Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and
Technology (also known as TJHSST, TJ, or Jefferson)
is a Virginia state-chartered magnet school
in Fairfax County, Virginia.
It is a regional high school operated by Fairfax
County Public Schools.
As a publicly funded and administered high
school with a selective admission process,
it is often compared with notable public magnet
schools, although it discontinued non-application
based admission after the class of 1988.
Attendance at the school is open to students
in six local jurisdictions based on an admissions
test, prior academic achievement, recommendations,
and essays.
The selective admissions program was initiated
in 1985 through the cooperation of state and
county governments, as well as corporate sponsorship
from the defense and technology industries.
The school occupies the building of the previous
Thomas Jefferson High School (constructed
in 1965).
It is one of 18 Virginia Governor's Schools,
and a founding member of the National Consortium
for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics,
Science and Technology.
In 2016, the school placed first in Newsweek's
annual "America's Top High Schools" rankings
for the third consecutive year and fifth in
US News & World Report's 2016 High School
Rankings.
== Students ==
In 2015 and in 2016 the ratio of acceptances
to applications was 17 and 17.9%, Students
of Asian origin constitute around 60%–70%
of the student population in 2013–14 and
also in 2016–2017.
The ethnic demographics of the students in
the class of 2018-2019 is about 21.8% white,
74% Asian, 1.7% black, and 2.6% Hispanic.
Hispanic and Black students make up less than
four percent of student body, while the same
groups constitute about thirty percent of
the student population in the area.In 2012,
a civil rights complaint against the school
was filed with the U.S. Department of Education
Office of Civil Rights by Coalition of the
Silence, an advocacy group led by former county
School Board member Tina Hone, and the Fairfax
chapter of the NAACP.
In response, the Office of Civil Rights, in
September 2012, opened an investigation.The
school is part of the Fairfax County Public
Schools system of Fairfax County, Virginia.
Students from Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun,
and Prince William counties and from the City
of Falls Church are also eligible for admission.
== Awards and distinctions ==
In 2016, the school placed first in Newsweek's
annual "America's Top High Schools" rankings
for the third consecutive year.
Previously, it ranked 8th in the 2013 rankings
and 10th in the 2012 rankings, the first year
it was included.
It was ranked No. 1 among "America's Best
High Schools" in a study by U.S. News and
World Report from 2007 to 2010.
In the same rankings, it placed fifth in 2016,
third in 2015, fourth in 2014 and 2013, and
second in 2012 and 2011.
The average SAT scores for various graduating
classes has consistently been above 2150.In
2007, the school had 14 Intel Science Talent
Search Semifinalists., 15 in 2009 and 13 in
2010.In 2007, for schools with more than 800
students in grades 10–12, TJ was cited as
having the highest-performing AP Calculus
BC, AP Chemistry, AP French Language, AP Government
and Politics, U.S., and AP U.S. History courses
among all schools worldwide.
In 2014, 3864 AP Exams were taken by students;
over 97% earned a score of 3, 4, or 5.
President Barack Obama signed the America
Invents Act into law on September 16, 2011
at the school.
The law was made to reform U.S. patent laws.
=== Renovation ===
The school underwent renovation, completed
in April 2017, for a cost of about $89 million,
including $67.4 million for construction,
plus other costs related to permits, design
fees, utilities and equipment.
A replica of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
dome graces the school’s entrance, colloquially
known as "The Dome" by students and staff.
The renovation overhauled the school's aging
facilities, many of which had not been updated
since it was built in 1964.
== Notable alumni ==
== 
Activities ==
=== TJ3Sat project ===
The Systems Engineering Course designed and
built a CubeSat which was launched on November
19, 2013 from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Orbital Sciences Corporation donated the CubeSat
Kit to the school on December 6, 2006 and
provided the launch for the satellite.
After a successful launch at 8:15PM, TJ3SAT
became the first satellite launched into space
that was built by high school students.
The launched satellite contained a 4-watt
transmitter operating on amateur radio frequencies,
and a text-to-speech module to allow it to
broadcast ASCII-encoded messages sent to it
from Jefferson.
=== Computer Systems Lab ===
The school's computer systems lab is one of
the few high school computing facilities with
a supercomputer.
In 1988, a team from the school won an ETA-10P
supercomputer in the SuperQuest competition,
a national science competition for high school
students.
The ETA-10P was damaged by a roof leak in
the 1990s.
Cray Inc. donated a new SV1 supercomputer,
known as Seymour, to the school on December
4, 2002.The lab also supported a number of
Sun Microsystems thin clients for use by students
enrolled in AP Computer Science.
In 2008, the school received a grant from
Sun Microsystems for $388,048, which was student-written.
The Syslab was given 7 Sun workstations, 12
Sun servers, and 145 Sun Rays for distribution
throughout the school.
These were placed in the existing AP Computer
Science Lab and the science classrooms, support
backend services, and serve as kiosks placed
around the school for guests, students, and
faculty.
However, the Sun Rays were taken out of the
AP Computer Science Lab due to teachers' objections.
By 2014, the Sun Ray clients were decommissioned,
and replaced with Linux-based thin clients
running LTSP.
=== Arts ===
In 1997, 2000, 2013, and 2017, the wind ensemble
of the school was among fifteen high-school
bands invited to the Music for All National
Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis
