Geovanny N. is thriving at Thomas Jefferson High School.
“This is the school that’s going to nurture me for when I go to college,” he said. “I want people younger than me to see that there’s an opportunity to better themselves and further educate themselves.”
A former private school student, the freshman enrolled at Thomas Jefferson because the campus offered a wider variety of academic and personal growth opportunities than the school he attended previously.
Now at Thomas Jefferson, Geovanny takes advantage of every opportunity he can, whether that’s participating in clubs and sports, or enrolling in programs and classes that will prepare him for life after high school graduation.
“Some of my family didn’t graduate high school, and I want to show my cousins that it’s possible,” he said.
Geovanny is one of dozens of students from private schools who transferred to Thomas Jefferson to continue their education.
It’s part of an intentional recruitment initiative, spearheaded by David Newhouse, P-TECH world history and AP human geography teacher. Over the last three years, Newhouse has met one-on-one with potential students and their families to show them all the opportunities the school has to offer.
When he first started talking to families, Newhouse realized many had a misconception of Thomas Jefferson. To combat that, he found an innovative way to showcase the school–through the eyes of a student.
“We have to show parents what Thomas Jefferson is all about. We can’t just tell them with a flier, or hand them a pamphlet–they’re not necessarily going to believe us,” he said.
His proactive solution was to create a shadow program, where enrolled Thomas Jefferson students are paired with potential new students for the day. Similar to a college visit, participants in the shadow program spend a full school day at Thomas Jefferson and are taken around the school while attending classes.
Each shadow day is individualized to the prospective student.
To prepare for the day, Newhouse meets with the students to discuss their interests and passions. He then matches them with a Thomas Jefferson student with similar goals. That way, the shadows are able to experience a class they enjoy.
“I think what’s really unique about the work that Mr. Newhouse has done is that he embeds himself with the parent groups to get to know the parents and kids,” said Benjamin Jones, principal of Thomas Jefferson. “The effort is about deeply getting to know the family and the kids. What are they concerned about? What are they looking for? And then pairing them intentionally with a student who is also having that experience.”
The results speak for themselves. As word got out about the program, there was at least one shadow student on the campus a day for about four months, Newhouse said.
According to enrollment data, for the 2021-2022 school year, none of the student population were transfers from private schools. The following year, that number spiked to 17%. Now, for the 2024-25 school year, 28% of the student population come from a private school.
Ninth-grader, Kassandra T., said her shadow day gave her an idea of what to expect as a student at Thomas Jefferson.
“It was so eye-opening. It was just like a normal day, and I liked that it was so comfortable,” she said. “It helped with the first day of school nerves because I already knew what to expect.”
Now, a few months into her new school, Kassandra said one of her favorite things about Thomas Jefferson is the variety of extracurricular activities she can participate in.
“I really like the clubs. I really like the chess club and mock trial,” she said. “Mock trial is so fun because you learn a lot, and it’s stuff that you could actually use in the real world–you learn genuine skills.”
With the program in full swing, students who enrolled at Thomas Jefferson after their shadow day now serve as mentors for potential incoming students who come to campus to shadow for the day.
“It’s a full circle thing to get students involved and empower them to take an active role in this program,” Newhouse said. “We need students to talk to other students. Otherwise, it’s just adults preaching.”
Citlaly B., a 10th-grader at Thomas Jefferson is one of them. A former shadow student, she is now a mentor and enjoys showing potential students around the campus.
During her shadow day, Citlaly, who is involved in band, theater, and art, was able to take a modern band class and meet her future band teacher.
“The people that I talked to, and visiting the school interested me,” she said. “The people were very friendly, I could easily talk to them. They were very nice to me.”
Coming from a private school, Citlaly said she was weighing her high school options when she met Newhouse. His mentorship and guidance set Thomas Jefferson apart from the rest.
“He took me through every step of the process, and was there for me. That kindness showed me TJ wasn’t so bad,” she said. “When I came to shadow, I met with him first, and he came with me to meet teachers. It felt very kind of him to do that.”
Her shadow, and the other people she met throughout the day, helped her make the decision to enroll at Thomas Jefferson, Citlaly said.
“He (Newhouse) put me with students who I think are amazing. The theater group was so kind to me, and it put a fuzzy feeling inside of me, like I could be here,” she said.
