Asian students for the first time this year took more than half of the coveted spots at the Washington region’s top public high school, maintaining a stunning trajectory of academic success.
In the past five years, the ranks of Asian students have risen to 54 percent of admitted students at Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, commonly called TJ. That’s up from 32 percent five years ago and 45 percent last year.
Those familiar with the region’s Asian community — comprising Indians, Chinese, Koreans and others — attribute the ascendancy to an immigrant work ethic combined with cultures that value education above nearly all else.
“Many Asian families will do whatever they can to support their children’s education,” said Fairfax school board member Ilryong Moon. “They will garner any and all financial resources.”
Each year, between 2,500 and 3,000 students, most of whom live in Fairfax County, apply for about 480 seats at Thomas Jefferson, deemed the nation’s best high school last year by U.S. News and World Report. As the number of Asian students has grown, the number of white students has fallen to about 36 percent of the class of 2013, down from 53 percent for the class of 2009.
Asian families “have thrived,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova, who is co-organizing a countywide history project designed to collect the stories of Asian immigrants. “And many have an extremely strong culture of education that they have brought with them, and that has been a wonderful example for all of our students.”
The percentage of black and Hispanic students has dropped, from 6 percent for the class of 2009 to 3 percent for the current year. About 6 percent of TJ’s admitted students labeled themselves multiracial.
Matthew Lee, a Fairfax County middle school counselor who runs Best Academy tutoring company, said the district — and TJ — has earned a reputation as far away as his parents’ native Korea.
“A lot of parents move to Northern Virginia because they’ve heard of the education systems,” he said.
In 15 years, his “TJ Prep” program for middle-schoolers has grown from one small class to four sessions that serve about 50 students, most of them Asian. Lee’s competition has sprouted, too, with newspaper ads, often in Asian publications, and on signs along the region’s major thoroughfares..
“It’s because TJ is so well known,” Lee said. “The school is a true magnet.”
