Fairfax County School Board Policy 3355 established TJHSST as «a high school for science and technology where students with exceptional quantitative skills and interest in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, can
pursue higher levels of academic achievement in those subjects in preparation for the pursuit of a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics focused profession».
Safe and affirming environments have been shown to affect educational outcomes: LGBT students show lower
academic achievement than their counterparts as a result
of missing school to avoid harassment, being less likely to
pursue higher education, and reporting
higher levels of depression (Nieto 1992; GLSEN 2013).