I hope the board will at least release Information about how those classes are doing now, survey teachers about preparedness and readiness and more now that they’re not locked into silence because of lawsuits. Anecdata is not good and it would be good to explore to see if there are concerns and figure out how to fix them (rather than the smug, self-congratulatory email I just received from the board).

Anonymous wrote:The school had become rampant with cheating. Mediocre minds perfectly prepared for a specific entrance exam.
The current process returns the school to what it once was. A special place for genuinely special students.

This is the liberal screed but it's not true. In the meantime, TJ went from best tech school in the nation to --- what?? What a shame and my tax dollars shot

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

admissions will continue to be determined by a single essay based lottery system

so why is this a MAGA trigger? It sounds less preferential and more anti “DEI/woke” and to maga’s liking?

It's fake news. They just want to go back to a system that was easily gamed by anyone with resources.

No politics here. We VA residents would like to go back to a system based upon merit that made sense!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even so, the FCPS statement about the cert denial is cringe-inducing, as you might expect. They make it sound like TJ is now fully representative of FCPS communities and student demographics when that's anything but the case. But they moved the needle a bit, so of course you're going to get the likes of Karl Frisch patting himself incessantly on the back.

You are right about that. TJ needs to acknowledge the needs of its diverse demographics. As long as TJ lacks sports focus and fails to understand how sports is integral part of learning and personal development, we are not going anywhere near its vicinity. What they are really want our kids to turn into is nerdy bookworms.

"We came for the sports!"

Didnt know TJ had a basketball team. Who did they beat? link?

Most recently, West Springfield in the regional tournament. That’s the boys team - the girls team is not good this year.

They came in 2nd to Hayfield in the district which has won the state for two years in a row. They also won the district in gymnastics and swim and dive and have several standouts in wrestling, crew, golf, soccer, and tennis.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

The kind that offers weekend test prep for the old TJ admissions test

you mean regular math, science and english? Isnt that's what was on the old test?

The school had become rampant with cheating. Mediocre minds perfectly prepared for a specific entrance exam.
The current process returns the school to what it once was. A special place for genuinely special students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

The kind that offers weekend test prep for the old TJ admissions test

The kids I knew had test prep classes on weeknights, also. For about a year and a half or so before the test. I only know this because they had to miss a lot of sessions of an activity they’d done with my kids for years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

The kind that offers weekend test prep for the old TJ admissions test

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

admissions will continue to be determined by a single essay based lottery system

Two cheers for mediocrity! We'll see the quantifiable impact of the new admissions policy next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even so, the FCPS statement about the cert denial is cringe-inducing, as you might expect. They make it sound like TJ is now fully representative of FCPS communities and student demographics when that's anything but the case. But they moved the needle a bit, so of course you're going to get the likes of Karl Frisch patting himself incessantly on the back.

You are right about that. TJ needs to acknowledge the needs of its diverse demographics. As long as TJ lacks sports focus and fails to understand how sports is integral part of learning and personal development, we are not going anywhere near its vicinity. What they are really want our kids to turn into is nerdy bookworms.

"We came for the sports!"

Didnt know TJ had a basketball team. Who did they beat? link?

Most recently, West Springfield in the regional tournament. That’s the boys team - the girls team is not good this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

They are being sarcastic. The best tech high school in the nation has been destroyed by politics. Can't you understand that?

It sounds like you weren't really aware of the issues that inspired the change in admissions. Floyd was an excuse - there were other unstated reasons that made the changes welcome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

They are being sarcastic. The best tech high school in the nation has been destroyed by politics. Can't you understand that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even so, the FCPS statement about the cert denial is cringe-inducing, as you might expect. They make it sound like TJ is now fully representative of FCPS communities and student demographics when that's anything but the case. But they moved the needle a bit, so of course you're going to get the likes of Karl Frisch patting himself incessantly on the back.

You are right about that. TJ needs to acknowledge the needs of its diverse demographics. As long as TJ lacks sports focus and fails to understand how sports is integral part of learning and personal development, we are not going anywhere near its vicinity. What they are really want our kids to turn into is nerdy bookworms.

"We came for the sports!"

Didnt know TJ had a basketball team. Who did they beat? link?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

All students will have a shot at enrichment like TJ, not just those from wealthy schools where parents can afford outside enrichment.

What kind of outside enrichment?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone provide a one sentence summary of the current, existing policy (left unchanged by the SCt I assume)?

admissions will continue to be determined by a single essay based lottery system

so why is this a MAGA trigger? It sounds less preferential and more anti “DEI/woke” and to maga’s liking?

Additional context from the NY Times:
The revisions to the Virginia admissions program followed protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Amid concerns about how few Black and Hispanic students attended the school, one of the country’s top public high schools, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., adopted what it said were race-neutral admissions standards. The school board did away with a rigorous entrance examination and prioritized admission to the top students from each public middle school in the area rather than the top applicants from any school.
Admissions officers were also instructed to consider “experience factors,” such as whether students were poor, learning English or attending a middle school that was “historically underrepresented.” But the officers were not told the race, sex or name of any applicant.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/us/supreme-court-race-school-admissions.html