We are excited to announce that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was recently awarded the Highest Achievement Exemplar Award by the Virginia Board of Education! This award is given out to schools that meet the following criteria:

• The school must be Accredited (includes triennial waivers).
• The school meets state benchmark in reading, math and science (75 percent for reading and 70 percent for math and science) based on the current year pass rate on state assessments (not including growth or English Learner progress);
• All student groups within the school meet state benchmarks in reading and math (75 percent for reading and 70 percent for math) based on the current year pass rate on state assessments (not including growth or English Learner progress), and
• For schools with two student groups, there is no more than five percentage points between the lowest performing group and all other students in the school; or
• For schools with three or more student groups, there is no more than ten percentage points between the lowest performing group and all other students in the school.
• School demonstrates a current year chronic absenteeism rate of 15 percent or lower.

For schools with a graduating class, two additional criteria apply:

• School demonstrates a current year Graduation and Completion Index of 88 points or higher; and
• School demonstrates a current year dropout rate of six percent or lower.

TJHSST is one of only 37 schools in the state of Virginia to earn this prestigious honor.