Thomas Jefferson High School (Alexandria, Fairfax: home, middle schools, live in)

[DCNY]

Dose anyone know the zip code you have to be in for Thomas Jefferson High School?

And what will be the Elementary and Middle Schools for the same zip code ?

Thanks!

[Yankeesfan]

It's not geographically based, there's an admissions process to get in. It's highly selective:

TJHSST Admissions - Main

[Doppelganger69]

To be more specific, eligibility is not exclusively geographical, but there is a geographical component: TJHSST Admissions - Eligibility.

[Denton56]

You can live anywhere in NOVA. If you go to this webpage, scroll to the bottom, you can download the data for the most recent class admitted to TJ. FCPS - News Releases You will then see how competitive it is.

BTW, it's a great school, for the right kid, one who really wants to take advanced math, science, and computer science. If your child's dream has always been to take AP physics as soon as possible, and to be on a real math team, or highly competitive physics team or computer team, then TJ is the place for your child.

[DCNY]

Thank You All!

[cardinal2007]

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
6560 Braddock Rd
Alexandria, VA 22312

The school is old, and it seems that the county has decided to overcrowd it, even though they can specifically decide how many students attend.

Admissions are done for the freshmen class for the following year in the student's 8th grade, there is an application to fill out, with an application fee of $90. Then there is a 4 hr examination in December.
If they pass that phase then students have to fill out more forms, and submit teacher recommendations. It used to be that only 800 students made it to the second phase, out of the 2800 or so that apply, but I'm not certain of that anymore, then from those they decide to admit about 490 students, expecting only a very small handful not to go to TJ. I applied in 1995/96, the process was much the same, but only 2500 students applied, and only 400 were admitted then.

Since then it seems they have decided to grow the size of the student body by 21% without increasing the physical size of the school, only adding more trailers. I really think that deteriorates part of the experience there. But since a lot of people complain when any money goes to the school for anything other than teaching, claiming that the school get preferential treatment, I doubt that will change anytime soon.

[Muffy62]

I assume you are from NY so TJ is very similar to NYC's Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech and Bronx Science. There is a test they have to take and if selected to continue then the student has to get recommendations etc.

For the class of 2013, they had 2,953 applicants and accepted 480. They do require that the 8th grader is taking Algebra when they apply. It is an advantage to be taking Geometry and higher math courses as 1,841 Algebra 1 students applied -- they only accepted 83 of them. For those with Geometry, 1,048 applied -- they accepted 354. And for those with classes higher than Geometry, 64 applied -- they accepted 43.

TJ's building is old and scheduled to be renovated in the next few years (2012 I believe). The parents/boosters are VERY active and the amount of money raised to help out the school is considerable. TJ doesn't get preferential treatment but it just seems that way. If they received preferential treatment, they should have been renovated a long time ago! It is not the building that makes this school great, it is the student body!

[car54]

Originally Posted by Muffy62

....TJ doesn't get preferential treatment but it just seems that way.

It more than "seems" that way. In order to save fuel and slash bus driver pay by up to 25 percent, FCPS has significantly reduced transportation. Many regular high school students will be walking a LOT farther to their bus stops this year.

TJ transportation was untouched....

[Denton56]

So the TJ kids still have to get up early to get to the local bus stop by 6:00-6:30am, then transported to the local high school, and wait 45 minutes for a second bus to take them to school by 8:30. After school they are transported back to their regular school where they can find their own way home. Yeah, TJ kids have it easy.

[Muffy62]

TJ is also a governor's school that is located in Fairfax county. I don't know if there is any monetary benefit to it being located in Fairfax (other than the prestige factor) but if Fairfax doesn't want to spend the money for it, other counties would welcome it in their county. TJ runs from 8:30 to 3:50 everyday and some of the students don't get home until 7 PM. For our county, we were told it was a safety issue regarding the bus service as some of the students live in areas with no sidewalks/busy traffic etc.