Applying to Thomas Jefferson HS

Thomas Jefferson High School is a regional governor’s school that is located in Alexandria, VA – and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools. All students need to apply in order to attend TJ. Courses taught at TJ are all taught on honors, AP, or post-AP level. While TJ is best known for offering advanced academic opportunities in STEM subject areas, it is still a complete high school - and offers electives, fine arts, world languages, sports and clubs.

Because Prince William County is a participating jurisdiction, students attending Rippon Middle School are eligible to apply IF THEY MEET THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.

The application process for TJ is independent of PWCS High School Specialty Programs, and operates according to its own timeline set by Fairfax County Public Schools.

The application for Thomas Jefferson High School will become available on Monday, October 21st at 4:00PM.

- Students must be in the 8th grade

- Students must be taking at least Honors Algebra I or higher level Math class

(Rippon Students taking Advanced Algebra I and Geometry meet the requirement)

- Students must be taking an Honors* Science class

(*For PWCS, we get a division wide waiver for the honors science since our schools don’t offer such a course.)

- ** Students must be taking one additional Honors class. **

(For Rippon students, this would be Extended Language Arts)

-Unweighted GPA of 3.5 or higher in order to be eligible to apply. GPA is calculated using 7th Grade final marks (report card grades) and 1st Quarter 8th grade marks in Math, Science, English, and Social Studies). World Languages are also considered if taken for HS credit.

1. Please keep in mind that applications must be started by the STUDENT, where in they will enter a parent/guardian e-mail address.

2. Parents will then be invited to create their paired parent account.

3. Once that piece is complete, I (the Liaison counselor) will need to verify your student’s math placement. I ask that you please give me 24-48 hours to complete this process.

4. Once that has been done, you will be notified that you can log back in and complete the application.

There is currently no application fee to apply to TJ.

Eligibility: All Rippon students must be taking either Advanced Algebra I or Advanced Geometry, AND also be in Extended Language Arts in order to be eligible to apply.

Students who receive Free/Reduced Meals: Parents must submit the verification of their FRM form through their online application portal. This is confidential information that I am unable to access as the TJHSST Liaison counselor. Please keep in mind that this is a document that is used when verifying experience factors as part of the holistic application process.

The application process must be STARTED by the student. The student will enter a parent e-mail address. The parent must then click on the link they receive in their email to create their parent portal.

Because I will need time to verify all student's math placement as part of the application process:

NO NEW APPLICATIONS MAY BE STARTED AFTER 4:00PM on Wed, November 13th!!!

Once students have completed the online application, they will enter the next phase of the application process.

If your GPA was found to have fallen below the 3.5 for eligibility, you will be notified on December 11th.

If you are fully eligible, students will then be asked to complete a student essay and their student portrait sheet on Saturday, February 8th.

This will take place in a proctored setting In-Person at a location within Prince William County.

The Review process will begin in March, and Final Decisions will be released no later than April 30th.

Each public school within Fairfax County and each cooperating school division will be presumptively allocated a number of seats equal to 1.5% of that school’s 8th grade student population (“Allocated Seats”).

All remaining public school applicants and applicants who do not attend public school in Fairfax County or in a cooperating division will be considered for the Unallocated Seats, which will be offered to the highest evaluated applicants in that group.

Student will be notified of one of three acceptance decisions by the end of April:

-Offered Admission

-Placed on the Waitlist

-Not offered admission

TJ Admission Office Contact Information:

Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Phone: 571-423-3770

Fax: 571-423-3777

Email: tjadmissions@fcps.edu

Rippon Liaison Counselor: Mr. Davison

E-Mail Address: davisojj@pwcs.edu