Welcome Freshmen!

Congratulations TJ Class of 2012! We bet you have lots of questions. Well, keep on reading to find out all about:

PTSA Welcome Gathering

You and your families are invited to a PTSA Welcome Gathering!

Get answers to all your questions about TJ by attending the welcome gathering hosted by TJ's Parent/Teacher/Student Association (PTSA). Each County and Fairfax County Cluster has a TJ parent representative who will assist you in making a smooth transition to TJ.

Your representative will host a gathering this Spring or Summer. To learn more about your cluster or county, see Cluster Information for Gatherings.

To receive your invitation, please register online by entering your data in the directory or contact your local TJ PTSA representative immediately (gatherings start in April).

Cluster Information for Gatherings

Gatherings for new freshmen will be divided into these groups:

Fairfax County clusters serve school "pyramids":

Contact your local TJ PTSA Representative for information about your local gathering. If you have any questions, please contact your PTSA Liaison

Nassmah Brooks
for all Counties and County clusters.

TJ Class 2012 Welcome Family Gatherings
RSVP Today (by invitation only)
Check Website for Changes & Updates
Fairfax Cluster Contact Date/ Time/ Location/Format
Cluster 1 June 8, 2008, 4-6:00 pm
Location: Louise's home
Pot luck, bring a dish to share, drinks provided
Cluster 2 June 7, 2008, 10 am-12 noon
Location: Fairview Elementary School 5815 Ox Road Fairfax Station, VA 22039
Pot luck, bring a dish to share, drinks provided
Cluster 3 June 1, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
June 8, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Location: Angie's home
Bring a light appetizer, drinks will be provided
Cluster 4 June 8, 2008, Time: TBD
Location: The Mount Vernon Municipal Center, 2511 Parkers Lane, Alexandria (across the street from Sherwood Library). A light dessert will be served.
Cluster 5 Same as Cluster 2
Cluster 6 Same as Cluster 2
Cluster 7 June 8, 2008, 3-5 pm
Location: Chantilly Regional Library
Bring dessert and appetizers
Cluster 8

Sunday, June 8, 2006, 12:30 to 2:30 pm (tentative)
Location: Great Falls Crossing Club House — a block down from the intersection of Hunter Gate Way and Baron Cameron Avenue, Near Gaelic Farm Market and Reston Zoo.
Pot luck — bring a dish representative of your cultural heritage.
More Counties Contact Date/ Time/ Location/Format
Arlington/
Falls Church		 Sunday, August 10th; 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Rain or shine!
Location: Bluemont Picnic Shelter
N. Manchester Street at 4th Street N.
Arlington, VA 22203
Information: contact Lynn
Summer Potluck Picnic
Loudoun County Sunday, June 1, 2008; 2:00-4:00 pm
Location: Room B, Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd. Ashburn VA, 20147
Bring a dessert to share
Prince William/
Fauquier		 Sunday, June 1, 2008; 2:00-4:00 pm
Location: Hylton HS (enclosed cafeteria)
Potluck — bring finger food or dessert to share
Contact:

Keep in Touch

Once you have completed the form, take another minute and register for TJ's own personalized "Keep in Touch" system. The principal, Dr. Glazer, and the PTSA use this e-mail notification system to pass along important TJ school news and updates. Click here to register.

Freshmen Orientation / Big Sibs

**** This information is tentative. Check back later. ***

Date: TBD ~ near the end of August

Time:

What: Get acquainted with your peers, your Big Sib, and TJ through fun activities such as ice breakers, school tours/scavenger hunts, relay races, and even a talent show!

Where: Meet your Big Sib in the Auditorium at 12:30pm after your classes.

Reminder: Please bring a bag lunch and make sure you have a ride home. TJ provides buses, but the bus home leaves before the Big Sibs fun begins. (Note that parents cannot ride on the buses.)

If you have any question or concerns about orientation or the Big Sibs program, please email

Big Sibs
or call Cindy Wei at (703) 318-0416.

Guide to Giving

TJ staff and students rely on funding from the PTSA, the many TJ Booster organizations, and the TJ Partnership Fund. To understand the purposes and structure of these different organizations and the level of contribution typical for each activity — both financial and volunteer — please read our Guide to Giving.

Commuting

In Fairfax County, students usually ride the neighborhood bus to their base high school with the base school kids. Then they transfer to a bus (sometimes called the High Tech Shuttle), which takes them to TJ.

Outside of Fairfax County, there are "hubs" — schools where the kids catch their High Tech Shuttle to TJ.

You will receive your particular bus schedule from the county before school starts in the fall.

Many parents drive their kids directly to the base high school to save time and/or to let their kids sleep in a bit. Some parents form parent carpools to take kids directly to TJ. The directory, which will be sold at Back to School Night, lists students by zip code – a handy way to set up carpools.

Late buses run on Monday and Wednesday, leaving TJ at 6:30 pm.

A majority of TJ students are engaged in some form of after school activity from sports to music or drama to academic clubs. It is common practice to develop carpools at the beginning of each seasonal activity, so don't hesitate to contact others at the first couple of practices or meetings.

Read the TJ Bell Schedule webpage to learn all about red, blue, anchor, and JLC days.

Note that when FCPS closes two hours early, TJ is dismissed at 10:50 a.m. When schools open two hours late, follow your regular schedule plus 2 hours, except on JLC days when 2 hour late arrival means arrive by 10:30 a.m.

We highly encourage you to attend your cluster gathering where you can get information from experienced parents living in your area.

After school activities

Sports events, plays, concerts, dances and such happen after the instructional day. There are also events sponsored by various groups within the school that occur after school and on weekends (such as the annual MUN conference, Math competitions, It's Academic tournaments). These are numerous and change from year to year.

Check the monthly Techcetera newsletter, view the daily morning announcements, check the school calendars, and sign up for KIT to keep up with all the TJ activities.

You can find a lot of information about TJ activities on the various Booster websites, which include: Academic Boosters, Athletic Boosters, Band Boosters, Choral Boosters, Crew Boosters, Orchestra Boosters, and Theater Boosters.

The school's website includes information on Art and Activities.

Language Assistance

Do you need language assistance? We can help you overcome your language barriers for school events and teacher/counselor communication, and by providing a parent volunteer's contact information if you have any questions. FCPS interpreters can be requested if 5 or more families request them 2 weeks before a school event or teacher/counselor meeting. Translations of excerpts from the PTSA newsletter (Techcetera) are available on our PTSA website. A list of Volunteer opportunities for Language Minority Parents is available in English, Chinese, and Korean. Our Cultural Liaison parent volunteers hold meetings and are available to assist you. Contact

Jean Lee
for assistance at (703) 753- 4604.

The above paragraph is translated into Chinese and Korean. If you can help translate PTSA documents, please contact Jean Lee.

Sports Physicals

To play sports during the upcoming school year, you need a physical dated May 1 or later. You can have your sports physical done at TJ each spring and support the boosters at the same time.

Fall 2008 sports will begin on August 5 (except golf, which starts August 1). Students wishing to participate in a fall sport need to be available from early August.

The Colonial Athletic Boosters website has all your TJ sports info.

Summer School

Schedules for summer school are available via the TJ Summer School web page. Information about class offerings, exact dates, registration, and fees are now posted.

TJ Guidance wants you to know that a list of summer school students will be published along with each student's zip code. A number of students have expressed an interest in locating a carpool or participating in a ride-share. If you would like to carpool with other TJ students who live in your zip code (or close by), please check the PTSA 2007-2008 directory, if you have already purchased one, and contact your representative to be placed on the carpool list. Please indicate if you are a willing driver, passenger, or both.

SOL Tests

SOL information can be found in the FCPS summer school booklet, Encore. For more information, contact TJ's Assessment Coach,

Adam Wong.

A to Z – A Beginners Guide to TJHSST

You will want to quickly understand the language used at our school, so make sure you read and keep handy the distinctive, bright blue covered, booklet titled "From AudLob to Zero" which you will find in your PTSA Welcome Packet.

Intended as a guide for parents (since the incoming students will quickly learn the language) this booklet is chock full of the words and abbreviations that make understanding daily life at TJHSST so much easier.

You'll find out that AudLob is TJ Speak for the Auditorium Lobby. The AudLob is to TJ what The Mall is to Washington DC – the place for all the action, the hustle and bustle of daily life and the place where, rumor has it, certain students roll out a sleeping bag each night… (not true!!! it just seems that way).

Are you invited to a meeting at the CCC? Then you will need to know that the CCC is TJ speak for the Elizabeth V. Lodal College Career Center. Located in the front hallway, this venue was newly named for Ms. Lodal, our Principal from 2001 thru 2006. Here you will find a wealth of information about colleges all over the USA and beyond, as well as information about scholarships, summer jobs/internships and volunteer opportunities, a map showing where the TJ faculty attended college, to say nothing of the many parent volunteers who contribute to making this room a vital part of life at TJHSST.

JLC is the reason that some students feel confident in arriving late to school on a Thursday morning. Debuting in September 2004, JLC is TJ speak for Jefferson Learning Community. This happens every Thursday morning from September through April and is when regular class time begins at 9:00am. The school buses run to the regular schedule and students have a variety of options to utilize the extra thirty minutes in their day. The faculty, in the meantime, has a very valuable opportunity to meet together in small or large groups to plan and discuss topics of importance school wide or department orientated. The students can use the time to meet with peer tutors, make up tests, work on group projects or simply chill out and socialize. Or, for those who drive, sleep an extra thirty minutes. Parents will see this time as an opportunity to fit in those early morning appointments with the orthodontist.

Lock-In is an event for the freshman class held in the springtime on a Friday night. The students gather at school by 6:00pm, the doors are locked and they can then join in a variety of activities perhaps including: a dance, talent show, bouncing castle, DDR, card and board games, regular snack breaks or even take a snooze in the quiet room. Light breakfast foods and juices are provided before the students are picked up by their parents sometime around 6:00am on the Saturday morning. Of course the entire event is chaperoned by a full cadre of parent volunteers and TJ faculty and is intended as a class bonding event.

Zero was the title of the book selected to be read by the entire school population in the summer of 2005. Each year a different book is chosen, based on a selection made by a committee of faculty and students. This book can then be the catalyst for discussion when school resumes.

These are just five examples of entries in the booklet so be sure to read and keep your copy, provided to you by courtesy of the TJHSST PTSA.

Written by a parent of a student of the class of 2006 with input and editing from that student, this booklet is intended to help TJHSST parents feel comfortable in their role of guiding their student through a high school career that is perhaps more complex than attendance at a base high school would be.

Techcetera

Tech cetera, the PTSA newsletter, is available online each month. Excerpts are translated into Chinese and Korean.

Volunteering

We have volunteer opportunities galore! The best way to be matched with the perfect "job" is to enter your preferences and skills in the Directory & Volunteer Information System. Volunteer information is not published, but is used to help match parents and opportunities. So please, enter your information into the Directory and fill in your parent participation (volunteer) information. Thanks!

Fundraising

Support the PTSA and you help TJ. It can be as easy as registering your Giant, Safeway, and Harris Teeter cards or shopping online through the PTSA portal. Everything you need to know is on our Support the PTSA webpage.

Maps

Posting announcements and achievements

Important announcements and student achievements can be found several places. Parents and students can submit news for consideration by following the submission guidelines for each area: