Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What really helped my son, who was also getting Cs and Bs, was an academic coach/tutor. The one-on-one attention and added structure made a huge difference. His coach brought his grades and SAT scores and even self-esteem up. They just finished his Early Admissions application after working on his essays for weeks. If you'd like his contact info, let me know. GL!

That is a lot of extra help for a TJ kid. Does he like being at TJ? Does he need this amount of extra help to stay there?

My kid at TJ sometimes got extra help by going to his teachers during 8th period, but I can't imagine him needing a one-on-one tutor. I think he would have been better off at his regular school if that were his situation.

Different Poster. But my TJ freshmn with ADHD uses an academic coach for 90 minutes once a week. 60 for organizational skills, and 30 biology specific (weak subject/ very disorganized teacher). It helps enormously. I could do it with him, but since middle school every effort to help has ended with us arguing. He loves the school, and really, really wants to be there. But he probably does need the extra help to deal with prioritizing and planning for a large workload with poor executive functioning. He's also making TJ work with a 504. Expecting a mix of As and Bs from first quarter.

FWIW-- We have had two tutors over three years, both from Educational Connections, and both were/are excellent.

My DD is at a school similar to TJ but not in the NoVA area. SHe has a 504 plan for executive functioning. School is still quite a struggle. COuld you list your DC's accommodations?

TJ parent and I would agree that that going to TJ to boost college chances is a bad idea. And that top 5% in FCPS will have great college choice. Then again-- I would't assume it's easy to break the top 5% of Langley, McLean, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the same as above, but I posted about having a sophomore. My child also has an organizational coach. She needed the coach a LOT freshman year. They worked on keeping her organized and also writing techniques and study skills.

This year there is tremendous improvement on my child's part on the organizational front. So they are meeting less often and mainly working on the study skills. The sophomore English teacher is nowhere near as hard a grader as the freshman English teacher, so that also helps.

And I can tell you that MANY MANY MANY TJ kids have tutors for various subjects and/or skills. I think it is almost the norm!

I think the reality is that TJ expects all kids to be excellent in everything. And no matter how smart and hardworking your kid is (TJ only takes top 2% of FCPS kids), they are going to have a weakness in some skill set or subject. This is, after all, a high school that expects freshman to walk in the door with the skills necessary to succeed at top college-- but with a much wider array of required classes (advanced CS, Geosystems, AP Calc, AP English and AP history, at least 3 years of a foreign language, etc).

IME, most TJ kids use tutoring at least sporadically, or in some subject at some point.

Not quite true. TJ admits 2% of the rising 9th graders. Not all of the best apply. I think is it safer to say that 100% of TJ students are in the top 5% of the county.

PP on this, and that's fair. Not all top kids apply and admissions aren't perfect. Base school kids get into MIT each year while TJ kids don't. I meant that 2% of FCPS grads come out of TJ.

My supposition -- and I would love to see data on this -- is if you look at the top 5 % of the county (or the schools individually) and compare the outcomes to TJ, you will not find a significant difference in colleges. If that is true, for the people that are going to TJ only for the edge up in college admissions, they are being foolish. TJ is not how to get into a better college. It is how to get the opportunity to excel in STEM activities in HS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the same as above, but I posted about having a sophomore. My child also has an organizational coach. She needed the coach a LOT freshman year. They worked on keeping her organized and also writing techniques and study skills.

This year there is tremendous improvement on my child's part on the organizational front. So they are meeting less often and mainly working on the study skills. The sophomore English teacher is nowhere near as hard a grader as the freshman English teacher, so that also helps.

And I can tell you that MANY MANY MANY TJ kids have tutors for various subjects and/or skills. I think it is almost the norm!

I think the reality is that TJ expects all kids to be excellent in everything. And no matter how smart and hardworking your kid is (TJ only takes top 2% of FCPS kids), they are going to have a weakness in some skill set or subject. This is, after all, a high school that expects freshman to walk in the door with the skills necessary to succeed at top college-- but with a much wider array of required classes (advanced CS, Geosystems, AP Calc, AP English and AP history, at least 3 years of a foreign language, etc).

IME, most TJ kids use tutoring at least sporadically, or in some subject at some point.

Not quite true. TJ admits 2% of the rising 9th graders. Not all of the best apply. I think is it safer to say that 100% of TJ students are in the top 5% of the county.

PP on this, and that's fair. Not all top kids apply and admissions aren't perfect. Base school kids get into MIT each year while TJ kids don't. I meant that 2% of FCPS grads come out of TJ.

IME, most TJ kids use tutoring at least sporadically, or in some subject at some point.

When you say this, do you mean an outside paid tutor, or getting extra help during 8th period from the teachers or from other students who volunteer to tutor?

My kid signed up for extra help during 8th period and also volunteered to tutor other kids in certain subjects. We never had any need to pay an outsider for tutoring because TJ offers so many options for help right there at the school. If my kid had needed more help than was provided at the school (obviously, other than for a diagnosed learning disability), we would have given thought to whether TJ was truly a good fit for him and whether the regular school might have been a better choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the same as above, but I posted about having a sophomore. My child also has an organizational coach. She needed the coach a LOT freshman year. They worked on keeping her organized and also writing techniques and study skills.

This year there is tremendous improvement on my child's part on the organizational front. So they are meeting less often and mainly working on the study skills. The sophomore English teacher is nowhere near as hard a grader as the freshman English teacher, so that also helps.

And I can tell you that MANY MANY MANY TJ kids have tutors for various subjects and/or skills. I think it is almost the norm!

I think the reality is that TJ expects all kids to be excellent in everything. And no matter how smart and hardworking your kid is (TJ only takes top 2% of FCPS kids), they are going to have a weakness in some skill set or subject. This is, after all, a high school that expects freshman to walk in the door with the skills necessary to succeed at top college-- but with a much wider array of required classes (advanced CS, Geosystems, AP Calc, AP English and AP history, at least 3 years of a foreign language, etc).

IME, most TJ kids use tutoring at least sporadically, or in some subject at some point.

Not quite true. TJ admits 2% of the rising 9th graders. Not all of the best apply. I think is it safer to say that 100% of TJ students are in the top 5% of the county.

Anonymous wrote:Not the same as above, but I posted about having a sophomore. My child also has an organizational coach. She needed the coach a LOT freshman year. They worked on keeping her organized and also writing techniques and study skills.

This year there is tremendous improvement on my child's part on the organizational front. So they are meeting less often and mainly working on the study skills. The sophomore English teacher is nowhere near as hard a grader as the freshman English teacher, so that also helps.

And I can tell you that MANY MANY MANY TJ kids have tutors for various subjects and/or skills. I think it is almost the norm!

I think the reality is that TJ expects all kids to be excellent in everything. And no matter how smart and hardworking your kid is (TJ only takes top 2% of FCPS kids), they are going to have a weakness in some skill set or subject. This is, after all, a high school that expects freshman to walk in the door with the skills necessary to succeed at top college-- but with a much wider array of required classes (advanced CS, Geosystems, AP Calc, AP English and AP history, at least 3 years of a foreign language, etc).

IME, most TJ kids use tutoring at least sporadically, or in some subject at some point.

Not the same as above, but I posted about having a sophomore. My child also has an organizational coach. She needed the coach a LOT freshman year. They worked on keeping her organized and also writing techniques and study skills.

This year there is tremendous improvement on my child's part on the organizational front. So they are meeting less often and mainly working on the study skills. The sophomore English teacher is nowhere near as hard a grader as the freshman English teacher, so that also helps.

And I can tell you that MANY MANY MANY TJ kids have tutors for various subjects and/or skills. I think it is almost the norm!

Anonymous wrote:

What really helped my son, who was also getting Cs and Bs, was an academic coach/tutor. The one-on-one attention and added structure made a huge difference. His coach brought his grades and SAT scores and even self-esteem up. They just finished his Early Admissions application after working on his essays for weeks. If you'd like his contact info, let me know. GL!

That is a lot of extra help for a TJ kid. Does he like being at TJ? Does he need this amount of extra help to stay there?

My kid at TJ sometimes got extra help by going to his teachers during 8th period, but I can't imagine him needing a one-on-one tutor. I think he would have been better off at his regular school if that were his situation.

Different Poster. But my TJ freshmn with ADHD uses an academic coach for 90 minutes once a week. 60 for organizational skills, and 30 biology specific (weak subject/ very disorganized teacher). It helps enormously. I could do it with him, but since middle school every effort to help has ended with us arguing. He loves the school, and really, really wants to be there. But he probably does need the extra help to deal with prioritizing and planning for a large workload with poor executive functioning. He's also making TJ work with a 504. Expecting a mix of As and Bs from first quarter.

FWIW-- We have had two tutors over three years, both from Educational Connections, and both were/are excellent.