. The students all think this is a good idea. The parents all think this is a good idea. The teachers are mostrly indifferent or in favor of converting classes like pre-calc to AP pre-calc.

One fairly significant consideration is the dropping UVA admissions and a lot of that is because they put too much weight on the weighted GPA and less on test scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

That may be his goal, but by adding more AP classes as standard offerings just makes TJ students all look more uniform. Ask any admissions officer. They have to have something to differentiate with and if every single kid now takes more of the same, it becomes much more difficult. Plus, by making them look more like base school kids, that also makes it harder to differentiate. He would've been a lot smarter to ask FCPS to make more unique TJ-only courses and get out of bed with the College Board. Dual enrollment would've been a better choice--extra weighting and guaranteed credits that actually transfer to most colleges. We're likely to see this short-sighted plan backfire.

TJ students transcripts look uniform. This has been true for a long time. Until you get to the electives, everybody takes the same classes. How does taking the same core of honors classes seem more unique than everyone taking the same core of AP classes?

He is not replacing linear algebra with AP pre-calc. He is replacing honors pre-calc with AP pre-calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

That may be his goal, but by adding more AP classes as standard offerings just makes TJ students all look more uniform. Ask any admissions officer. They have to have something to differentiate with and if every single kid now takes more of the same, it becomes much more difficult. Plus, by making them look more like base school kids, that also makes it harder to differentiate. He would've been a lot smarter to ask FCPS to make more unique TJ-only courses and get out of bed with the College Board. Dual enrollment would've been a better choice--extra weighting and guaranteed credits that actually transfer to most colleges. We're likely to see this short-sighted plan backfire.

Wrong. If you want to transfer credit beyond state colleges, AP credit is by far more widely accepted. Adding the label AP will help students and in most cases the course content is essentially the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ students have been losing out to base HS students in college admissions. Mukai knows how important this is to students and parents so he's fixing it. He's doing a great job.

That may be his goal, but by adding more AP classes as standard offerings just makes TJ students all look more uniform. Ask any admissions officer. They have to have something to differentiate with and if every single kid now takes more of the same, it becomes much more difficult. Plus, by making them look more like base school kids, that also makes it harder to differentiate. He would've been a lot smarter to ask FCPS to make more unique TJ-only courses and get out of bed with the College Board. Dual enrollment would've been a better choice--extra weighting and guaranteed credits that actually transfer to most colleges. We're likely to see this short-sighted plan backfire.

Wrong. If you want to transfer credit beyond state colleges, AP credit is by far more widely accepted. Adding the label AP will help students and in most cases the course content is essentially the same.

The main benefit of all the extra AP classes is that it reminds the AOs that TJ's baseline is AP+

[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've met more toxic teachers at TJ than my child's entire life in schools up to that point. So maybe he wants those folks to leave.

There is definitely a group of TJ teachers that think that teaching at TJ makes them special and the students are there for them.
And there is definitely a handful of teachers that fall into this category but they are not the ones that are acting like they are spoecial or that kids are lucky to be in their class.
For the most part what makes TJ special is the students. It attracts good teachers but it attracts ALL teachers and a good principal will keep the good ones. A bad principal (like Bonitatibus) will keep the ones that are ideologically aligned with them.

[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.

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've met more toxic teachers at TJ than my child's entire life in schools up to that point. So maybe he wants those folks to leave.

There is definitely a group of TJ teachers that think that teaching at TJ makes them special and the students are there for them.
And there is definitely a handful of teachers that fall into this category but they are not the ones that are acting like they are spoecial or that kids are lucky to be in their class.
For the most part what makes TJ special is the students. It attracts good teachers but it attracts ALL teachers and a good principal will keep the good ones. A bad principal (like Bonitatibus) will keep the ones that are ideologically aligned with them.

I wouldn't say that's the kind of toxic we've experienced. The kind of toxic we've seen is teachers who don't believe in teaching. The math department, in particular, doesn't teach. Then when the kids struggle they don't step in or do anything at all. They continue to double down that the kids should teach each other.

[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:

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've met more toxic teachers at TJ than my child's entire life in schools up to that point. So maybe he wants those folks to leave.

There is definitely a group of TJ teachers that think that teaching at TJ makes them special and the students are there for them.
And there is definitely a handful of teachers that fall into this category but they are not the ones that are acting like they are spoecial or that kids are lucky to be in their class.
For the most part what makes TJ special is the students. It attracts good teachers but it attracts ALL teachers and a good principal will keep the good ones. A bad principal (like Bonitatibus) will keep the ones that are ideologically aligned with them.

I wouldn't say that's the kind of toxic we've experienced. The kind of toxic we've seen is teachers who don't believe in teaching. The math department, in particular, doesn't teach. Then when the kids struggle they don't step in or do anything at all. They continue to double down that the kids should teach each other.

Yep. TJ’s math dept largely expects the kids to teach themselves. This was DD’s experience in multiple classes at least.

[Anonymous]

TJ math department is truly outstanding. The parents complaining are those whose kids are not a good fit for TJ.

[Anonymous]

Students who are used to Curie style learning are those who are complaining. This happens every single year.

[Anonymous]

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.

He's making TJ exactly West Springfield. It's ridiculous. Plus, all those classes won't run. They won't have enough kids interested.

Not only that, but he is incredibly biased about what classes should be promoted more than others, at the expense of losing great teachers that have been at TJ for many years.

What subject matter teachers will they lose or have already lost?