Fairfax County Public Schools claimed 13 percent fewer National Merit semifinalists than last year because of a steep drop at powerhouse Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Rival Montgomery County boasted a modest increase of eight students, rising to 157.
In the District, School Without Walls produced one semifinalist.
Nearly 70 percent of Fairfax’s 189 semifinalists attend Thomas Jefferson, or “TJ,” a magnet consistently ranked as the top public high school in the nation.
In 2009, the school’s 149 semifinalists rocketed Fairfax’s total number to 219, a district record. The county’s total dropped by 30 in 2010, with a drop of 24 registered by Thomas Jefferson.
Fairfax schools spokesman Paul Regnier said there was no clear-cut cause for the drop. “Principals say that every once in a while we get a fifth grade class that’s really great, or a sophomore class of top performers,” Regnier said, adding that the school has often claimed the most semifinalists in the nation over the last 20 years. He was not yet aware if that was the case this year.
The next-best performing high school was Madison, where 12 students were named semifinalists, up from eight in 2009. Of Fairfax’s 26 high schools, 18 housed semifinalists.
Montgomery’s 157 semifinalists came from 16 of its 25 high schools, and several high-performing schools shared the wealth: Montgomery Blair topped the list with 40 students, followed by Richard Montgomery with 30 and Walt Whitman with 24.
A handful of lower-performing schools absent from last year’s data popped up: Blake, Albert Einstein, and Watkins Mill high schools each posted one semifinalist, while Springbrook’s three semifinalists built on last year’s one.
Montgomery schools spokesman Dana Tofig said that it was “gratifying” to see scores spread across county schools. “We want to see semifinalists at every school. We’re closer to that, but not there yet,” Tofig said.
Both Montgomery and Fairfax subsidize the $13 fee for its sophomore class to take the preliminary SAT (or PSAT), but not its junior class, who can elect out of the test. The top 1 percent of juniors on the PSAT are qualified to win scholarships from the National Merit corporation.
The National Merit corporation estimates that 90 percent of semifinalists will become finalists eligible for 8,400 scholarships worth $2,500, some open to all students, some available only to black or Hispanic students, and others given through colleges or corporations.
Finalists will be announced in the spring.
