Thomas Jefferson High School

Thomas Jefferson High School, also known as TJ High School, is a public high school in Northwest Dallas, Texas (USA) that serves grades 9-12. The school is part of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. The school is named after the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. It is adjacent to Walnut Hill International Leadership Academy, a Pre-K-8 DISD school. History 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. In the 2005–06 school year, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. In 1987 John Kincaide, the athletic director of DISD, said that the district is prepared to allow Jefferson to be reclassified by the University Interscholastic League (UIL) from athletic class 5A to athletic class 4A; the UIL had the possibility of demoting the school to athletic class 4A as part of its biannual reclassification.