Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will pry FCPS’s systemic racism from its cold, dead hand.

So long as white moms roam the county, yes.

Did you fall asleep 30 years ago? It’s test-prep Asians who want to keep TJ as it is with no changes.

Ha ha! The intensity of the TJ program right now (thanks to 30 years on "prep Asians") is so high that most of the soccer/football/basketball kids and their parents would get bent over and run back to base school before the end of the first week. Be careful what you wish for.

yup it's how it is in most asian countries go to school and then go to test prep/hw camp to get into the elite colleges

it's sad we have let that culture permeate which was once an actual STEM magnet to now being populated by people who have been prepping since elementary school

What's sadder is that the TJ teachers are now so punch-drunk on power that they refuse to tone down their curriculum. The new principal was supposedly brought in to bring some level of homework normalcy to the school. Didn't work out. She's now implementing programs that encourage the students not to focus on grades! WTF!.

We have a kid at TJ and there's no way I'm sending my second there. Terrible school/life balance. It's almost like we sent a kid to boarding school except that the kid still lives with us and we do a lot more driving around than we would have otherwise.. and to what end? And yeah, we tried to get him back to base over the course of the past 2-3 years but to no avail...

I think a change along these lines (top 10% of the kids go to TJ) would work but will take a while to pan out.. Either the school will change its approach to teaching and have a more diverse population or the lower SES asian parents will just move to the appropriate school districts to make sure their kids get in..

This makes no sense.

First, “punch drunk on power” and refuse to tone down curriculum? Yes, the school as a whole— not power hungry teachers— refuses to make the curriculum easier. That’s because the kids are there for the rigorous curriculum. The whole point is to be rigorous.

And you seemed to have miss the challenge success meetings. The school is in the process of 1. “Decoupling workload and rigor”— trying to keep the same level or rigor while curbing out busy work and projects that take a lot of time but don’t have a proportional “bang”. They are trying to decrease homework without decreasing rigor. And 2. Encouraging students to focus less on grades and more on learning. I’m. It sure it will happen. But they are just starting. Nothing has failed yet.

You tried to get your kid back to base over 2-3 years to no avail? That’s BS. If you are the parents, it’s your absolute right to move your kid, and 60 or so do each year. TJ clearly is a bad for you. You hate it. So leave. No one is holding your kid hostage.

TJ is the best in the country at what it does. There are many other options if you want a more normal HS experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will pry FCPS’s systemic racism from its cold, dead hand.

FCPS and TJ do loads of outreach and FCPS has the Young Scholars program. You can't blame everything on the school system.

Something is messed up with TJ and the demographics in particular FARMS.

Sadly it’s right on point. All elite academic institutions are trying to recruit FARMs. The ones that actually give them a numb have high FARMs dropout rates. Educational achievement takes investment at home. Time and Money. An UMC family has a lot more of both. The kids aren’t competitive for HS because they started K behind and fell further behind each year, despite all sorts of interventions. The achievement gap seems to be the toughest problem in education.

Anonymous wrote:I have some time at hand so i’ll share something I heard from my TJ DC. Recently a teacher asked why they came to TJ. Of a class of about 30 kids only two said the only reason they were at TJ was their parents made them. The rest of the class listed other reasons. Presumably some might not be 100 percent honest I still find this interesting and contrary to many believed, that going to TJ is solely plotted and pushed by parents.

I think you are a bit literal. Presumably even kids who have been pushed and prodded understand that it is better to suggest they exercise some agency.

I have some time at hand so i’ll share something I heard from my TJ DC. Recently a teacher asked why they came to TJ. Of a class of about 30 kids only two said the only reason they were at TJ was their parents made them. The rest of the class listed other reasons. Presumably some might not be 100 percent honest I still find this interesting and contrary to many believed, that going to TJ is solely plotted and pushed by parents.

Anonymous wrote:Let TJ be TJ! Just because your kid didn’t get in or didn’t like it, or you heard some rumors or lies, doesn’t mean it has to be tailored to everyone’s needs and wants. We should support those self motivated, independent and highly intelligent kids as well as those who have learning difficulties. Please don’t turn it into a mediocre school like those watered down AAP! My kid and a bunch of kids I know were bored to death at AAP and now they are thriving at TJ!

I would if I thought that TJ was serving self motivated kids. I think there are a good number of self motivated kids and I think that a large number of the kids are there because that is what Mom and Dad want for them. They have been attending math tutoring/enrichment programs since pre-K and I don’t buy for a second tht a 4 or 5 year old really wants to go to math class twice a week and do a worksheet or some type of home work 7 days a week.

There are going to be kids who decide that they are interested in STEM late in elementary school or in middle school and they have no way of getting the necessary classes or grades to be considered for TJ. They are smart and developing their interest on their own. Their parents have not forced them to do hours of extra math prep and STEM classes. In the end, that is the main difference.

TJ then is more about parents who plot out their kids course at the age of 4 and not a large number of self motivated, intelligent, STEM loving kids. Is that a good thing? I don’t know if it is a bad thing but I do know that TJ is no longer for the bright kid who figures out at 10 or 11 that they would like to complete a STEM education and I am not certain that is a god thing.

The good news is that plenty of kids get a great education through AP and IB classes. Those kids are just as likely to go on and do some cool things in STEM as a TJ Grad.

I went to a TJ science day thing a few months ago with my kids. Most of the female students were friendly, helpful, encouraging, etc. Almost every single male TJ kid I encountered was a pompous jerk. And there were definitely moments where I witnessed pretty sexist behavior from the boys. It really turned me off to the school. I walked away not wanting my daughter or son to go there or even hang out with kids like those male students. I’m sure not all the kids who go there are like this but there were enough that day to turn me off to the school.

Anonymous wrote:Let TJ be TJ! Just because your kid didn’t get in or didn’t like it, or you heard some rumors or lies, doesn’t mean it has to be tailored to everyone’s needs and wants. We should support those self motivated, independent and highly intelligent kids as well as those who have learning difficulties. Please don’t turn it into a mediocre school like those watered down AAP! My kid and a bunch of kids I know were bored to death at AAP and now they are thriving at TJ!

TJ was never intended to be the next level of AAP. It is supposedly for kids passionate about science.

Let TJ be TJ! Just because your kid didn’t get in or didn’t like it, or you heard some rumors or lies, doesn’t mean it has to be tailored to everyone’s needs and wants. We should support those self motivated, independent and highly intelligent kids as well as those who have learning difficulties. Please don’t turn it into a mediocre school like those watered down AAP! My kid and a bunch of kids I know were bored to death at AAP and now they are thriving at TJ!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
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Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

LOL!

And... where exactly are these parents going to go?

Too funny pp!

LCPS to AOS and AET. MCPs to RMIB and Blair. Basis. Someone will give these kids the STEM education they want.

There are articles interviewing Amazon and they chose NOVA despite the high COL because of its “STEM pipeline” AAP to TJ to VT. Although VT is having issues. And VA pledged a billion dollars towards STEM education to get Amazon. Not a billion dollars in infrastructure. A billion dollars in education. TJ has a big impact on regional economic success and VA’s quest to become less dependent on the federal government. You may not like it. You may laugh. But it’s true.

It’s a governors school. Ultimately, this goes through Richmond, not the SM. Every year the Eastern County Rep bring this up because they hate the imbalance between the Carson RRMs admit numbers and Eastern country admission numbers. And every year it does in committee with the Eastern County Rep being the only vote for.

From the outside looking in, messing with TJs success in the wake of Amazon is insane. It’s meant to be 100% merit based. It is not meant to be Harvard. It’s meant to be MiT. You could change its mission, but then you get a mediocre school.

And yes. TJ moves heaven and Earth to get qualified URMs and low SES to apply. If you fit these categories, you can do a two year MS program with mentoring and summer institute and TJ and TJ prepping classes and access to things like robotics teams to prepare you. Paid for by the Jack Kent Cook Foundation. It has not moved the needle.

If FCPS wanted better representation, they pull IB out of the Eastern County HSs and make them more attractive places to send smart kids. People commuting would love to live in Annandale or Alexandria vs Herndon.

But if this did come to pass, yes. Parents would rent an apartment their kids 8th grade year. Pick the least competitive HS, and tutor their kids like heck. It would make it easier, not harder, to game the system.

I went to MIT and it's not MIT. Even MIT considers more heavily accomplishments and background than test scores and grades. They emphasize diversity above all else and institute programs to prepare inner city kids or kids from very rural backgrounds in advance of starting at MIT. I don't like TJ and don't encourage my child to apply.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

My sister lives in TX where the top 10% of every high school class gets in to UT. She has friends who moved into a less desirable school district and supplemented their children's education with tutoring in order to get them into UT.

I grew up in Texas, where there are some top public school districts. Your sister made a dumb choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

My sister lives in TX where the top 10% of every high school class gets in to UT. She has friends who moved into a less desirable school district and supplemented their children's education with tutoring in order to get them into UT.

I think it has now moved to top 6% due to space limitations. The state passed the legislation after the university lost an affirmative action decision on admissions.

Also to be clear, it's a UT system school. You aren't guaranteed Austin, fwiw.

Anonymous wrote:I hate the long quotes so I am not quoting.

Thanks to the Teacher PP. I appreciate your insight. And the parent who responded as well. Those are different insights then we normally see in this conversation and I appreciate them.

In the end, TJ is a program that requires a different type os student and mindset then most schools. While you have to be very smart to attend TJ and complete the course work you also have to be very committed to a more intense program.

I'm the teacher who posted. I think it's such an interesting situation. You have a lot of people deeply invested in how the system works because they have put a lot of time, resources, energy into working the system.

What's also interesting is that in other parts of the county, TJ isn't viewed favorably. In my first school, I really think parents and students both wanted very little to do with TJ. It wasn't that they couldn't hack it (honestly the kids from school 1 and school 3 are fairly interchangeable when you take away the extras the kids in school 3 take on. I do wonder what would happen if TJ spots were divided equally among the middle schools. I think the big thing is that a lot of the insanity would come to an end. I hear from kids I taught and their parents and the uniform theme is that the expectations at TJ are increasingly unreasonable. I get a lot of complaints about math instruction and sometimes a few parents will get mad at me that my class didn't prepare their kids for the leap TJ required. The issue is that I really have no connection to the TJ math sequence. I don't know much about how it's structured. I teach Alg. and Geo. and the standards I use are basically what the county and state require. Our classes are not structured to be a bridge to TJ even though this school places a fairly large number of kids there.

From what I can tell, I think the big problem some kids run into at TJ is that the middle school math sequence -- even accelerated -- does not map to the TJ math sequence. What I've seen kids do is basically supplement outside and prepare during 8th grade and even 7th. I wonder if this is a good use of time, but I guess it is if making through TJ with good grades is important.

Now, I also know of kids who thrive. So, it's not an all or nothing. I think that's why it's so hard to grapple with issues at TJ. Yes, it's a great program. But could it be better? And what is better? More equity? More diversity? Better transition from middle school math to TJ math (a common complaint). Something else?

I think if people are serious about improving TJ, these are the types of questions that need to be answered. We don't need to do the endless ... well these are the smartest, hard working kids so we know it's a good program. We should be thinking about how we can serve these bright STEM students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pat Hynes
@VotePatHynes
·
Mar 20
Does sound like TJ. DiBlasio’s proposed solution for NY is to admit the top students from every middle school - geographic equality as a stand-in for equity. Might work. Look at SF’s experience with Lowell HS - geography-plus. FCPS will begin TJ reform plan this year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Has anyone been following this?

No, but this is a terrible idea. It came up a few years ago and a bunch of parents said outright that they'll simply rent in less-desirable school middle school boundaries to increase their kids' chances if FCPS goes this route. FCPS is loathe to admit it, but they're well-aware that the county has a vested interest in not losing the TJ and AAP parents. I think they'll talk a big game but never follow through.

My sister lives in TX where the top 10% of every high school class gets in to UT. She has friends who moved into a less desirable school district and supplemented their children's education with tutoring in order to get them into UT.

I think it has now moved to top 6% due to space limitations. The state passed the legislation after the university lost an affirmative action decision on admissions.

I support doing something about TJ. Maybe this, maybe something else. Improve the school for everyone there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You will pry FCPS’s systemic racism from its cold, dead hand.

So long as white moms roam the county, yes.

Did you fall asleep 30 years ago? It’s test-prep Asians who want to keep TJ as it is with no changes.

Ha ha! The intensity of the TJ program right now (thanks to 30 years on "prep Asians") is so high that most of the soccer/football/basketball kids and their parents would get bent over and run back to base school before the end of the first week. Be careful what you wish for.

yup it's how it is in most asian countries go to school and then go to test prep/hw camp to get into the elite colleges

it's sad we have let that culture permeate which was once an actual STEM magnet to now being populated by people who have been prepping since elementary school

What's sadder is that the TJ teachers are now so punch-drunk on power that they refuse to tone down their curriculum. The new principal was supposedly brought in to bring some level of homework normalcy to the school. Didn't work out. She's now implementing programs that encourage the students not to focus on grades! WTF!.

We have a kid at TJ and there's no way I'm sending my second there. Terrible school/life balance. It's almost like we sent a kid to boarding school except that the kid still lives with us and we do a lot more driving around than we would have otherwise.. and to what end? And yeah, we tried to get him back to base over the course of the past 2-3 years but to no avail...

I think a change along these lines (top 10% of the kids go to TJ) would work but will take a while to pan out.. Either the school will change its approach to teaching and have a more diverse population or the lower SES asian parents will just move to the appropriate school districts to make sure their kids get in..