I was shocked when I didn't see perennial #1 Thomas Jefferson High School at #1 on the list. I was even more shocked when I didn't see them
at all. Then I found out they had joined the
"elite list" of schools that are not considered because of their magnet/GT status (though others remain in the 1500, the criteria seem arbitrary). While TJHS doesn't have a FIRST team (not for a lack of effort, but the administration values student independence, so they don't like the mentor-based aspects of FIRST), several others on that list do. Maggie Walker Governor's School (422), North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (900), Bronx High School of Science (1155), Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (2022), Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics (1742), Stuyvesant High School (694), and Whitney High School (1135) all have teams (a majority of the "public elite").
Bergen County Academies has a BBIQ team and High Technology High has a MATE team, but no apparent FIRST teams at either. Union County Magnet High School used to have a team (1257), but it disbanded.
As for my alma mater (home of Team 116), Herndon High School placed 164th (19th in Virginia).