Thomas A. Edison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)

Thomas Alva Edison High School is one of twenty-five high schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Thomas Edison is an International Baccalaureate school. Edison High School has traditionally been a relatively small public high school in terms of the size of its student population. It has a culturally and ethnically diverse student body. Its student body and graduating classes in the mid- and late 1990s and early 2000s included students of Australian, Korean, Eritrean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Cambodian, Polish, Italian, Mexican, Colombian, Ghanaian, Cameroonian, and Pakistani ancestries or nationalities. The diverse religious backgrounds of the students ranged from as some examples from Christians to Buddhists, Muslim, Jews, etc. The school's diversity clearly reflected the massive influx of immigrants to the Northern Virginia region generally.

In the 1990s, the school's debate and forensics teams gained widespread and even national recognition for their achievements in those fields. Its academic team has appeared on the local television quizbowl game show "It's Academic", which is broadcast by the local Washington, DC PBS affiliate station & substation, WETA PBS(main)& WETA METRO(substation).

Edison's graduates have typically moved on to attend local and state colleges and universities such as Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Northern Virginia Community College. Prominent graduates of the school have included Eric Barton, a professional American football player with the National Football League.

In both 1996 and 1997 Edison's theater club won second place and then first place and the regional level of the VHSL one-act play festival.

Demographics
Presented below are some demographics for Thomas Edison during the 2021-22 school year:

Test scores
Edison High School is a fully accredited high school based on the Standards of Learning tests in Virginia. The average SAT score in 2006 for Edison was a 1494 (502 in Critical Readng, 505 in Math, and 487 in Writing).

The Edison Academy
The Edison Academy is a career center that 10th-12th graders can take courses based on a career they want to do when they finish school. It helps them build the skills they need for a successful career in the future. Edison High School is one of the selected schools in Fairfax County to have an academy center.

One of the school-specific programs offered through the Edison Academy to eligible students is the Global STEM Challenges Program: The program at Edison includes the Global STEM Challenges Program. It is a 3 year long program for 9th grade to 11th graders that aims to provide hands-on science, math, and engineering experience to its students in order to provide experience and knowledge on real-world problems and their possible solutions.

IB Program
Edison High School is 1 of 33 schools in the state of Virginia to have an IB program.

Athletics
Edison participates in the AAA National District of the 6A North Region. Sports offered to students include:


 * Cheerleading
 * Cross Country (CoEd)
 * Field Hockey
 * Football
 * Golf (CoEd)
 * Volleyball
 * Basketball (Boys and Girls)
 * Gymnastics
 * Swim & Dive (CoEd)
 * Indoor Track & Field (CoEd)
 * Baseball
 * Lacrosse (Boys and Girls)
 * Soccer (Boys and Girls)
 * Softball
 * Outdoor Track & Field (CoEd)
 * Wrestling

Notable alumni

 * Eric Barton, former NFL linebacker
 * Charlie Hales, former mayor of Portland, Oregon
 * Christopher Lowman, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment, former Under Secretary of the Army
 * Andy Najar, soccer player for D.C. United and the Honduras national team.
 * Pat Toomay, 1966, former NFL defensive end, Super Bowl champion (VI), author