‘‘TJ IS IN THE NEWS AGAIN,” a friend texted me. What would it be this time, I wondered. Winning the national Rubik’s Cube competition? Launching a satellite into space?
No, this time my high school alma mater had made headlines because of a cheating scandal — cheating not by the students, but the administrators.
School officials had admitted to concealing students’ National Merit awards from them, with the laughable excuse that they didn’t want to “hurt” the other students’ feelings. Parents were understandably outraged, as it is the school’s responsibility to notify families of these awards — ideally before college application deadlines.
More schools were duly implicated in the same deceptive practice. I didn’t follow the story closely. I didn’t want to face more evidence that the grievance complex had marched another mile on its campaign to tear down the unique institution that had fostered my early intellectual life.
I know of no other school recognised it as the best high school in the country, and it continues to rank number one. Its combination of advanced and research-heavy coursework aims to fulfil the lofty purpose laid out in its official name: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
