Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great Spring Break and is recharged for the final quarter of the 2025-26 school year! There are nine and a half weeks left until Summer Break, and it will be busy with AP tests, SOLs, tjSTAR, JDay, and other traditional TJ events.
Next Friday (April 17), I encourage you to check out the Taste of TJ after school. This culinary food festival celebrates the diversity of our school through many traditional cultural dishes. It is all you can eat for only $15. All money raised goes to the Class of 2027 as they prepare for their upcoming senior year! More information is below.
I have completed the upcoming events calendar through the end of the school year at the bottom of this newsletter. Be sure to mark down important dates for your family.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mike Roth
TJHSST Director of Communications
We are excited to announce that the Second Annual Taste of TJ takes place next Friday, April 17 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.! This year it is being hosted by the Class of 2027 as their first major fundraiser going into their upcoming senior year.
The theme of Taste of TJ is that we believe every bite tells a story, and we want our community's diverse stories to be at the heart of this celebration.
We would love to have you involved! There are several ways you can support the Class of 2027:
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Restaurant Donations: If you have connections to local restaurants that might be interested in donating food, please let us know!
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Provide a Dish: Share your favorite family recipe or dish with the community.
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Volunteer: We are looking for parent volunteers to help make the evening run smoothly.
The Details:
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When: Friday, April 17th | 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
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Where: Nobel Commons
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Tickets: $15 on MySchoolBucks or Etix, or cash next week and at the door. Coming soon we will also sell tickets on Etix.
Sign-Up Links:
About 70% of the FCPS budget comes from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. There are several upcoming opportunities to provide feedback to the county on its budget before final adoption in May. This includes public budget hearings (April 14-16) and an online survey.
Learn how the FCPS budget helps us sustain our excellence.
Spring is nearly here, and that means that yearbooks will only be sold for a few more weeks!
Please visit www.yearbookordercenter.com and use school code 13621 before Saturday, April 25 when sales close!
Last year, we sold out of the yearbook before distribution day and had a long waitlist. To avoid disappointment in May or June, I urge you to pre-order your 2026 yearbook NOW!
With the purchase of theTechniques yearbook, you get the Threshold literary magazine, the Teknos science magazine, and a year of tjTODAY (distributed at school throughout the year and online) for free.
Don't delay, but please email me if you have any questions.
Lisa Hampton, Ed.M.
tjMedia adviser
lmhampton@fcps.edu
Free/Reduced Application information and forms for qualified families (Online Submission)
FCPS offers nutritious meals every school day. Your child may qualify for free meals or reduced-price meals at TJHSST. Students who qualify for reduced-price meals receive breakfast and lunch at no cost. For information on how to apply for Free and Reduced-price meals, please visit the link above. The online free and reduced-price meals application is available in 8 languages and can be completed on mobile devices. You will need to re-apply annually.
Consent to Share Form (PDF)
If you have children eligible for the Free and Reduced-price meals program, they may also be eligible to participate in other FCPS fee-based programs without paying a fee or by paying a reduced fee.
This would include things that are specified in FCPS Notice 5922. Those are:
- Musical Instrument fees
- Driver Education fees
- Student Parking fees
- Career and Technical Education Certification fees
- Fine Arts fees
- Technology and Engineering Education Material fees
- Online Campus fees
- Advanced Placement fees (after six exams)
- Returned Check fees
You are also eligible to receive information about scholarships, classes and services that are provided by agencies and organizations other than FCPS.
In order to receive the benefits, you have to fill out the Consent to Share Form (please visit the link above), a written agreement allowing FCPS staff to share information about your children's meal eligibility status.
Every student can take advantage of Varsity Tutors’ services at no cost, including weekly live online classes; on-demand 24/7 chat tutoring; essay editing; and study resources such as recorded content, practice problems, and diagnostic tests.
Learn more about online tutoring with Varsity Tutors.
Is your student experiencing anxiety, behavior changes, or challenges with peer and family relationships? If so, you may refer your child for weekly therapy with a licensed therapist through Hazel Health. Visit the FCPS Teletherapy webpage for information on this service.
FCPS Release
While families were informed back in February, we are now allowed to publicly reveal that TJ had 105 National Merit Scholarship Finalists in 2026!
All finalists are eligible to compete for 6,930 National Merit Scholarship awards worth nearly $26 million, to be awarded later this spring. Finalists are chosen from the list of semifinalists by meeting high academic standards and other requirements, including a recommendation from a high school official.
Here are the majority of TJ's National Merit Finalists (some withheld at family request):
Anusha Agarwal, Jacqueline Ake, Grace Amartuvshin, Rishi Anangi, Navya Arora, Romanchit Arora, Sugirthan Nagappan Arun, Grace Bai, Ananya Bhatt, Hrishi Bhooma, Sai Pratik Buddhana, Evan Cafaro, Jessica Chen, Joshua Cheng, Ariana Chidambar, Moira Clark, Rachel Du, Nikolas Fitzpatrick, Joseph George, Ria Goel, Finley Gordon, Haasini Govindu, Breanne Graham, Eric Guo, Sophia Guo, Harry Han, Tayne Han, Ibrahim Harchich, Kaleb Hickling, Rohan Honganoor, Holly Huang, Kyungsup Hwang, Theodore Hwang, Shaanvhi Jayaram, Soren Johnson, Kashi Kamat, Aarushi Kanigicherla, Matthew Kao, Nathaniel Kerr, Justin Kim, Karis Kim, Petr Kisselev, Ethan Ko, Anant Krishna, Rushil Kukreja, Divya Kulkarni, Valerie Lai, Ethan Lee, Hanseon Lee, Brendan Li, Caroline Li, Ethan Li, Nathan Liu, Nikita Lugovoy, Justin Ma, Bowen MacGillivray, Ansh Malhotra, Zella Mantler, Payton Morris, Nived Nandakumar, Rishikesh Narayana, Kavin Narayanan, Noam Nikolich, Elijah O'Donoghue, Ethan O'Hara, Viola Pande, Anna Park, Joey Park, Aashritha Penumudi, Quynh-Chi Phan, Juliet Phillips, Bailey Piper, Matthew Ryan, Hannah Ryu, Karanveer Sadiora, Ahana Sekhar, Grace Shaffer, Siwen Shen, Julia Shi, Julia Showers, Emilia Sloan, Abeni Smith, Micah Sorli, Grace Sprano, Sophia Stidman, Henry Stievater, Joseph Sultan, Alaina Szeto, Abhiraj Tiwari, Sarah Trainer, Rachel Truong, Luv Udeshi, Tanush Vuppala, Oliver Wang, Ruilin Wang, Aidan Wright, Olivia Wu, Eric Xie, Jayden Yang, Justin Yu, Ayla Zhang, Ella Zhang, Feiran Zhang, Jennifer Zhang, Max Zhao.
Note: Guest feature written by TJ junior Andrew Liu.
The TJ Computer Security Club (TJCSC) has been doing very well this spring. In the 2026 International Capture The Flag (iCTF) competition, TJCSC earned 1st place in the high school division and won $3,000 for the club. iCTF is an international cybersecurity competition organized by Shellphish and the ACTION NSF AI Institute, with separate high school and undergraduate divisions. Congratulations to Andrew Liu and William Chapin for representing TJCSC and earning the win.
TJCSC also had an outstanding showing at the Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST competition in Bethesda, where high school students work together in teams to solve offensive and defensive cyber challenges in capture-the-flag format. TJ’s officer team featuring Andrew Liu, William Chapin, Nathan Kerr, Ansh Agrawal, and Agastya Sondhi won the competition, finishing 1st out of 24 teams overall, while TJ’s club team consisting of Omar Aziza, Ethan You, Sai Parimi, Emma Huang, and Adam Wu placed 4th overall.
Congratulations to all of the students for their hard work; we are very proud of them!
Need to get in contact with someone at TJ? Here is some commonly requested contact information:
Main Office - 703-750-8300
Attendance Office - thomasjeffersonhigh.attendance@fcps.edu
Student Services - 703-750-8340
Student Activities - 703-750-8333
Security - 703-750-8331
Administration Contact Information
Mr. Michael Mukai - Principal
Ms. Betsy Fawsett - Associate Principal
Ms. Yaara Crane - Subschool Principal (oversees Class of 2026 and Science and Technology Division)
Mr. Shawn Frank - Subschool Principal (oversees Class of 2027 and Mathematics and Computer Science Division)
Mr. Dylan Forshay - Subschool Principal (oversees Class of 2028 and World Language, Art, Music, and Physical Education Division)
Ms. Volita Russell - Subschool Principal (oversees Class of 2029 and Humanities Division)
Ms. Sara Wright - Director of Student Services (oversees Counselors, Social Worker, School Psychologist and other staff providing student support)
Ms. Leah Conte - Director of Student Activities (oversees Activities Office, 8th Period, Athletic Office, Building Maintenance, Custodians, Food Services)
Mr. Mike Roth - Communications Specialist (oversees Jefferson Journal and eNotify, Event promotions, print/digital text, photo, video, Social Media accounts, TJHSST Webmaster and Visitors US & International (TJPF))
For another specific staff member, please use our Staff Directory to find contact information.
Be sure to visit Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology on its official social media channel on Instagram @OfficialTJHSST for pictures and highlights of all the fun events and activities going on at TJ! (Please note that we have discontinued use of our X/Twitter account).
We'd love it if you give us a follow!
TJ's Anchor/Blue/Red Day Calendar
March 30 - April 3 - Spring Break - no school for students or staff.
April 6 - Teacher Workday - no school for students.
April 10 - School Planning Day - no school for students.
April 16 - First performance of Spring Musical Anastasia. Performances on April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, and 25. Tickets available here.
April 20 - This Monday will be a Blue Day for TJ
April 21 - Teacher workday - no school for students.
May 4-May 15 - AP Testing at TJ
May 20 - tjSTAR at TJ during morning
May 21 - Orchestra Spring Concert, 7 p.m. in auditorium
May 22 - J-Day in afternoon. There will be a Modified Red Day schedule to accommodate with more information to come.
May 25 - Memorial Day - no school for students or staff.
May 26 - Teacher Workday - no school for students.
May 27 - Religious or Cultural Observance Day (Eid-al-Adha) - no school for students or staff.
May 28-June 2 - Senior Final Exams
June 5 - This Friday will be a Modified Anchor Day with dismissal at 10:30 a.m.
June 6 -TJ Class of 2026 Graduation at Eagle Bank Arena, 7 p.m.
June 11 - Underclassman Final Exams Periods 1 and 2 - half day with dismissal at 11:55 a.m.
June 12 - Underclassman Final Exams Periods 3 and 4 - half day with dismissal at 11:55 a.m.
June 15 - Underclassman Final Exams Periods 5 and 6 - half day with dismissal at 11:55 a.m.
June 16 - Underclassman Final Exams Periods 7 and makeup exams - half day with dismissal at 11:55 a.m.
June 17 - This is the 2-hour day school will be dismissed at 10:40 a.m. Last day of school for students.
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