Anonymous wrote:It fundamentally repurposes TJHSST from a high school intended to serve the most talented STEM students to a demonstration project that an almost random group of county students (a 3.5 GPA isn't tough to pull off in middle school) can take STEM classes.

Remind us again why we really need this school? There's a very good chance Langley will test higher than this version of TJ.

I mean, the big question really is this: What is involved in the holistic review? How is it determined which students actually get placed into the merit lottery? What's evaluated appears to be the new SIS and the report card. I severely doubt that every kid with a 3.5 is going to get placed in the lottery, and I would further bet that they will try to chop down the application pool to about 1000 or so using that holistic review.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow. Big changes. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My DS is a TJ senior (no prep, Title I ES and MS - loved it) so I have no dog in this fight.

For me, the biggest surprise is getting rid of teacher recommendations.

I also wonder if the move to regions will have the unintended effect of diversifying Langley and McLean pyramids if some families decide to move to have a better chance in lottery. LOL.

Next steps for me to see real change across FCPS - eliminate COGAT, private WISC, and parent referrals for AAP!

It could have the opposite effect. If the lottery is viewed as a crap shoot with poor odds for any particular kid, living in an area zoned to high-ranked neighborhood school might be considered even more important.

It won't be lost on Langley families, however, that Cooper is in the same region as Carson (even if many of the Carson AAP kids have Franklin as their base school).

Anonymous wrote:So, what does removing assessment percentile mean? Does it mean there will be no test? Or, that it won't matter how you perform on the test?

From what I can, yes, no test.

Anonymous wrote:wow. Big changes. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My DS is a TJ senior (no prep, Title I ES and MS - loved it) so I have no dog in this fight.

For me, the biggest surprise is getting rid of teacher recommendations.

I also wonder if the move to regions will have the unintended effect of diversifying Langley and McLean pyramids if some families decide to move to have a better chance in lottery. LOL.

Next steps for me to see real change across FCPS - eliminate COGAT, private WISC, and parent referrals for AAP!

It could have the opposite effect. If the lottery is viewed as a crap shoot with poor odds for any particular kid, living in an area zoned to high-ranked neighborhood school might be considered even more important.

Anonymous wrote:So, what does removing assessment percentile mean? Does it mean there will be no test? Or, that it won't matter how you perform on the test?

It means there will be no test. Eliminating the app fee basically guarantees this. Testing is expensive.

So, what does removing assessment percentile mean? Does it mean there will be no test? Or, that it won't matter how you perform on the test?

It fundamentally repurposes TJHSST from a high school intended to serve the most talented STEM students to a demonstration project that an almost random group of county students (a 3.5 GPA isn't tough to pull off in middle school) can take STEM classes.

Remind us again why we really need this school? There's a very good chance Langley will test higher than this version of TJ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are applications going down?

My guess is that the commute too and fro is one of the biggest inhibitors.

They are going down because many families do not like the cheating culture. It also is not a kind place to girls, especially black/Hispanic/white girls.

If this is true, it makes me really sad.
-female TJ alumna and mother to 3 girls in FCPS

Anonymous wrote:wow. Big changes. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My DS is a TJ senior (no prep, Title I ES and MS - loved it) so I have no dog in this fight.

For me, the biggest surprise is getting rid of teacher recommendations.

I also wonder if the move to regions will have the unintended effect of diversifying Langley and McLean pyramids if some families decide to move to have a better chance in lottery. LOL.

Next steps for me to see real change across FCPS - eliminate COGAT, private WISC, and parent referrals for AAP!

I agree that it could very well result in more diversity for Langley and McLean. Parents no longer feel like they MUST have their child at a certain middle school in order to have a hope of attending and can choose to live in a much wider variety of areas.

Another reason to implement it this proposal by the staff.

wow. Big changes. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

My DS is a TJ senior (no prep, Title I ES and MS - loved it) so I have no dog in this fight.

For me, the biggest surprise is getting rid of teacher recommendations.

I also wonder if the move to regions will have the unintended effect of diversifying Langley and McLean pyramids if some families decide to move to have a better chance in lottery. LOL.

Next steps for me to see real change across FCPS - eliminate COGAT, private WISC, and parent referrals for AAP!

Anonymous wrote:It was the #1 high school in the country. Now it's in a freefall.

I personally care more about ACTUALLY educating students rather than having the bragging rights to "We're #1!" based on creteria picked by a magazine.

This proposal is solid. I hope the school board hears the presentation, adopts it quickly and then moves on to getting students safely back into school buildings.

It was the #1 high school in the country. Now it's in a freefall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BTGKX652F413/$file/TJHSST%20Admissions%20Merit%20Lottery%20Proposal.pdf

Love it! A really elegant solution.

Economically disadvantged goes from 0.6% to 10.3%.

Also, it completely blows up the entire prep industry.

I'm all for blowing up the prep industry. (They need to do the same for AAP--they prep for that, too.)

But, this is going to do to TJ what AAP redo did to GT.

Anonymous wrote:https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BTGKX652F413/$file/TJHSST%20Admissions%20Merit%20Lottery%20Proposal.pdf

Love it! A really elegant solution.

Economically disadvantged goes from 0.6% to 10.3%.

Also, it completely blows up the entire prep industry.

Anonymous wrote:https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BTGKX652F413/$file/TJHSST%20Admissions%20Merit%20Lottery%20Proposal.pdf

Wow. Pretty big change and vague selection process. "placed into lottery pathway after holistic review"--
questions:
What is the "holistic review?"
Who does the reviewing?

And, the pathways are interesting. It will be based on "base school." So, this will make it very interesting. Carson and Franklin are in two different pathways. (For those who don't know, a bunch of the current TJ kids have a Franklin base school. Probably about the same as those whose base school is Carson, but I am not sure. But, it puts Franklin kids in pathway with Rocky Run, so there are likely a lot of students who are at TJ now that will miss the cut under the new plan.

Prediction: rebellion