The Jefferson effect: New high school builds community inside and out

It was the toughest defeat in the young careers of Jefferson High School’s boys basketball team, falling one win shy of qualifying for the state championship game.

By 9 a.m. the next day, the players, coaches, high school principal and cheerleaders were back in the Rapid City gym — this time to cheer on a “future Cavalier” eighth grade basketball game.

“It just shows you the spirit of coming together as a community and blazing a trail for future Cavaliers,” said Tony Erickson, co-president of the school’s booster club. “It was really cool.”

In the 18 months since Sioux Falls’ newest public high school opened, a community has been formed both inside its walls and out as the surrounding neighborhood is quickly filling in with new homes and businesses — and more to come.

“The Jefferson effect has been very true,” said commercial broker Ryan Tysdal of Van Buskirk Cos. “They’ve had a flurry of sales.”

Creating a community

Erickson is one of several leaders inside Jefferson who knows what it’s like to form a new high school. A member of the third graduating class of Roosevelt High School, he lent that perspective to his oldest son, Anthony, who joined Jefferson his junior year.

“A lot of kids and even parents fear the unknown of a new school,” he said. “I get it. People fear the unknown.”

Principal Dan Conrad was a member the first graduating class at Roosevelt, and several Jefferson counselors were early RHS alums too.

“Just having that from the start made a huge difference,” Erickson said. “We have this shiny new building, it’s $80 million, and it’s beautiful, but it’s not about the building. It’s about the people that are in there, and it’s taken a village to get Jefferson up and going.”

A deposit account for the boosters that started with a balance of zero in 2021 has grown to nearly $250,000 thanks to individual and corporate support, the Presidents Bowl and campaign drives. There are 400 booster members and 20 community business sponsors.

Last April, the club held an appreciation event for teachers, staff and boosters that drew more than 250. It will be held again next month.

“We’ve had phenomenal support,” Erickson said. “The amount of parents that have stepped up no matter what the activity, they’ve done that. The students see that, and from the administrators to the teachers to the parents, they see that we care. And when they see that, good things happen.”

Growing neighborhood

Erickson’s day job as a Realtor also underscores the appeal of the Jefferson area.

“It’s really blossomed since Jefferson opened up,” he said. “People that are looking to build are wanting to stay on the west side and get closer to Jefferson.”

The 190-acre Jefferson Heights development sits on the southwest corner of Marion Road and Maple Street. The site is directly between Jefferson High School and McGovern Middle School.

“That honestly was the biggest factor. They had just started the new high school when I first went up and looked at it,” said developer Erik Christensen of Trademark Homes Inc.

“I probably looked up there and ran numbers and pro formas for probably a year before I made an offer. I kept coming back to the fact the high school was there, and it was such a neat high school, and I thought, it’s got to be a winner. And it kept bringing me back.”

Despite softness in the housing market, “we still continue to sell lots,” Christensen said. “Thankfully, single family is still moving, twin homes are still moving. … We’re just going to start opening up lots, which will be really beautiful lots along the greenway. Jefferson is doing so well in everything, they’ve really become a shining star, and you see that in the people going and the families. It’s really cool.”

There are 50 acres in the middle of the development Trademark is gifting to the city for future development of a bike path and walking bridge so kids can walk through the development to get to the middle and high schools, as well as a proposed elementary school nearby.

The area also is slated for multiple new apartment complexes, including one from Lloyd Cos.

“That northwest corridor has been ripe for development for a long time, but it hasn’t necessarily been attractive as a desirable place where we can really drive people to want to go up there and live. And that’s shifting now,” said Jake Quasney, Lloyd Cos. chief operating officer. “And so we’re definitely making investments up there.”

Commercial activity starts, will build

Scooter’s Coffee was one of the early believers in the area near Jefferson. Franchisee Travis Rhoades, who recently opened a drive-thru location, began considering the idea in late 2020, knowing Jefferson was scheduled to open in 2021.

“It’s the high school ultimately that led us to that location,” he said. “Yes, students and teachers are great customers, but beyond, we’re optimistic for the area to develop with housing and other retail. I’ve heard stories of when Roosevelt High School was built it was essentially all by itself in the middle of a field. Of course, now it’s a very populated area, and we’re hopeful Jefferson High will have the same impact.”

The coffee shop opened in late 2022, “and it’s off to a good start, especially with our morning business,” Rhoades said. “Late morning and afternoon is a bit slow currently, but that was to be expected as we wait for the surrounding area to fill in over the next several years. Most importantly, it’s been great to hear from customers how excited and thankful they are to have a Scooter’s Coffee location nearby as we were the first drive-thru coffee option to open in the area.”

More businesses will be coming. Dairy Queen has a location planned there, and Ace Hardware owns land in the area. A new retail center nearby includes a newly opened Starbucks and eventual Anytime Fitness.

Additional announcements likely will be coming, Tysdal said.

“From local to regional to national retail users, it’s been attractive to all of them,” he said. “There’s definitely credible growth there.”