Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I had a profoundly gifted child who wasn’t at FCPS due to military assignment of his father for grades 6 and 7. He has autism which FCPS doesn’t recognize as they call it “medical autism” not “educational autism” so he has a 504 not IEP which according to the new metric won’t get him an extra look. He tested well but cannot write. I think he would have tested into TJ but am not sure he will be picked under the new system. If he is, I am honestly not sure I want him there as it seems very discriminatory against minorities and those with disabilities which go against every way I have raised him. He loves life sciences but also history and English and doesn’t want to work hard. As a parent I want to keep his love of learning. Before we know the outcome, if you had a kid like mine what would you choose?
I would not send a non-Asian or non-white kid to TJ. I also would not send a kid with special needs to TJ. I would 1,000 % not send a non-white or non-Asian child with special needs to TJ. No! No! No!
So....the environment for special needs kids (to a point) has gotten better under the new administration. Glazer would basically tell you to sink or swim, and while the intractable director of student services is still there, the new principal is MUCH more accommodating from an attitudinal perspective.
As far as non-Asian or non-White.... I think it goes without saying that the environment for these students - while it is inarguably very poor now - will improve significantly as the numbers start to change. Folks on here will claim that students from underrepresented groups will get side-eyed because of some nonsense about "affirmative action" - but they already have been for decades even without representation policies in place and
that's part of why the climate is so poor. It's going to be a little bit chicken-and-egg - conditions for those kids won't get better until more of them decide to attend, and more won't decide to attend until conditions get better - but each individual who makes that choice to apply, accept their offer, and attend will make a huge difference.