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The Nysmith School for the Gifted, a top-ranked private K-8 institution in Herndon, Virginia, is facing a civil rights complaint after allegedly creating a hostile environment for Jewish students — and expelling three children whose parents reported severe antisemitic harassment.
Filed on Tuesday by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the complaint accuses the school of violating the Virginia Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and shared ancestry. It outlines a disturbing pattern of antisemitic bullying that escalated after the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel — and an institutional failure to protect the targeted children.
According to the complaint, Headmaster Kenneth R. Nysmith, who owns the school, repeatedly ignored or minimized reports of abuse. After parents Brian Vazquez and Ashok Roy raised concerns earlier this year about the harassment their 11-year-old daughter was facing, Nysmith allegedly told them their child should “toughen up.”
Just days later, on March 13, all three of the couple’s children were expelled — mid-semester, without warning, and after the deadline to transfer to other local schools had passed.
The Brandeis Center called the expulsions “disgraceful,” saying the administration sent a chilling message: “Bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families.”
Among the most troubling allegations detailed in the complaint:
- In a social studies assignment that asked students to present a “strong historical leader,” one submission featured Adolf Hitler — and was shared with the entire school community via email.
- The school canceled its annual Holocaust education program, citing concerns it might “inflame emotions” amid the Israel-Gaza conflict.
- A Palestinian flag was later raised in the gymnasium. The complaint alleges that this action further emboldened bullies, with classmates pointing to the flag and telling the Jewish student, “We won… nobody likes you.”
- Classmates placed pro-Palestinian stickers on lockers and laptops, mocked Jewish students for being “Israeli,” and told the targeted child that “everyone at the school is against Jews and Israel.”
- The school allowed antisemitic bullying to persist unchecked for months. Students called Jews “baby killers” and falsely celebrated the death of the girl’s uncle in the October 7 attacks — despite the fact that he had died years earlier.
The complaint describes a worsening climate of psychological distress and isolation. The child, initially too ashamed to speak out, eventually broke down in tears and confided to her parents that the bullying had become unbearable.
The Nysmith School is widely regarded as one of the leading K-8 institutions in the United States and serves as a feeder to the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. But this case is a sobering reminder that the rise in antisemitic hatred sweeping college campuses is also poisoning younger environments once thought safe.
