Reply to 693 FCPS Students Named National Merit Commended Scholars in 2024

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Reply to "693 FCPS Students Named National Merit Commended Scholars in 2024"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
TJ is a public school that should be available to all the MSs in the County, that includes schools with a high poverty level and ELL level. There are smart kids at those schools who have not had the same exposure to math and science as kids from high SES schools. They deserve a chance to be exposed to classes that move at a faster pace and push them just like the kids from higher SES schools.[b] They might not score as high on the SAT but they are better off for being in a school that pushes them and challenges them. They might earn C’s and B’s at TJ but being surrounded by highly motivated peers is a good thing for kids who have never had that type of exposure.[/b]
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The bolded is the tricky part, and it's entirely possible that FCPS is going about this the wrong way.  Exposing underprivileged bright kids to high achieving peers and advanced classes is a huge positive in general.  But, getting Bs and Cs at TJ could really hurt the kid's college prospects.  Likewise, falling back to the base school with terrible grades in 9th from TJ isn't helping anyone.  If the kid isn't academically advanced enough to handle many of the high level STEM classes and is instead almost entirely taking classes that would have been available at the base school, I'm not sure there's a huge point in attending TJ.  I wish the eastern part of the county had a STEM magnet middle school program, so the kids could be exposed to TJ-ish rigor earlier and be able to make a more informed decision.

It will be interesting to compare the college outcomes for kids who attended TJ from high FARMS areas with the kids who remained at the base school and were at the top of the class in their high FARMS school.  [/quote]

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