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Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

I'm an Alumni so I know what the experience is like, unlike you, who only listens to 3rd hand information from your children. They are likely too afraid to tell you the truth. Most of us alumni recognize a change needs to occur. It's current parents who do not. It's not even their kids.

Why would kids be afraid to tell their parents the truth? Nonsensical. That's probably the most honest source of information a parent can get!

TJ haters always respond to parents whose kids love TJ this way. No, they’re not lying to me— we never encouraged them to go there and they didn’t prep for it — they tell me and I see how happy and energized they are from the cool courses and motivated peers.

It's a school where weird kids can fit in for a change. A lot of kids love going to TJ for that reason - they get to experience things that they would have been ostracized from at their base school. I do not understand why people cannot grasp that these kids love having a school where being smart and quirky doesn't lead to you getting picked on.

The whole “my kid needs TJ” thing has been so blown up over the years. The same types of kids got by fine in other schools before there was a TJHSST and get by fine now in other school districts without a TJ equivalent, but we’re all supposed to believe they - and they alone - would be miserable anywhere else because they are so very special. Changing “special” to “weird” or “quirky” doesn’t really avoid the justifiable skepticism, as much as it’s intended to.

You know nothing about TJ.

Au contraire. But your attitude is precisely why things are about to change.

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Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

I'm an Alumni so I know what the experience is like, unlike you, who only listens to 3rd hand information from your children. They are likely too afraid to tell you the truth. Most of us alumni recognize a change needs to occur. It's current parents who do not. It's not even their kids.

Why would kids be afraid to tell their parents the truth? Nonsensical. That's probably the most honest source of information a parent can get!

TJ haters always respond to parents whose kids love TJ this way. No, they’re not lying to me— we never encouraged them to go there and they didn’t prep for it — they tell me and I see how happy and energized they are from the cool courses and motivated peers.

It's a school where weird kids can fit in for a change. A lot of kids love going to TJ for that reason - they get to experience things that they would have been ostracized from at their base school. I do not understand why people cannot grasp that these kids love having a school where being smart and quirky doesn't lead to you getting picked on.

The whole “my kid needs TJ” thing has been so blown up over the years. The same types of kids got by fine in other schools before there was a TJHSST and get by fine now in other school districts without a TJ equivalent, but we’re all supposed to believe they - and they alone - would be miserable anywhere else because they are so very special. Changing “special” to “weird” or “quirky” doesn’t really avoid the justifiable skepticism, as much as it’s intended to.

You know nothing about TJ.

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that 1.5% seats would be set aside. If only 5 of the 6 students accepted the spot, student #7 would get an offer.

So a Mt Vernon kid would be offered a spot even if he wasn’t the original top 1.5%.

How would the top 1.5% be even chosen. I bet a lot of those kids are not interested in or it would be challenging to commute.

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Anonymous wrote:Well, there goes TJ being the best high school in the country. This is the end result of leftist ideology, not an improvement for the masses, but a cutting down of the top performers.

You get what you vote for.

The top performers will still be top performers. Their parents just won't be able to drive around with TJ stickers on their cars.

TJ provides superior quality education than other surrounding schools. Those top performers will now not perform as well as if they had gone to TJ. Meanwhile, TJ's performance as a school will be brought down to a lower level. So the school suffers, the better-academically-qualified students suffer, all so that there are more students of the desirable skin color in the school.

Like white. This will only boost white kids and then I cannot wait to see the different song everyone sings. As an East Asian I recognize this is necessary but let's not pretend it will benefit anyone any more than it will benefit white kids.

Dan sure won’t benefit Black kids. Never do they make any decisions that do that.

My impression is that 1.5% seats would be set aside. If only 5 of the 6 students accepted the spot, student #7 would get an offer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it 1.5% of all 8th graders in a school, or 1.5% of all 8th graders qualified to apply for TJ? Why was this so sloppily drafted?

I thought it was 1.5% of the 8th graders at that school.

I’m confused if 1.5% of that school’s grade will be offered a spot or 1.5% will be reserved spots.

So if a school has 400 8th graders, 1.5% would be 12 students. Would that school have 12 seats so if 6 of the top 12 students don’t want to go to TJ, would the next top 6 kids be offered a spot?

1.5% of 400 is 6, not 12. I don’t think they clearly spelled out the answer to your other question. I read the language of the approved motion to mean the top 6 applicants at the school so applied and were evaluated under the holistic review approach would be offered seats, but maybe they have a set number of reserved seats in mind. The 1.5% set-aside was new and the exact mechanics weren’t discussed in prior reports.

Anonymous wrote:Is it 1.5% of all 8th graders in a school, or 1.5% of all 8th graders qualified to apply for TJ? Why was this so sloppily drafted?

I thought it was 1.5% of the 8th graders at that school.

I’m confused if 1.5% of that school’s grade will be offered a spot or 1.5% will be reserved spots.

So if a school has 400 8th graders, 1.5% would be 12 students. Would that school have 12 seats so if 6 of the top 12 students don’t want to go to TJ, would the next top 6 kids be offered a spot?

Is it 1.5% of all 8th graders in a school, or 1.5% of all 8th graders qualified to apply for TJ? Why was this so sloppily drafted?

Anonymous wrote:Question asked earlier in the thread but not addressed yet here.... is anything clarified yet in terms of how this affects admissions from Arlington, Loudoun and other participating jurisdictions? Do they have to precisely follow what Fairfax decides or can they set or administer their own policies? Does this 1.5% amendment cover their middle schools too?

It is fairly clear from materials drafted before the meeting last night that TJ admissions would admit students from the other participating jurisdictions (30% of the 550-student entering class) under the “holistic review” approach. It’s unclear the 1.5% provision would apply - not sure the numbers would align with the target class sizes. In other words, if you took 1.5% of all the enrolled 8th graders in Arlington, FCC, Loudoun, and Prince William middle schools, would that number exceed 165 kids?

Question asked earlier in the thread but not addressed yet here.... is anything clarified yet in terms of how this affects admissions from Arlington, Loudoun and other participating jurisdictions? Do they have to precisely follow what Fairfax decides or can they set or administer their own policies? Does this 1.5% amendment cover their middle schools too?

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of a special needs child who tried for years to get accommodation for my child (granted MCPS but similar in neglect of Spec Ed kids to FCPS), if you ‘smarties’ game the TJ system to get a ‘fake’ IEP/504 for your kids to enter TJ than you REALLY are superior. Sign me up for your class! Otherwise, stop the yap.

I don’t think anyone would stoop this low. Pretty sure the SB is trying to get black and Hispanics into TJ.

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Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

I'm an Alumni so I know what the experience is like, unlike you, who only listens to 3rd hand information from your children. They are likely too afraid to tell you the truth. Most of us alumni recognize a change needs to occur. It's current parents who do not. It's not even their kids.

Why would kids be afraid to tell their parents the truth? Nonsensical. That's probably the most honest source of information a parent can get!

TJ haters always respond to parents whose kids love TJ this way. No, they’re not lying to me— we never encouraged them to go there and they didn’t prep for it — they tell me and I see how happy and energized they are from the cool courses and motivated peers.

It's a school where weird kids can fit in for a change. A lot of kids love going to TJ for that reason - they get to experience things that they would have been ostracized from at their base school. I do not understand why people cannot grasp that these kids love having a school where being smart and quirky doesn't lead to you getting picked on.

The whole “my kid needs TJ” thing has been so blown up over the years. The same types of kids got by fine in other schools before there was a TJHSST and get by fine now in other school districts without a TJ equivalent, but we’re all supposed to believe they - and they alone - would be miserable anywhere else because they are so very special. Changing “special” to “weird” or “quirky” doesn’t really avoid the justifiable skepticism, as much as it’s intended to.

As a parent of a special needs child who tried for years to get accommodation for my child (granted MCPS but similar in neglect of Spec Ed kids to FCPS), if you ‘smarties’ game the TJ system to get a ‘fake’ IEP/504 for your kids to enter TJ than you REALLY are superior. Sign me up for your class! Otherwise, stop the yap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

I'm an Alumni so I know what the experience is like, unlike you, who only listens to 3rd hand information from your children. They are likely too afraid to tell you the truth. Most of us alumni recognize a change needs to occur. It's current parents who do not. It's not even their kids.

Why would kids be afraid to tell their parents the truth? Nonsensical. That's probably the most honest source of information a parent can get!

TJ haters always respond to parents whose kids love TJ this way. No, they’re not lying to me— we never encouraged them to go there and they didn’t prep for it — they tell me and I see how happy and energized they are from the cool courses and motivated peers.

It's a school where weird kids can fit in for a change. A lot of kids love going to TJ for that reason - they get to experience things that they would have been ostracized from at their base school. I do not understand why people cannot grasp that these kids love having a school where being smart and quirky doesn't lead to you getting picked on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1.5% from each school does not make sense without a minimum and without acknowledging centers get more kids. Are they doing away with middle school centers too?

It’s a minimum 1.5% from each middle school and that minimum means more kids from the middle schools with more 8th graders, which are usually AAP centers. They don’t care if the top 1.5% from Poe might not be in the top 20% at Carson because they have decided broader geographic representation is more important.

I give it by next year for some people to be renting in the unrepresented middle school boundaries or leaving their AAP center for 8th grade at their base middle school if it gives a better shot at TJ.

Why bother? The quality of the student body will decline and it’s not like TJ will have the same reputation for excellence.

And as a results, maybe stress will go down and the suicides will go down and the quality of life of these kids will go way up.

The current TJ product is not without massive issues. Let's look at the glass half full and focus on what will will likely improve.

My kids love “the current TJ product.” I am guessing you don’t have any there that’s why you believe the rumors about it.

I'm an Alumni so I know what the experience is like, unlike you, who only listens to 3rd hand information from your children. They are likely too afraid to tell you the truth. Most of us alumni recognize a change needs to occur. It's current parents who do not. It's not even their kids.

Why would kids be afraid to tell their parents the truth? Nonsensical. That's probably the most honest source of information a parent can get!

TJ haters always respond to parents whose kids love TJ this way. No, they’re not lying to me— we never encouraged them to go there and they didn’t prep for it — they tell me and I see how happy and energized they are from the cool courses and motivated peers.