Anonymous
06/01/2012 10:19
Subject: Re:TC Williams High School - shocked
Anonymous wrote:
I have never argued that there aren't quality teachers or individuals at TC. And I've acknowledged that if you're tracked into the "white and bright" bubble, you'll do just fine and get an excellent education. You can even leverage the stigma of attending a poor urban school into a great college placement. But they are very much in a bubble.
I have argued that the environment in totality is not a positive one or conducive to learning -- education simply isn't valued by a large segment of the student body. With a dropout rate of around 30%, a teen pregnancy clinic in the building, gang-related fights on a daily basis (at least that was the case two years ago -- Sherman says it's basically the same five or six families every time -- a Hatfield and McCoys thing, but whatever) and a chaotic culture where kids roamed the hallways freely between classes, I decided it wasn't the right environment for my kids. I prefered they be in an environment where college was a universal goal, rather than one for just a small cohort of elite students. And based on people I meet now, I'm hardly alone in that thought process, nor will I apologize for it.
Again, I'm glad your daughter is having a good experience. Maybe the conversation you need to have with Suzanne Maxley is how to remove the "jail" part from TC's "Yale or Jail" rep. That's more than test scores. That's changing the culture. Maybe she's doing that -- more power to her. But I think given the school's very real challenges in recent years, skeptics have a right to reserve judgment and people like OP need to know what they're getting into.
Arlington, you've continuously brought up the teen pregnancy center as it if is a bad thing to make an effort to try to keep such kids in school. Quite frankly, it leads me to believe that this is a politics issue with you, which totally underminds your creditability. On my street, several of the families sent their kids to TC, and all had positive experencies. Two of the kids went to UVA (in recent years), so I'm guessing they did well. And it is blantantly unfair to make is seem like all schools don't have some kids that aren't left behind.
Alexandria, I have zero qualms about my credibility. I've said nothing that is factually incorrect. You can put a pollyana spin on it all you want, but it doesn't change the cold, hard facts. I'm done with this thread now in any case. I'm sure you'll come back with some more whitewash and rose-colored paint, however. Have at it. I've said my piece.
Anonymous
06/01/2012 10:16
Subject: Re:TC Williams High School - shocked
I have never argued that there aren't quality teachers or individuals at TC. And I've acknowledged that if you're tracked into the "white and bright" bubble, you'll do just fine and get an excellent education. You can even leverage the stigma of attending a poor urban school into a great college placement. But they are very much in a bubble.
I have argued that the environment in totality is not a positive one or conducive to learning -- education simply isn't valued by a large segment of the student body. With a dropout rate of around 30%, a teen pregnancy clinic in the building, gang-related fights on a daily basis (at least that was the case two years ago -- Sherman says it's basically the same five or six families every time -- a Hatfield and McCoys thing, but whatever) and a chaotic culture where kids roamed the hallways freely between classes, I decided it wasn't the right environment for my kids. I prefered they be in an environment where college was a universal goal, rather than one for just a small cohort of elite students. And based on people I meet now, I'm hardly alone in that thought process, nor will I apologize for it.
Again, I'm glad your daughter is having a good experience. Maybe the conversation you need to have with Suzanne Maxley is how to remove the "jail" part from TC's "Yale or Jail" rep. That's more than test scores. That's changing the culture. Maybe she's doing that -- more power to her. But I think given the school's very real challenges in recent years, skeptics have a right to reserve judgment and people like OP need to know what they're getting into.
Arlington, you've continuously brought up the teen pregnancy center as it if is a bad thing to make an effort to try to keep such kids in school. Quite frankly, it leads me to believe that this is a politics issue with you, which totally underminds your creditability. On my street, several of the families sent their kids to TC, and all had positive experencies. Two of the kids went to UVA (in recent years), so I'm guessing they did well. And it is blantantly unfair to make is seem like all schools don't have some kids that aren't left behind.