Reply to FCPS plans to "reform" TJ?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's interesting because I've taught in middle schools in FCPS in three different schools. I worked in a middle class, non-TJ feeder school for 7 years (think Robinson, Fairfax, Lake Braddock or West Springfield). I enjoyed working there, taught math and the kids were bright and hard-working. A few were interested in TJ but there really wasn't much support from teachers, guidance or admin. beyond doing the bare minimum. I had zero guidance on filling out recommendations, what TJ is looking for and we basically said "good luck" with only a few kids getting in. (It's still the case for these schools).

I then went to teach at a Title I middle school. The kids had other struggles beyond only math. I spent way more time teaching the language of math, teaching and reinforcing concepts. I did have some students who were advanced and a few pursued TJ. Very rarely we had more than a handful of kids who attended. Like my previous school, there was very little support to mentor kids, write recommendations, or even pay attention to the TJ deadlines. The few kids who made it in really had to manage and advocate to get through the process.

I now teach in a major TJ feeder (home with a sick kid today). And it is like working in a completely different school system. We attend multiple meetings with admins and other teachers to discuss, coordinate and manage the TJ application process. TJ counselors and admins provide us guidance on best practices. Our teaching is accelerated as a matter of course (and sadly, our ESOL and SPED students struggle and really get the short end of the stick unless they have parents who are aggressively managing IEPs and 504's and ESOL support). It is night and day.

So, in some ways, I think spreading TJ spots to the middle school level would address some of the inequity that is sort of baked in the cake in FCPS. I look at my first school, where there were as many kids in Alg. 1 in 7th as my current school and see that there is such a different approach to TJ. Getting a more uniform approach probably would address things, but absent there being a sense of demand, schools are site run and they really do focus on the issues that impact as many kids as possible. For the rare TJ applicant, they don't get the support that they would if they went to my current school. Even though all of the schools are in FCPS.[/quote]

This is very true. My friend lives in a major TJ feeder zone and we're in a Title 1 zone. We often compared notes and it was like night and day. Her child was in gen ED in elementary and mine were in AAP yet they received similar education. Our MS was like your Title 1 - no real focus on anybody interested in TJ. I couldn't find any information on TJ on the school website until I looked in a dark corner covered in cobwebs. There was a PDF and first sentences were something like, "TJ is a very difficult school to get into. Admissions are very competitive" - as if to say, "Don't bother! You don't have a chance!"

When I asked the administration about TJ, they said that they most kids want to stay at the base and not many are interested in going. We opted for the AAP center MS and it was better there.

Since then school websites have been standardized and now offer similar information on TJ so at least that's a step in the right direction, but that hasn't moved the needle at all given the minute acceptance rate at that school.[/quote]

I'm the teacher who posted this and it's spot on. I wish people looked at the differences in the middle schools. It's so, so stark and feeds into this whole mega feeder system for TJ. [/quote]

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