TJ student moving (Arlington, Alexandria, Manassas: rental, neighborhood, public schools)

[thinkbig555]

Our kid is a TJ student, moving to Fairfax from Loudoun. Is any one been in this situation.
If you can share your experiences with the school will be greatly appreciated.

[spencgr]

How is he in TJ if you currently live in Loudoun?

[ChristineVA]

I would assume he applied as a Loudoun County resident and got in? TJ does accept from Loudoun, don't they?

[Fern435]

Email the TJ student admissions office and set up an appointment to stop in with documents that show you are changing your address from Loudoun County to Fairfax County. A rental agreement (or closing documents on a residence) and a utility bill should suffice, but definitely check with them first to see what documents they want as proof of residency. We did this several years ago when moving from one part of Fairfax County to another. Hope it is hassle-free for you.

[Muffy62]

Contact the admissions office and ask if your child's attendance to TJ will be affected by the move. I seem to recall we were told to check with the admissions office if we were planning to move to another county (we live in PWC) as it can affect TJ attendance. Since you are moving to Fairfax, it really shouldn't be a problem but you never know.

From the TJHSST regulation:
<<
B. Change of Address Within Cooperating School Divisions

1. All changes of address from the time of application through graduation must be reported to the student services office and the admissions office of TJHSST immediately upon change of address. If there is a change of address, a parent and/or legal guardian must complete a new Residency Verification form with the admissions office.

2. If a student and his or her parent(s) or legal guardian(s) change their domicile to a location in another cooperating school division, the parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) must verify with the admissions office that the cooperating school division’s percentage has not been exceeded for the student’s class at TJHSST before any change of domicile.

3. A student who changes his or her domicile to a cooperating school division that has exceeded its percentage for the student’s class at TJHSST may not continue to attend TJHSST. >>

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I would assume he applied as a Loudoun County resident and got in? TJ does accept from Loudoun, don't they?

I had no idea Loudoun students were allowed at TJ. If I were a Fairfax County parent whose child was denied admission, I'd be irate.

[Muffy62]

It is well-known that students from other counties in NoVA can attend TJ if their school system decided to participate.

TJ is a Governor's school operated by Fairfax county public schools. All students from the other counties pay FCPS $$$ to attend (which includes their share of the cost of TJ's renovation).

The following counties participate:

Arlington County
Fairfax County
Falls Church City
Loudoun County
Prince William County

While Fauquier, Alexandria, Manassas and Manassas Park chose not to participate so their students can't apply for admissions to TJ.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by spencgr

I had no idea Loudoun students were allowed at TJ. If I were a Fairfax County parent whose child was denied admission, I'd be irate.

Why? It's a state Governor's school and Loudoun helps pay for it, although FCPS operates it. About 20-25% of the students live outside Fairfax County. The only people in Fairfax who reasonably could be irate are those who lost their neighborhood school when FCPS decided to convert it to a magnet, but that happened decades ago.

[mdcrim]

Loudoun pays a TON of money to send kids to TJ. The per kid rate is crazy. I know there have been talks to pull out of TJ and establish a Loudoun based similar school but I don't know the details.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by mdcrim

Loudoun pays a TON of money to send kids to TJ. The per kid rate is crazy. I know there have been talks to pull out of TJ and establish a Loudoun based similar school but I don't know the details.

The Academies of Loudoun is in the works.

Not only does Loudoun pay more per pupil for its TJ students than it spends on its other students ($14,000, vs. $11K-something), but Loudoun will pay $16K per new student starting next year to help pay for TJ's renovation costs. (article) Also, Loudoun spends another $2K per TJ student on transportation, which is one of the items on the chopping block during the current ridiculous budget reconciliation process.