This year, twenty-three student-run clubs, including 16 new clubs, gave students more opportunities than ever to explore their interests, share their ideas and express who they are beyond the classroom. This year’s growth approaches the record of 27 student clubs in 2021. Clubs come in many different sizes, the biggest being Turning Point USA with 65 students, and the smallest being the philosophy club with three.
While some clubs, centering on business, robotics or medicine, have been around for many years, in newer clubs — including those that center on art, fashion, and politics — students are exploring passions, creating community, and expressing opinions in a safe environment, while reflecting the diversity of the student body.
Clubs are meant to be student-led and faculty-supported, said Dean of Student Life Jonathan Ravanshenas, who oversees clubs at Shalhevet.
“Clubs are where students can curate their own personal journeys, turning classroom lessons into passion-driven experiences,” Dr. Ravanshenas said. “It allows them to foster their growth and enable creativity to flourish beyond the classroom.”
Students create the clubs and run the meetings while faculty advisors guide and approve activities, Ravanshenas said, and “more often than not,” faculty members are able to fully step back and “watch the magic happen.”
This year, starting a club has more requirements than ever before to give the club its best shot at surviving, including filling out a form with basic info about its leadership, who the faculty advisor is and what the club’s goals are. If a club needs funds, they can submit a budget request of up to $500 per semester. These funds are not to be used for food, but rather for supplies needed to support the club and make it very enjoyable for the students. For example, the Fashion Club uses the budget to support the annual fashion show, which is also a fundraiser.
Clubs must meet at least twice a month, to ensure that each club remains a meaningful and committed space for students.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a club founded in September 2025 after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, has approximately 65 members and focuses on open discussion about current political issues. Tenth grader Benny Portnoy, also a co-leader of TPUSA, said a key part of the club is an “open floor where anyone can say their opinion with no judgment.”
Joey Jahan, a 10th grader and club co-leader of TPUSA, said Kirk’s assassination highlighted a larger concern about civil discourse among students.
“One thing became apparent to us,” Joey said. “Civil discourse is slowly fading away, and people with opposing values increasingly seem to no longer disagree peacefully.”
Shalhevet participants call the TPUSA group “Current Events Club,” to convey that it’s a more bipartisan space for respectful conversations about political issues than other official TPUSA chapters, members of the club’s leadership told the Boiling Point. The club tries to elminate bias in how meetings are run, using “multiple reliable and as-unbiased-as-possible sources to support each discussion,” and engages a variety of voices to make sure that the club is not tied to a single political viewpoint or affiliation, its leaders said.
“To officially operate as a typical TPUSA chapter, you would have to host events aligned with Republican values,” Joey said. “We intentionally chose not to do that so the club could remain bipartisan and focused strictly on civil debate rather than advocacy.”
During meetings, students discuss current political issues and international events. At a recent meeting, students debated the situation in Iran, discussing whether or not dismantling the current Iranian regime would be beneficial for the world.
Joey said club leaders set clear expectations at the beginning of each meeting.
“We always make sure to emphasize before all meetings that if you would like to participate, you must be respectful and open to new ideas, abstaining from personal insults and disrespect,” he said.
Topics are sometimes selected through informal polls among members, though there is no strict process for choosing them. While the club strives to welcome many viewpoints, Joey acknowledged that some students are hesitant to attend because of the club’s name.
“I believe we have achieved the goal of making it an open floor, though not completely,” he said. “Many people are reluctant to come because they think it will be an echo chamber, but that’s the complete opposite of what we’re trying to do.”
Creative expression also plays a major role in Shalhevet clubs. Art Club has about 14 members, and is a space for activities ranging from papier-mache to painting on two connecting canvases, said sophomore Gabriella Elkus, who started the club this year.
“The most important part is for people to enjoy doing projects and to have a love of arts and creativity,” Gabriella said.
While finding initial interest from students isn’t a challenge, maintaining weekly attendance can be. Dr. Ravanshenas said that some clubs may not survive a month “or even more than their first week,” but that indicators of potential success for a club include a strong leader and the use of guest speakers and prepared material for meetings.
Over his nine years at Shalhevet, Dr. Ravanshenas said what has surprised him most is how motivated students are to turn interests into real communities, for instance, students who participated in the business club creating a start up or working for hedge funds. Another example is students who were in the medical society club who went to medical school or pursued work in medical professions.
School Principal Mr. Daniel Weslow is also faculty advisor for the Ski Club, which he described as being “built by students with a real passion for skiing and spending time outdoors.”
“What makes this club unique is the level of commitment,” Mr. Weslow said. “Having roughly 20 students deeply invested in being part of something healthy, social, and energizing shows exactly why clubs matter. They create connection, community and opportunities for students to pursue what they genuinely love.”
