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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's not all about the "cohort".  Keep in mind that higher-FARMS schools don't offer anywhere near the number of higher-level courses that lower-FARMS schools offer.

Let's take 2 kids, one zoned for Annandale/FCHS/Justice, the other zoned for Oakton/Langley/McLean.  Both equally bright, motivated, not genius level, but smart and STEM-enthusiastic.  Both accelerated enough in ES/MS to be taking Alg II H in 8th grade.

Student A (A/F/J) will likely exceed their base school's math course offerings by 10th grade, maybe 11th. If they want to take Multi-Var or AP Statistics, it'll have to be through online / independent study, or trying to cross enroll for one period at a nearby school (a logistical nightmare to deal with different bell schedule, even if the kid has a way to commute on their own).  They may or may not have a class available for AP Phys C. They may or may not have an AP class for their foreign language, or even a 4th year language.

Student B (O/L/M) will have all of those courses at their base school, and then some.

So, which student does the county's public school system serve better with an assignment to TJ? The one who literally cannot take 4 years of math at their base school? Or the one who just wants a special class, even though they could get the same at their base school?[/quote]

The problem with your view is that TJ admissions is not considering math level or base school offerings in light of math level for any kids at any schools.  Most kids even at middling SES schools only have one year of post AP calc available.  So, the Algebra II in 8th kid will run out of math almost any school that is not McLean, Langley, Oakton, or maybe Chantilly.  The pre-calc in 8th kids will run out of math classes even at the high SES schools.  None of that is being considered for TJ admissions.  Heck, it's entirely possible that the kid at a high FARMS school taking Algebra II in 8th will be passed over for admissions in favor of kids taking Algebra I who write prettier essays.

I would agree with you that in principle, any kid who will run out of math classes at their local school has needs vastly different from their base school cohort and are textbook cases of kids who belong at a Governor's school for STEM.  [/quote]

If the reason they “run out” of math to take is because their parents enrolled them in outside math courses to get them hyper accelerated then I disagree this is a textbook case of a kid who needs this type of school. Now if it’s a kid who just goes to AAP school, gets it in a snap and sits around bored in math all the time so the ES kicks them up to algebra in 6th, then yes THAT is the type of kid the a governor’s STEM school was created for. The issue is you had many families taking the former path to intentionally cultivate kids on an accelerated path vs simply trying to find the right school match for their kids. [/quote]

In FCPS, it's not possible to be hyper accelerated without having FCPS bump your kid up in early elementary or without transferring in from elsewhere and having FCPS honor the math placement.  The only way parents can choose to accelerate a kid is through summer Geometry, which results in Algebra II in 8th.  For the most part, the summer Algebra II kids are zoned to the high SES high schools and will have sufficient math classes at the base school.  They would not be math outliers at their base schools who would run out of math if not for TJ.

If a kid somehow is hyper-accelerated into pre-calc or calc in 8th, but they have straight As in all of the previous honors math classes, then I would argue that the kid absolutely deserved to be hyperaccelerated.  TJ would be the best place for a kid who is already mastering pre-calc or calc at age 13.  
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