Isidore Newman School

History

Isidore Newman School was founded in 1903 by Isidore Newman, a New Orleans philanthropist and founder of the Maison Blanche department store chain. It opened its doors the following year as the Isidore Newman Manual Training School (the name was changed in 1931), and it was initially intended for Jewish orphans. Historically, Jewish charities supported the school. The school buildings suffered damage due to wind and flooding caused by 2005's Hurricane Katrina and was closed for two months. It reopened in January 2006, and by October 2006 enrollment fully recovered. As of April 2022, the school is the target of a sealed federal civil rights lawsuit, filed in 2018, related to Title IX violations in connection with a separate lawsuit against a student convicted of sexual battery.

Newman offers comprehensive education for students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, organized into Lower, Middle and Upper schools. Eli N. Evans wrote in the 1973 book The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South that Newman is "highly oriented to college admission." The school is a member of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest and the National Association of Independent Schools. The school also offers four foreign languages, including Honors and/or AP classes in each language: French, Spanish, Latin and Chinese. In order to be on the honor roll, students must maintain a 3.67 GPA. This includes a one GPA point addition for both honors and AP courses.

Jeré Longman of The New York Times described Isidore Newman as "one of Louisiana's elite private schools."

Enrollment

Newman has a student body of 1,055 and a faculty of 208, with an average class size of 15 students per class. Newman has 434 students in its lower school, 253 in its middle school, and 368 in its upper school. About 40% of the students were Jewish circa 1973, and historically in the 20th century there was social distance between Jewish and non-Jewish students that began with private dances held by non-Jewish students.

Athletics

Newman's athletic teams compete in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. The school fields teams on a number of sports, including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and volleyball. Newman has held 113 State Championships as of December 2023. The largest building on campus is the Cotonio Palaestra.

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning attended the high school, leading their football team to a 34–5 record during his three seasons as its starter. He was named Gatorade Circle of Champions National Player-of-the-Year and Columbus (Ohio) Touchdown Club National Offensive Player-of-the-Year in 1993. While at Newman, he began wearing the #18 jersey in honor of his older brother Cooper, who was forced to give up football due to spinal stenosis. Younger brother Eli also wore the number when he became starting quarterback. Newman has since retired the #18 jersey and it can be seen hanging in the school gym. Peyton was among the most sought after high school players in the country and was recruited by 60 colleges. Cooper's son Arch, the most recent Newman quarterback, was touted as one of the top players in the college recruiting class of 2023 before committing to Texas.

Jeremy Bleich, later selected in the first round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees, played baseball for the school, graduating in 2005. In high school by his junior year he had what author Michael Lewis described as "a decent fastball, great command, a big-league change-up and charm to burn," and had over 40 colleges recruiting him. Bleich was named a 2005 first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball (Louisville Slugger), a third-team All American by Baseball America, and the 2005 All-Metro Player of the Year. He was named All-State in Louisiana twice, was the 2004 and 2005 District Most Valuable Player, and in 2003-2005 was named a three-time All-District, All-Metro, and All-Orleans teams player.

In May 2010, ESPN.com ranked Newman at the top of a survey of which high schools produce the best NFL players — even though the school had at the time only produced three NFL players: Omar Douglas and the Manning brothers. NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. graduated from Newman in 2011.