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"The generosity of TJ Partnership Fund donors
ensures our continued STEM leadership."
- NCSSS November 2023 Grant Impact Report
Since 2016, TJ's Biotechnology Lab has partnered with the National Parks Service to assist in a long-term project to restore America's treasured monuments. A TJ Partnership Fund grant that same year funded the purchase of an IonTorrent DNA Sequencing suite, allowing TJ students to take samples of biofilm from the surfaces of these monuments and analyze them within the TJ building. This video tells the story of the amazing project - with a huge thank you to Ms. Audrey Tepper, the Historical Architect for the National Parks Service's DC Office.
In 2025, the TJ Partnership Fund approved a grant of $51,353 to replace the IonTorrent suite with new Digital and Quantitative PCR instruments, keeping the TJ Biotechnology Lab on the cutting edge of DNA analysis in education.
By far, the largest portion of Partnership Fund grant money goes to maintenance and upgrades for the advanced instrumentation in TJ’s university-level research labs and STEM classrooms. In FY25, the TJPF gave over $500,000 in real dollars to the school, over $350,000 of which went to equipment maintenance and upgrades.
Students begin preparing for the research experience during their freshman year in IBEST (Integrated Biology, English, Statistics, and Technology) and continue that process through required courses and electives during their sophomore and junior years. For most students, their capstone experience is the Senior Research project conducted in one or more of TJ’s 13 Research Labs.
Access to the advanced instrumentation in these lab spaces prepares TJ students to serve as the STEM leaders of tomorrow and to invent the future. Learn more about the grants the TJPF has authorized with the support of people like you!
Teaching at TJ is unique, with a strong focus on research fundamentals and an exceptional student body. To support this, the Partnership Fund annually grants TJ funds for specialized professional development for its faculty.
Each year, a TJ delegation attends the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools (NCSSS) Conference — this past year held in San Antonio, TX, Nov 6-9. Through NCSSS, TJ gains and shares best practices in STEM education, benefiting students locally and nationwide. NCSSS 2025 is scheduled for November 5-8 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
For FY25, the Partnership Fund approved a $35,000 grant to support TJ’s NCSSS participation, staff meals during Professional Development Week, and other PD initiatives.
Join us in Supporting TJ's Educational Mission!