Thomas Jefferson High: America's Best Public High School

December 23, 10:32 AMDC Metro Area Parenting ExaminerMichelle Flannigan

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Thinking about private school for your teenagers? Think twice. According to a US News study, Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School  is the best public high school in America.

The report, published earlier this month, notes that 100 percent of Thomas Jefferson High School (TJ) seniors take at least one AP class, and all of them score at least a three on at least one AP exam. That means that every single senior graduates with college credit. But it gets better.

The average TJ student takes seven AP exams. The school's overall AP pass rate (or score of at least a three) is 98 percent.

Who are these kids?

They are your neighbors, most likely. All of TJ's 1,800 students live in the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William. They take a test during their 8th grade year that is designed to ferret out the region's best and brightest science and technology middle schoolers.

Those who ace the test start their freshman year at the nation's best magnet school for science and technology. Scratch that--the best magnet school. No, that doesn't quite cover it. The best public school. Period.