Category Archives: News

News about what’s happening. This is not newsletter archives.

TJ PTSA Committee Chair Applications Are Open!

Calling on all TJ parents who care about TJ having the BEST PTSA for our students, teachers, and staff! In preparation for the 2022-2023 school year, PTSA officers invite all motivated TJ parents to submit this form to express your interest in being a committee chair. All Standing Committee Chairs will be members of the TJ PTSA Executive Board and will be responsible for leading committee activities and attending monthly board meetings.  Applications are due on Tuesday, July 19th and will be considered for the following standing and special committees.

Standing Committees: 

Academic Support – Educating parents about how best support their students in navigating TJ academics. The Academic Support Committee fosters relationships with the TJ staff to build consensus for collaborative solutions through dialogue and engagement. Example activities include Navigating TJ Workshops, Coffees with Counselors, AP Snacks, and Senior Sharing events.

All Night Grad Party – Plans and raises funds for an end-of-year, overnight party at the school for seniors.  Junior parents are strongly encouraged to apply so that senior parents can enjoy their student’s graduation! 

College Outreach – Assisting students with a focus on junior and senior classes in understanding the college application process and career choices, assisting TJ’s College and Career Center (CCC) with what is needed to improve outreach to colleges and universities, and assisting the CCC in fostering better connections with college admission officers and promoting TJ by providing volunteers. Activities include organizing forums for students and parents.

Diversity – Advancing a culture of belonging at TJ in which open hearts and minds combine to unleash the potential of a brilliant mix of people. We host celebrations of diversity, where students, families and staff share, learn and connect with one another. We welcome a diverse group of prospective students to discover the TJ community, where all students are valued and respected.

Health and Wellness – Increasing awareness of mental health and emotional well-being within the TJ community. The committee works to engage the TJ parent community in school wide efforts focusing on student balance and wellness.

Hospitality – Organizing events to show TJ faculty and staff appreciation for their amazing efforts in educating and nurturing our children.

Special Committees:

Governance – New special committee responsible for developing proposed rules of order for general membership meetings and presenting proposed rules to the general membership for consideration.

Reflections – Oversees the planning and implementation of the Reflections art program for our TJ students.  The Reflections program is a national arts program administered by the National PTA.

Please note that the Family Engagement Committee status is on hold until the new Board forms and decides whether the committee will continue as a standing committee.  

Please feel free to send any questions you have to executive@tjptsa.org.

Regional Welcome Parties in August!

Welcome to the TJ family!! In August, the TJ PTSA will host regional welcome parties for you to meet other incoming families who live near you and hear from current TJ students! Tentative information about each regional party is included below.  To keep up-to-date as party plans evolve, please complete the form below by August 5th to register for your regional party.

Register to Attend at the following link: https://forms.gle/hQDT61ZiVqko8Hba8

Regions and Preliminary Plans:

Region 1 Base High Schools: Herndon HS, Langley HS, Oakton HS, Madison HS, South Lakes HS
Saturday, August 20, 2022, afternoon @ Vienna Community Center
Region Rep: Renee Rodriguez (Class of 2023 Parent), reneeblrod@gmail.com

Region 2 Base High Schools: Falls Church HS, Annandale HS, Stuart/Justice HS, Marshall HS, McLean HS
Saturday, August 20, 2022, 10 AM – Noon @ Crescendo Studios in Falls Church, VA
Mona Sehgal (Class of 2025 parent), monaksehgal@gmail.com
Suzanne Friedman (Class of 2025 Parent), friedman.suz@gmail.com

Region 3 Base High Schools: Hayfield SS, Edison HS, Lewis HS, Mt. Vernon HS, West Potomac HS
Saturday, August 20, 2022, 3-5 PM @ Sherwood Regional Library’s Main Meeting Room
Deborah Bagocius (Class of 2025 Parent), deborahbagocius@gmail.com

Region 4 Base High Schools: Lake Braddock SS, Robinson SS, South County HS, West Springfield HS, Centreville HS
Sunday, August 14, 2022, 3-5 PM @ Shaista Keating’s Home in Fairfax Station
Shaista Keating (Class of 2024 Parent), shaistakeating@gmail.com
Christina Collins (Class of 2023 Parent), ridgwayfamily@outlook.com

Region 5 Base High Schools: Chantilly HS, Fairfax HS, Westfield HS, Woodson HS
Saturday, August 13, 2022, 10 AM – 12 PM @ Chantilly Regional Library Chantilly Meeting Room
Vinnie Sawant (Class of 2025 Parent), ajayvin@gmail.com
Garima Jain (Class of 2024 Parent), garjain@hotmail.com

Arlington County & Falls Church City Base High Schools
Saturday, August 13, 2022, 4:30 – 6:30 PM @ Nancy Modesitt’s Home in Arlington
Mary Alice Heretick (Class of 2024 Parent), waterloverus@yahoo.com
Elaine Maag (Class of 2023 Parent), ElaineMaag@gmail.com
Nancy Modesitt (Class of 2024 Parent), modesittn@yahoo.com

Loudoun County Base High Schools
Sunday, August 14, 2022, 3:30 – 7 PM @ Algonkian Regional Park Shelter 4
Vasudev Rao (Class of 2025 Parent), emailvasu@gmail.com
Hari Kalla (Class of 2025 Parent), hari.kalla@yahoo.com

Prince William County Base High Schools
To be organized by Prince William County, August 16, 7 pm, Kelly Leadership Center.
Trina Bilal (Class of 2025 Parent), tdbilal@gmail.com
Kelley Denny (Class of 2023 and 2025 Parent), keddxb@gmail.com

Register to Attend at the following link: https://forms.gle/hQDT61ZiVqko8Hba8

2022-2023 TJ PTSA Election Results

Congratulations to the newly elected TJ PTSA officers! 

At the May 26 2022 TJ PTSA General Membership, the following officers were elected for the 2022-2023 school year: 

  • President: Yvette Rivers
  • 1st Vice President of Programming and Events: Pratyush Nutalapati
  • 2nd Vice President of Membership and Fundraising: Yehong Zhou 
  • 3rd Vice President of Communications: Laura Marschoun 
  • Treasurer: Neelam “Nell” Janardhan
  • Secretary: Qingying “Ally” Lu

The election of all officers was uncontested and was conducted by voice vote.  

Huge thanks goes to our outgoing officers for all of your hard work during the 2021-2022 school year!! 

  • 1st Vice President: Li Yang
  • 2nd Vice President: Jun Wang
  • Corresponding Secretary: Hanning Chen

2022-04-21 6:30-9:00 PM PTSA General Membership Meeting (In Person)

You are invited to join us for our next General Membership meeting, which will be held in the cafeteria.  We’ll start at 6:30 pm with light refreshments and socializing, and then will begin the business meeting promptly at 7 pm.  Membership will be checked at the door for voting purposes, so please bring your ID. During this meeting, we will hear from the SGA, Principal Dr. Bonitatibus, Betsy Sandstrom, Committee Chairs, and our Treasurer.  In addition, we will discuss and vote on the proposed LUOS changes presented by the Bylaws Committee at the previous meeting and find out the recommended officers’ slate from the Nominating Committee. We hope to see you there!

Click on the links below to access the meeting materials:

·      Proposed Meeting Agenda

·     2022-03-24 Meeting Minutes (draft)

·     Budget Report

·     Bylaws/Governance Committee Report

2022-01-11 New TJPTSA Treasurer

  The Executive Board of TJPTSA met on January 10th, 2022 to accept the resignation of Mr. Himanshu Verma as TJPTSA treasurer. 
We appreciate Himanshu’s service to TJPTSA, and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. 
The board has also voted to appoint Ms. Nell Janardhan as the new TJPTSA treasurer, and looks forward to working with her for a smooth transition. 

TJPTSA Executive Board   

Statement from TJPTSA Executive Committee about a Recent Wall Street Journal Opinion Article

Dear TJPTSA members,

It has been brought to our attention that a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) opinion article has raised serious concerns of the TJ administration as well as TJ parents.

In an article titled “Virginia Dad Takes on the School Board”, the author stated that “The father of a Thomas Jefferson High School Sophomore, he had signed up to address the board about sexually explicit material in the school library, including work he and other parents say normalizes pedophilia.” It appears to us that the school library of TJ was referred to. However, according to the FCPS record, TJ library never subscribed the two books that were mentioned as inappropriate in a recent FCPS board meeting. 

Moreover, Mr. Harry Jackson was quoted in the article that “I am glad to see we agree there is pornographic material in the library”. Apparently, TJ library was referred to again, and this statement is not factual either because no pornographic material has been found in TJ library, to the best of our knowledge. Most concerningly, Mr. Harry Jackson was cited as “not just any parent. Earlier this year, he was elected president of the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association, or PTSA.” In fact, none of the other TJPTSA Executive Committee members was consulted about the opinions expressed in this WSJ article, which has fomented unnecessary unrest in the whole TJ community. For example, threats and harassment toward TJ staff and administration has been occurring these past two days as a direct result of this article with increased security on TJ campus.

Given the severe impacts of the controversial statements to the TJ community, the TJPTSA Executive Committee has requested an explanation from Mr. Harry Jackson about his role in the WSJ article. Mr. Harry Jackson informed us that he never had reviewed or approved the article before it was published, and the author, not him, has the responsibility to fact check. In addition, Mr. Harry Jackson has requested WSJ Editorial Office for a correction to the article. 

We will continue to investigate this issue and to keep the TJ community informed once more information is available. 

TJPTSA Executive Committee