Category Archives: News

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

2021-03-21 ANGP & Senior Celebration Update

The Class of 2021 Jefferson Cup fundraiser is already closed. Parents who ordered Jefferson cups will be contacted via email with pickup information before April.  

Class of 2021 Graduation Yard Signs Still Available

Class of 2021 Graduation Yard Signs are still on sale while supplies last. As of now, there are only about 15 of the generic version of the yard signs left. Login to AtoZ Connect (at https://atozconnect.com/cls/login.php) to purchase a yard sign before they are gone.

Note: Some parents reported that they could not see ANGP products after logging into AtoZ Connect. If you are experiencing this issue, there’s a good chance that you have not completed the PTSA Directory Verification process, or might have missed the last few steps in the verification process. There are nine steps in the verification process; please make sure that you complete all nine steps by clicking Next until you reach the last step to Finish the process. 

Visit the ANGP & Senior Celebration Committee page on TJPTSA website at https://tjptsa.com/committees/angp-committee/ for more information related to ANGP & Senior Celebration.

2021-02-28 Video of Fun Improv Game from PTSA Meeting

At our February 25, 2021 PTSA meeting, we had a special treat with drama students and their teacher, Mr. Reid. They presented some fun improv games and involved the audience in some of them.

Press Conference: One person must work out who they are (a particular well-known person or more general, like a profession) and also their achievement from the questions asked at a press conference they give. 

Corporate Letter Writing: Select an object and a problem. Two people write a complaint letter about the object/problem to a corporation, alternating words between them, and the other two write back, also alternating words, as the corporation. 

Here’s a video of the students doing Corporate Letter Writing exercise.

The audience (meeting attendees) selected the product and the defect.

I personally have never LOL’d as much at a PTSA meeting.

2021-02-26 SGA Senior Social a Success

Over 50 seniors attended the one hour event outside the dome. The kids had a chance to see friends and teachers they hadn’t seen in person in ages. There was music, fun, and food (thanks to your kind donations). Everyone was masked when not eating and socially distancing, but still having a good time. Thanks to the parents who volunteered.

We look forward to helping the SGA with all the future senior social events, which should be happening at least once a month now.

2021-02-26 TJ PTSA Nominating Committee Election Results

The election is closed, congratulations to our Nominating Committee (NC) which consists of the top 5 candidates:

Li Yang – 146
Helen Miller – 136
Asra Nomani – 108
Bonnie Qin – 106
Suparna Dutta – 100

Thank you to the other parents that also were willing to volunteer their time!

Bhaskara Moole – 77
Michelle Gilles – 59
Anna Lee Kim – 57
Anna Kim – 57
Penny Dunlop – 44

The NC will now meet and elect a chair, and develop their application form for Executive Committee candidates, as well as a list of questions for candidate interviews.

If you have interest in volunteering for the TJ PTSA Executive Committee please keep an eye out for news about the NC’s next steps. They should complete their work in March so that we can present our slate 30 days ahead of our election in May.

Thanks again to all the candidates and to everyone who participated.

2021-02-25 A Few More Classroom Monitors Needed

Dr. Bonitatibus mentioned that a few non-TJ parents had found some other opportunities, creating a need for a few more monitors. From Dr. Bonitatibus:

We need a few more classroom monitors to supervise in-person students whose teachers are not returning to the building and will be teaching virtually during the spring semester. If interested please notify TJ directly by completing this form here. After completing the form, you can apply with FCPS here. A staff member from TJ will be in touch to set up interviews as needs arise.

2021-02-22 Nominating Committee Election Under Way

Election Status: Started. Closes Friday Feb 26, 11pm

UPDATE 2021-02-026 7:22PM: About 20% have voted. Please read this following email that I have asked parents to post on WeChat and other forums to help clear up some confusion and disappointment as folks who are not members try to vote, and then folks buy memberships expecting to vote in this election:

Dear TJ Parents,

Thank you for your interest in voting in this TJ PTSA election. Only TJ PTSA members may vote in TJ PTSA elections. 

If you would like to join the TJ PTSA please follow the instructions here: https://tjptsa.com/join/

Each membership allows one vote. Students can also vote if they purchase a student membership and their email address is in AtoZ, and the membership was assigned to them.

Please note that the registered voters list is locked at the start of each election, so even if you join today you won’t be able to vote in this election, but you will be able to vote in future elections and surveys, including the May election of TJ PTSA EC Officers.

We hope you would join the PTSA just to support the good work we do for the students, teachers, and parents.

If you had purchased a TJ PTSA membership before February 22, 2021 and have not received an email with voting instructions from tellers@tjptsa.org (look in your spam/junk folders) then please email tellers@tjptsa.org from the email address you registered in AtoZ Connect and I will help you vote. 

This election closes tonight at 11pm.

Sincerely,

Nick Costescu, TJ PTSA President

UPDATE 2021-02-25 8:49pm: 15% of our 800 some registered voters have voted. Please vote!

UPDATE 2021-02-24 12:49pm: So far 10% of our 800 some registered voters have voted. This is your opportunity to help shape next year’s EC. Please vote! Links were sent out to all PTSA members. Email the president if you were a member as of 2/22/2021 and didn’t get a link to vote (but first check your spam and other email folders).

UPDATE 2021-02-23 5:57pm: A few folks are having problems with the email verification. I can see when that happens and I’ve been sending out custom links individually. Please use that link to finish your ballet if you had a problem with VerifyMe.

All TJ PTSA members (as of 2021-02-21) can vote in this election. We are electing our 5 member Nominating Committee. These 5 volunteers will interview applicants for next year’s Executive Committee Officers and recommend a slate with the top candidate for each position.

For more info on what the Nominating Committee does, see this post.

An email with a link to the ballot has been sent to all TJ PTSA members. If you are a 2020-21 member and have not received a ballot please email tellers@tjptsa.org.

Please check back with this post for updates.

2021-02-17 TJ Return to School information

​​​​​​​Family Guide for 2020-21 Return to School – TJ Edition 

Dear TJ Families,

Concurrent instruction here at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will begin on March 2 for grades 9 and 12, and March 9 for grades 10 and 11. We eagerly anticipate the arrival of students who have chosen to return to in-person learning and we have extensively prepared to keep them safe. We will also continue to deliver the same high quality instruction to students who have chosen to remain fully online.

We know there are a lot of questions in regard to concurrent learning both from those who have chosen to return to in-person learning as well as those who have chose to remain virtual. To help answer some of those questions, Dr. Bonitatibus will be hosting a virtual Q&A session on Tuesday, Feb. 23 from 7-8 p.m. [NOTE: A link to the Q&A livestream will be sent out to all parents and guardians on that day.] To ensure all questions are answered, families can submit their questions to this Google Form.

In addition, we have prepared a Return to School family guide that can be accessed here. Families that have students who have chosen to return to in-person learning are encouraged to watch this video where Dr. Bonitatibus tours TJ and shows you the mitigation efforts in place to keep students safe. 

Finally, all this information can be found in one convenient location on TJ’s website here. Bookmark this page as updates will be made as new information comes in. ​​​​​​​

Sincerely,

TJ Administration