![]() ![]() She was only vaguely aware that the seemingly simple change in the admissions process was actually a big step in a pitched battle over whether, and how, to change what made Thomas Jefferson seem so far away for many students like her. When she found out that, for the first time in the school’s history, the standardized test had been canceled and the written exam moved back, she didn’t think much of it-just more time to study. Because I want the challenge of actually applying.” “I would regret it if I didn’t apply,” Nadiyah says. A life-changing education sat just a bus ride away. The school’s hyper-selectivity has also created a small cottage industry of test prep centers designed to train kids to tackle Thomas Jefferson’s admission exam, in the same way they’d prepare to ace the SAT.īut despite how imposing the school seemed, Nadiyah’s mother encouraged her. The school district has a complex pipeline structure leading to TJ, where top students test into an advanced and exclusive “gifted” path as early as the second grade. The pressure to attend the school in Fairfax can be immense, as the school’s best-in-country ranking is a selling point for real estate in the entire county. A typical freshman class has a little under 500 students, but TJ regularly has an admissions rate lower than all but the most selective colleges (19 percent the year Nadiyah was eligible to apply, just 2 points higher than nearby Georgetown University). As famous as the Alexandria school is for its education, it’s equally infamous for being really hard to get into. “Within our school district, there’s not a lot of resources to get to TJ,” Nadiyah says. Even when Nadiyah learned that as a magnet school, it was designed to accept students like her from other nearby districts, the fact that no one at her school guided her toward applying for “TJ”-the shorthand used by many within its reach-was discouraging. She took first place in her school’s science fair with a medical science project that included a home-built bacteria incubator.īut Thomas Jefferson, legendary for being the first high school to host a supercomputer and for feats like launching an actual satellite into space, still felt a world away. For middle school, she applied to an advanced school in the sciences, and joined a program that taught her how to rebuild computers, giving them away for free. In fourth and fifth grade, she joined her robotics club. Naturally brilliant, she started attending STEM specialty programs in the summer. All through elementary school, she wanted to do the same sort of hands-on work in her classes. “I would watch my dad in the garage, fixing his car, or adding things to it to make it more powerful,” she says. ![]() The daughter of a mechanic, in her earliest years she’d sit nearby as her father tinkered with his tools. But as a student in nearby Prince William County school district-whose top school is ranked lower than the top 10 Fairfax County schools-she had no reason to think she might one day attend the selective institution.Įven so, Nadiyah, 14, loved studying science. News & World Report, was about as famous as a high school can get. The Fairfax County Public school, ranked No. The VMT allows multiple technicians to work together and helps to reinforced cockpit spatial awareness.Nadiyah Williams had heard of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. You can save time, and money while enhancing the overall safety of your operation. These tools are user-friendly, engage your employees, and motivate them to learn. ![]()
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