It opened its doors the following year as the Isidore Newman Manual Training School (the name was changed in 1931),[2] and it was initially intended for Jewish orphans.

[3] The school buildings suffered damage due to wind[4] and flooding caused by 2005's Hurricane Katrina and was closed for two months.

[8] 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 fields teams on a number of sports, including baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and volleyball.

[11] 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.

[13] 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.

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.