Thomas Jefferson High School (Dallas, Texas)

Infobox_School
name = Thomas Jefferson High School


imagesize = 94px
motto = No mountain too high, No ocean too wide, "Reaching our goals with Patriot Pride.
established = ca. 1956
type = High school
district = Dallas Independent School District
grades = 9-12
principal = Manuel R. Ontiveros, M.Ed.
dean = Dr. O.D. Vega (Ed.D.)
enrollment = 1,673
athletics =
colors = Columbia blue and cardinal red
mascot = Patriot
free_label = Newspaper
free_text = "The Reveille"
free_label2 =
free_text2 =
location = 4001 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, Texas 75229
information = 972-502-7300 (office), 972-502-7301 (FAX)
website = http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/hs/tjhs/info.htm

Thomas Jefferson High School (Dallas) is a secondary school in Dallas, Texas that serves grades 9-12. The school is part of the Dallas Independent School District and is located at 4001 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, Texas 75229. The school is named after the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, and locally is known simply as "TJ."

The school's colors are Columbia blue and cardinal red and its mascot is the Patriot. Until 1972, the (Confederate) Rebel served as school mascot and the Confederate Battle Flag was a recognized school emblem. The negative associations of both symbols led to a change following desegregation of Dallas schools in the early 1970s.Karen Elliott. "Black students stay out" (article about a walkout by black students protesting the refusal of many white students to attend the majority-black schools to which they had been assigned), "The Dallas Morning News", September 14, 1971, page 1A. "Jefferson students also complained about the Rebel theme at the school, despite white students' agreement not to fly the Rebel flag or play Dixie at football games."] Karen Elliott. "Estes to get complaints," "The Dallas Morning News", September 15, 1971, page 1A.] "Students vote today" (coverage of student vote for new symbols), "The Dallas Morning News", April 13, 1972, page 1D.] In the 2005-06 school year, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. [http://tjdallasalum.org/ TJ Alumni Association Main Page] ]

Jefferson serves several sections of Dallas, including Walnut Hill Lane and the adjacent residential area, the apartment complexes along the Webb Chapel Extension, and the Love Field neighborhood.

The campus

The class of 1965 had 962 members, the largest graduating class of any high school in Texas up to that time. [http://www.tjhs1965.com/ Class of 1965 Reunion site] ]

Beginning in the mid-1980s, TJ's student body changed from predominantly white to predominantly Hispanic/Latino. Although the school is located in a primarily white neighborhood, most students come from primarily Hispanic areas north of Love Field.

The high school shotput record was set at the Golden West Invitational in 1979 by then-senior Michael Carter, who threw the 12-pound shotput 81 feet, 3-1/2 inches. As of June 2006, the record had yet to be broken "or even approached".John Crumpacker. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/06/SPGOGJ91DE1.DTL The Carter family puts its emphasis in Sacramento] , "San Francisco Chronicle", June 6, 2006]

In 2006, the League of United Latin American Citizens provided uniforms for all 20 members of the TJ boys' soccer team after learning that the team, which had taken second place in the athletic district, had been unable to afford to outfit the full team for the previous four years. [http://www.lulachousing.com/espanol/news.php?id=26 LULAC Gives Uniforms to High School Soccer Team] ]

School uniforms

Students are required to wear school uniforms. [http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/hs/tjhs/policies.htm Thomas Jefferson HS: Policies] ]

The Texas Education Agency specified that the parents and/or guardians of students zoned to a school with uniforms may apply for a waiver to opt out of the uniform policy so their children do not have to wear the uniform; parents must specify "bona fide" reasons, such as religious reasons or philosophical objections. [http://www.tea.state.tx.us/field/uniforms.html Texas Education Code, Chapter 11, School Districts: Subchapter D, Powers and duties of board of trustees of independent school district: Sec. 11.162, School uniforms] . Retrieved October 24, 2007.]

Feeder patterns

The following elementary schools feed into Jefferson [http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/feeder2007/jefferson.htm Feeder Pattern for Thomas Jefferson HS, 2006-07 School Year] ] :
* David G. Burnet
* F.P. Caillet
* Leonides Cigarroa
* Tom W. Field
* Stephen C. Foster
* Obadiah Knight
* Julian T. Saldivar
* Walnut Hill

Two middle schools, Edward H. Cary and Thomas J. Rusk (partial), feed into Jefferson.

Notable alumni

* M. L. Aday (Meat Loaf), rock musicianChamberlain, Adrian. [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=614a8fdf-d7ae-4eb3-98c8-2c5321c81bb5&k=9722 Meat Loaf, reheated: Singer says energy and voice are back, thanks to exercise and vocal coach] "The Ottawa Citizen", March 13 2007.]
*Michael Carter, former San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman and 1984 Olympics silver medalist in shot putSF Chronicle]
*Eddie Dominguez, former Texas A&M basketball player [http://siempre.tamu.edu/index.php?pg=60&nav=7 "Traditions in Sports,"] part of the exhibit "¡Siempre! Hispanics at Texas A&M Celebrating 130 Years"] , led TJ to state basketball championship in 1962; owner and president of Tupinamba RestaurantsMary Brown Malouf, [http://news.dallasobserver.com/1996-05-09/dining/taco-of-the-town/ Taco of the Town: Tupinamba deserves its spot in Tex-Metroplex history] , "Dallas Observer", May 9, 1996]
*Dave Huffman, All-American football player and broadcaster, member of the 1977 Notre Dame championship team, Minnesota Vikings center, guard, and tackle [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HUFFMDAV01 Dave Huffman] profile at databaseFootball.com]
*Cynthia Izaguirre, early-morning news anchor at WFAA-TV [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-daybreak_0104.ART.State.Edition1.3757527.html "Newscaster Cynthia Izaguirre joins WFAA's 'Daybreak': newscaster of YouTube fame joins local morning show,"] "The Dallas Morning News", January 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-21.]
*Hal Mumme, New Mexico Head football coach [http://newmexicostate.scout.com/2/336250.html "A Look at 'Air Raid' Hal Mumme Football,"] Scout.com, December 30, 2004. Retrieved September 12, 2008.]
*Mike Nesmith, actor-musician and member of The Monkees [http://www.last.fm/user/RadicalBender/journal/2006/03/23/101548/ Liner notes to "Dallas' Scene, Heard - Rare and Unreleased Tracks Compiled by the Dallas Observer"] ] [http://monkees.rhino.com/read/mike.lasso Mike Nesmith] , profile by Rhino Records]
*Brenda Vaccaro, Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actressPhilip Wuntch. [http://www.projo.com/sharedcontent/movies/movienews2/081706ccdrMOVIESvaccaro.b7a539d.html "She's in retirement, but it's all an act,"] "The Dallas Morning News", August 17, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2007.]
* Owen Wilson, actor (completed sophomore year at TJ after being expelled from St. Mark's School of Texas - he did not attend TJ during any other period) [http://wilson-brothers.com/owen/bio.html Owen Wilson bio] at Wilson-brothers.com]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/hs/tjhs/info.htm Thomas Jefferson HS (official site)]

Alumni sites

* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tj1970/ Grads of 1970]
* [http://www.tjclass1971.com/TJ Class of 1971]
* [http://tj78.info/ TJ 1978 Alumni Site]