TJ Names 6th Head of School

The Thomas Jefferson School Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Jane Ballard Roth as permanent Head of School. The Head of School Transition Committee (HTC) conducted a thorough process that identified three outstanding semi-finalists. The Board unanimously approved the Committee’s recommendation to formally appoint Ms. Roth Head of School. 

In Ms. Roth’s own words, she was “raised in the soil of the school.” She graduated from Thomas Jefferson School in ’91 and has served TJ for over 25 years as a teacher of English, Italian, and Classical Languages, as Director of Admissions, Director of Academics, and most recently as Associate Head of School. 

A graduate of Kenyon College with an MA from the University of Missouri, Ms. Roth has distinguished herself as an uniquely talented educator and administrator and a powerful influence on the direction of TJ over the last two decades.

Many know that she met her husband, Boaz, on the faculty at TJ, and together they have raised two TJ graduates, Liat ’17 and Sela ’21. Perhaps Orli (age 11) will be the third. In her twenty-five years of service as a faculty member and administrator, Jane has educated the majority of TJ’s living alumni. There is no one who has both the breadth and depth of understanding of TJ and its community like Ms. Roth. 

Ms. Roth represents much more than TJ’s past and present. Through the application and interview process, Ms. Roth took the opportunity to put forth new ideas for the school while understanding and showing a commitment to retain the unique components of a TJ experience. “Every day we ask our students to make themselves better at whatever it is they seek to do,” she said, “I hold myself to the same standard.” The HTC and the Board of Trustees believe that Ms Roth will be the absolute best person to lead the school and foster the spirit of αρετή in every student and throughout the TJ Community—both today and long into TJ’s future.

This announcement concludes an eventful fall at TJ. In early September, the Board notified the TJ Community of Dr. Troutman’s intention to resign his position effective January 1, of Ms. Roth’s willingness to serve as Acting Head of School for the second semester of the year, and of the formation of the HTC, chaired by Chino Kim ‘85, entrusted with organizing a process to identify a permanent Head of School to begin July 1, 2023. 

With the help of search consultants from The Gowan Group, the HTC worked through the early fall to understand the expectations of the TJ Community, document the critical leadership qualities of the next HoS and identify highly qualified candidates, including Ms. Roth. Two weeks ago, the HTC invited three candidates for extensive interviews with each. At that point, the HTC determined that Ms. Roth was the superior candidate and opted to conclude the process.

As many of you know, Dr. Troutman announced his need to conclude his tenure earlier than expected, and Ms. Roth stepped into her role as Acting Head last week. This announcement, then, serves to remove the temporaneous part of Ms. Roth’s title and ensures that the School will be led by someone who knows—and is known well by—more than two generations of TJ students, parents, faculty and alumni and who has demonstrated her ability to navigate change. 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank the many alumni, parents, faculty, and staff who provided input to the HTC throughout the process. Through both the focus groups and the survey, we gained a more complete, textured view of the needs of TJ and our constituents’ aspirations for the future. Thanks to your participation, this was indeed a community effort to identify TJ’s sixth Head of School. Being the small, intimate community we are, I trust that we will not be shy in sending congratulatory and encouraging words to Ms. Roth as she embarks on her new journey. There will be opportunities to do so in person in the coming weeks as well.