Message from Superintendent Jerry Jennex - September 4th, 2024

September 4, 2024

Dear TJUSD Friends and Families,

Well, we are already in our 3rd week of school and the fall is rapidly approaching. I am hopefully looking
forward to a bit of cooling off over the next few weeks. But as the weather cools off we are just warming
up into the 2024-2025 school-year. We have had a good start to the year and are looking forward to
building on the solid foundation that has been prepared for this year.

I want to encourage all of us to continue to strive toward our 3 “E’s” for the school-year. We are seeking
to Educate, Empower, and Engage our students at higher levels than we have in recent times. I have
continued to promote using TJUSD’s small size to our advantage to accomplish the goals of the 3 “E’s”. If
we can individualize and customize each student’s education here at TJUSD, we can provide the kind of
personal attention to our students that larger schools are unable to.

We will continue to try to improve our overall educational outcomes to meet the standards of the first
“E”, to Educate. TJUSD is offering more educational opportunities to our students this year than we have
been able to recently. We are bringing music and band to grades K-8. THS is offering advanced math
courses such as Trigonometry and has ramped up elective offerings including foreign language (Spanish),
Photography, and Leadership. Additionally, TES will be able to provide Citizenship education to
elementary students because of the Community Schools Grant which allows for a second counselor in
the district.

TJUSD is working toward “Empowering” our students to explore new horizons in their education. Our 6 th
grade students will be attending Camp Keep in a couple of weeks. This science camp allows students to
experience education in a “hands on” fashion. Encouraging our students to explore new horizons takes
on a new meaning as we plan other field trips, explore options for online learning, and seek to provide
other methods for students to gain their own sense of purpose. We seek to empower our students
through these learning experiences.

The “Engage” activities in the district are also being emphasized this school-year. By encouraging all of
our staff to develop their philosophical identity as teachers through an all-staff professional day, we
wanted to take advantage of our ability to know each young person and engage them as we seek to
guide them on their learning journey here at TJUSD. We want our school to reflect the attitude of the
old theme song from the Cheers TV show. We want TJUSD to be the kind of place “where everyone
knows your name, and they’re always glad you came”. We want to engage our students so they are glad
to be here every day.

Thank you for your continued support of TJUSD. Let’s keep on working on our three “E’s” for 24-25. I
look forward to working with you all to make TJUSD the best it can be.

GO TORNADOES!!!
Jerry Jennex, Superintendent