Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im not aware of the culture at LF but at Carson, everything is a struggle. By that I mean getting into any of the clubs is highly competitive. Tiring if your kid is not into fighting for things that are a given at other middle schools.

Things will likely improve in future once the big boom of Asian kids in that area grow out of the MS.

Uh, no. It will only change when the AAP center at Carson is downsized and Franklin MS also becomes a center.

Anonymous wrote:Im not aware of the culture at LF but at Carson, everything is a struggle. By that I mean getting into any of the clubs is highly competitive. Tiring if your kid is not into fighting for things that are a given at other middle schools.

Things will likely improve in future once the big boom of Asian kids in that area grow out of the MS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

What demographics are these??

Low FARMS, high test scores, parents who probably aren't working at least two jobs each and could handle the TJ logistics. Yet the kids still aren't especially interested in TJ. West Springfield pyramid has less than 20 kids to TJ (all four grades). Madison has more but still only a fraction of the number from Oakton, McLean, Langley or Chantilly.

As someone who lives in the McLean HS zone, I will say that there are many kids who choose not to go the TJ route. Hard to say which HS has a larger share of those types of students.

Roughly 10% of the class (already creamed by TJ) takes math up to Matrix and Multivar.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

What demographics are these??

Low FARMS, high test scores, parents who probably aren't working at least two jobs each and could handle the TJ logistics. Yet the kids still aren't especially interested in TJ. West Springfield pyramid has less than 20 kids to TJ (all four grades). Madison has more but still only a fraction of the number from Oakton, McLean, Langley or Chantilly.

As someone who lives in the McLean HS zone, I will say that there are many kids who choose not to go the TJ route. Hard to say which HS has a larger share of those types of students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

What demographics are these??

Low FARMS, high test scores, parents who probably aren't working at least two jobs each and could handle the TJ logistics. Yet the kids still aren't especially interested in TJ. West Springfield pyramid has less than 20 kids to TJ (all four grades). Madison has more but still only a fraction of the number from Oakton, McLean, Langley or Chantilly.

Given that TJ is 70% Asian... I'm thinking there would be a correlation b/t the percentage of Asian kids in a HS pyramid catchment area and the number of kids from that pyramid who attend TJ.

Oakton, McLean, Langley and Chantilly all have a higher percentage of Asian students than Madison and West Springfield. And presumably, their Asian populations would be even larger if TJ wasn't there (at the former schools) -- since that is primarily who they are losing to TJ.

Im not aware of the culture at LF but at Carson, everything is a struggle. By that I mean getting into any of the clubs is highly competitive. Tiring if your kid is not into fighting for things that are a given at other middle schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

What demographics are these??

Low FARMS, high test scores, parents who probably aren't working at least two jobs each and could handle the TJ logistics. Yet the kids still aren't especially interested in TJ. West Springfield pyramid has less than 20 kids to TJ (all four grades). Madison has more but still only a fraction of the number from Oakton, McLean, Langley or Chantilly.

Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

What demographics are these??

Anonymous wrote:^^^Basically, no matter which HS you choose, you need to be in the top 10% of the class to have a shot at the top colleges. With TJ, you can be top 25% or so-but does you no good to be towards bottom at TJ in terms of getting into college. Which is why many kids opt to stay at base school and do better there than they would have TJ.

That said, if you aren’t wedded to the college outcome, TJ will provide a unique educational experience unlike any other with an incredible group of like minded peers.

I don’t think kids weighing a TJ offer in 8th grade know whether they’d end up in the top or bottom quartile there. There are kids who would have thrived at TJ who don’t bother applying or turn it down because they simply think they’ll have a better overall experience at their base high schools, which also have plenty of bright kids. Madison and West Springfield are the prime examples of pyramids where the demographics would suggest a lot more kids going to TJ but for the fact that TJ isn’t really coveted in those communities. The areas that feed into Carson are at the other extreme.

^^^Basically, no matter which HS you choose, you need to be in the top 10% of the class to have a shot at the top colleges. With TJ, you can be top 25% or so-but does you no good to be towards bottom at TJ in terms of getting into college. Which is why many kids opt to stay at base school and do better there than they would have TJ.

That said, if you aren’t wedded to the college outcome, TJ will provide a unique educational experience unlike any other with an incredible group of like minded peers.

Anonymous wrote:What makes difference is the college you go to, not so much the HS.

? but doesn't the HS one attends play a role in what college one gets into? See, TJ acceptance/matriculation stas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of the difference is that Rachel Carson's AAP enrollment has grown faster than Longfellow's and now has 150 more students than Longfellow. I don't know if Longfellow's drop in TJ admissions last year was a fluke or a sign that it is now in decline or a sign that the rest of the county is leveling out.

Longfellow AAP program is shrinking with the Cooper AP students at Cooper and there is definitely a higher tendency for students at Longfellow and Cooper to state in their home HS. Both are excellent and more students are now feeling that the downsides to TJ outweigh the upsides. This started about 4 or 5 years ago and still seems to be continuing.

Carson and Longfellow are both good schools, and illustrate the different approaches to AAP in FCPS.

Carson is the paradigm of a big AAP center. The AAP kids come from 9 different elementary schools, and feed to four different high schools (Westfield, South Lakes, Oakton, and Chantilly). 52% of the students at the school are in AAP (769 students)..

Longfellow is an example of a pyramid-based AAP center. Starting with this year's 7th graders, the AAP kids now come only from the areas that feed into McLean HS. 40% of the students are in AAP (557 students).

In terms of other metrics, Carson sends more students to TJ, and Longfellow has higher Great Schools (9 vs. 8 at Carson) and School Digger (6th in state vs. 19th in state for Carson) ratings and a lower percentage of low-income kids (7.3% vs. 9.8% at Carson).

I am not sure there is a higher tendency for students at Longfellow or Cooper (which feeds to Langley) to stay at their home high schools given the choice to attend TJ. In the current school year, the pyramids that send the most students to TJ are McLean (154), Oakton (154), Langley (149), Chantilly (145), Westfield (97), and Woodson (84).

What makes difference is the college you go to, not so much the HS.

Anonymous wrote:Part of the difference is that Rachel Carson's AAP enrollment has grown faster than Longfellow's and now has 150 more students than Longfellow. I don't know if Longfellow's drop in TJ admissions last year was a fluke or a sign that it is now in decline or a sign that the rest of the county is leveling out.

Longfellow AAP program is shrinking with the Cooper AP students at Cooper and there is definitely a higher tendency for students at Longfellow and Cooper to state in their home HS. Both are excellent and more students are now feeling that the downsides to TJ outweigh the upsides. This started about 4 or 5 years ago and still seems to be continuing.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, so which is the top MS? It seems that Carson has been gaining momentum in sending more kids to TJ.

Does the Longfellow pyramid outshine the Carson pyramid overall?

Pick the house you can afford and that has the shortest commute(s). Both are great schools. Rachel Carson is much bigger than Longfellow and much further out.