Thomas Jefferson High

Thomas Jefferson High is one of the cozy secondary schools in Richmond, Virginia, run under Richmond City Public Schools, with 749 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Virginia's public schools average about 1,213 students each, so Thomas Jefferson High sits 38% leaner than that benchmark.

Across the 47 schools in Richmond City Public Schools (20,962 students total), Thomas Jefferson High accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Thomas Jefferson High logs that Black students make up the majority at 64%. Beyond that, the school lists 23% White, 8% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. By comparison, Richmond city as a whole is about 41% Black, so the school skews considerably more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Thomas Jefferson High has 63 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.9:1, putting Thomas Jefferson High tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 78% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is south of Richmond city's rate of about 99%.

After controlling for student poverty, Thomas Jefferson High performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 66.8%, the actual is 67.5%, a residual of +0.7 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Richmond city) logs that the typical household earns roughly $64,587 per year, roughly 46% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 12%. Across Richmond city's 61 public schools (combined enrollment of about 20,253 students), Thomas Jefferson High is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Albert Hill Middle, around 0.7 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Thomas Jefferson High at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 59.6%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count changed only slightly: 734 students in 2018 compared to 749 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 69% to 64% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 16.1:1 in 2018 to 11.8:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.