Anonymous wrote:Bye, PP., my DC is white. And thankful to be at TJ.

My DC is white and thankful to be at TJ too. But I do think the point somewhat holds. Western part of the county. And among the families I known from ES and MS, nearly all of the Asian families have accepted without question that that having their kid attend TJ was the top priority. Whereas, the White kids and their parents evaluated TJ on a much more individual, each kid is unique basis.

I do think it is a little ironic in an area where so many white families accept without questioning that there is no college choice but UVA (or WM) and then do crazy things to get their kid in. But never ask themselves or their kids if a different college would be better.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting, I graduated from TJ almost two decades ago and I think more than 100 people in my class went to U.Va. I wonder if it's harder to get in now or if more TJ students are turning U.Va down.

UVA and W&M would prefer not to admit applicants from NoVa.

Also, the notion of accomplished professionals deciding they would rather teach high school isn't just a TJ phenomenon. Sidwell has had teachers who were accomplished attorneys (major law partners) and decided they would rather be contributing to society a different way. One passed away recently and the responses to the obituary were overwhelming -- no question he touched at least as many lives as a law partner (spoken from the perspective of a law partner).

Bye, PP., my DC is white. And thankful to be at TJ.

Tj has a great male math teacher - TJ and Cornell engineering grad, worked as an engineer for a number of years at a high tech company, and decided he'd rather give back by being a teacher at TJ. TJ has a male Physics teacher who has done a number of other things in his career but ended up being awarded a state teaching award and and now chooses to teach at TJ. Longfellow Middle School - a TJ feeder -- has a math teacher who was so inspired by his mentor math teacher that he aspired to come back to teach at Longfellow. Does anyone actually think there is anything wrong with this? I think it's amazing that my DC is lucky enough to have such teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Looks similar to the data from my public HS in the Midwest. I'm not that impressed.

+1

I expected MUCH more impressive stats. Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately TJ is in decline. The new admissions procedure should help.

It is a new test, if I understand it correctly? So what will it change, exactly? I am not clear on this. Rote memorization will still rule the school. That is not a very appealing learning approach for most people. Not all smart kids (or adults) find value in learning to the test - which is what is diluting the reputation, by my understanding.

Not sure what the test will be like, but here is a related document describing some of the issues from last year.

http://www.fcag.org/documents/FCAG+TJHSST+2016+Handout+FINAL.pdf

TJ used to offer more of a typical HS experience, but it has drifted away to becoming a competitive pressure cooker.
Due to grad requirements, you can't take 4 years of band, chorus or orchestra without summer school. It is even tough to take 4 years of a language.
They can't now field a football team at a competitive level. This year they will play 2 teams of homeschooled kids, a school for the deaf, a small private, a Catholic school, and 3 of their FCPS peers.

I would like to understand why the number of white applicants to TJ has decreased each of the last 7 years. 1309 applied for class of 2015, 763 applied for class of 2021.

The white applicants don't consider TJ a beneficial high school experience. TJ is not the only choice - it isn't drilled into their head (deliberately or not) that they will be a failure if they don't get into TJ. In Asian cultures, people immigrate here to do well in math and/or science, which only means TJ, really. We are not going to come out and tell you this in person. In Asian cultures, TJ is expected. It might be out of ignorance, ironically.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have info on # applications vs. acceptances at TJ?

Nobody does. The unofficial list was just released a couple of days ago. It will be at least a couple months before the numbers are updated.

Anonymous wrote:TJ women who go to UVA, leave UVA as teachers.

As the mother of a TJ son, and bright, STEM loving TJ wanna be daughter, knock it off. Either say that TJ KIDS who go to UVA leave as teachers, or find a new insult. What --TJ boys become rocket scientist but girls become teachers? Seriously? Is this 1967? TJ KIDS become whatever they want.

Also, quit insulting teachers. My kids have had some amazing, smart, talented, energetic teachers. TJ kids could do worse than going on to become the next generation of people who spend all day, every day in the classroom with your kid. And goodness knows our schools could use them.

Anyone have info on # applications vs. acceptances at TJ?

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Anonymous wrote:TJ women who go to UVA, leave UVA as teachers.

Is there anything wrong with that?

There obviously isn't, but what they are saying is, its not necessarily a place for the ambitious trail-blazers of the world.

Maybe so, but my child just finished junior year at a NOVA high school. His physics and comp sci teachers were on the path to have "done better" until discovering how much they enjoy the classroom. I"m truly grateful to these two, for all they are giving my child. I have no idea where they went to high school, but they are sharp, smart, and superior teachers.

Yes there is that school should be for people with a passion for stem teachers are a dime a dozen and for below average individuals

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ women who go to UVA, leave UVA as teachers.

Is there anything wrong with that?

There obviously isn't, but what they are saying is, its not necessarily a place for the ambitious trail-blazers of the world.

Anonymous wrote:TJ women who go to UVA, leave UVA as teachers.

Is there anything wrong with that?

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Anonymous wrote:Looks similar to the data from my public HS in the Midwest. I'm not that impressed.

+1

I expected MUCH more impressive stats. Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately TJ is in decline. The new admissions procedure should help.

It is a new test, if I understand it correctly? So what will it change, exactly? I am not clear on this. Rote memorization will still rule the school. That is not a very appealing learning approach for most people. Not all smart kids (or adults) find value in learning to the test - which is what is diluting the reputation, by my understanding.

You wish. TJ has the best college acceptance results in the country except maybe one or two elite boarding schools with plenty of legacies and athletic recruits. Many TJ grads choose to attend lower ranked colleges in return for significant merit aid/scholarships or to attend guaranteed medical school programs.

You sound ignorant about TJ to paint as a "rote memorization" school. That happens at base schools not at TJ.

+100. &0% of the graduating class are discriminated in admission to top colleges so there is that going on. Top TJ grads do just fine and black TJ grads can go to practically any college they want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks similar to the data from my public HS in the Midwest. I'm not that impressed.

+1

I expected MUCH more impressive stats. Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately TJ is in decline. The new admissions procedure should help.

It is a new test, if I understand it correctly? So what will it change, exactly? I am not clear on this. Rote memorization will still rule the school. That is not a very appealing learning approach for most people. Not all smart kids (or adults) find value in learning to the test - which is what is diluting the reputation, by my understanding.

Your understanding would be incorrect. The work at TJ is very hands on, real world applicable. They were the initial project based learning lab for Fairfax County. Much less reliance on tests than in my child's middle school. In math, a significant portion of the grade is tests. In the other classes, the majority of the final grade is a combination of papers, presentations, labs and projects. Many projects are done in groups or teams. Nearly all classes have a major project that takes a quarter, semester or school year to complete. At all grades, kids take at least 2, and sometimes 3 block classes together, and many of the projects draw on learning from all 2-3 classes. TJ isn't hard because you memorize so much material. TJ is hard because you have to apply the material you learn at such a high level. So, even though finals are next week, my sophore can finally catch a break, because his orly finals are math, AP CS and the oral spoken foreign language section. Math needs studying. He's studying for oral PALs by watching Lord of the Rings in a foreign language this weekend (eye roll from me). AP CS final is an largely opening notes programming demonstration. His 3 class block of integrated Chemistry and Humanities final exam grade was the the year long integrated project he did and presented at the research symposium. So, I'm not sure what "test" you think he learned to.