Support TJ
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology is the best-known public high school in America—after all it was declared Number 1 in 2009 for the third consecutive year. It is the perennial national leader in National Merit Scholarship Finalists, sends 100% of its graduates to college, and produces the highest SAT average scores—by far—in the greater Washington, D.C. area. But TJ's programmatic infrastructure has not kept pace with the times. Our internationally-respected research laboratories are constantly in need of upgrade—sophisticated equipment, computers, reagents and chemicals. Our math classes need state-of-the art calculators and related tools. Our faculty would benefit greatly from continuing education programs in S&T as well as in the Humanities.
Were TJ a private school, tuition would be tens of thousands of dollars. The school would not hesitate to seek additional private support for an endowment. And parents would still pay their taxes to Fairfax County.
TJ is a high school–but it is so much more. It is a national treasure; an institution that belongs to everyone. The benefits that accrue to our community, our county, our state, our nation, are palpable in terms of the quality of our graduates and their potential contributions to our economy and our nation's standing in the world. In a fiercely competitive era—student-to-student, state-to-state, and nation-to-nation—we cannot afford to take TJ's excellence for granted.
Now, it is easy to give to this vitally important educational institution.
Similar to the realities of other valued public institutions of higher learning, public funding alone will never guarantee academic excellence or well-equipped laboratories for student research. Renowned centers of educational excellence are dependent on well-established and supported philanthropic programs to provide the critical margin of excellence. Very simply stated, philanthropy is essential to their prominence.