Building photo
Students actively listen to Humanities teacher Matt Berman
The Middle School students perform Guys and Dolls

Nueva is an independent PreK-12 school where gifted learners discover and develop their passions, and learn to make choices that positively and profoundly impact the world.

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Diane Rosenberg

Head of School

“We want our students to become engaged global citizens. That requires imagination, flexibility, resilience, the ability to get along with others, and a sense of humor. These are the compassionate creators and leaders who will build our future.”

Nueva News

Halloween at Nueva Celebrates Creativity

Halloween is always a festive celebration at Nueva, and this year was no exception. With campus parades featuring unique, handmade costumes, and themed choice activities throughout the day, students, faculty, and families enjoyed what several students called "the best day of the year!"

The five 2018 Nueva Cup winners pose for a picture at Green Hills Country Club

On Monday, October 8, the eleventh annual Nueva Cup Golf Tournament was held at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae. The weather conditions were ideal as nearly 60 parents, alumni, alumni parents, relatives, students, teachers, and friends of Nueva enjoyed a day of camaraderie, fun, and friendly competition benefitting the Nueva School.

Alumni Lee Holtzman poses with a lemur

“My years at Nueva were the best three years of my intellectual life,” upper school teacher and eighth-grade class of 2001 alum Lee Holtzman said. “Ever since I left Nueva, it was always the biggest part of me. Which is odd because I was only here for three years.” After only one week at the school, Lee identified the need for Nueva to expand from a PreK–8 school to PreK–12. “The end of my first week at Nueva (I started in sixth grade, so I was eleven), I went into the Head of School’s office, sat down, and said ‘You need to start a high school, because I need to go there!’”

Judee Brasesco and her two grandsons

Judee Brasesco has the unique perspective of seeing how Nueva shaped two generations of students in her family. When she learned about the Nueva School in the 1970s, she had two school-aged children, Jill Brasesco Thomsen (’77 sixth-grade graduate) and J.D. Brasesco (’80 sixth-grade graduate). Last spring, Judee’s oldest grandsons, Scott Brasesco ’18 and Chip Thomsen ’18, graduated from Nueva, and her youngest grandson, Jack B., is now an eleventh grader at Nueva.  

Andrew Lam and his parents in a city

When Andrew Lam (eighth grade,’01) visited the Upper School with his father last year, he was thrilled to see learning in progress. “There was stuff all over the floor,” he said. “An intentional mess of art and science projects where kids were learning and exploring.” He was happy to see that the culture of exploration and the freedom to make and learn from mistakes were still part of the school he loved so much.

Fun graphic, "May the task force be with you"

The Bridge Experience Task Force

Mission

1) To explore the idea of a Nueva Gap Year Program.

2) The task force determined that Nueva is well positioned to provide graduates with a unique gap year experience, and the task force was charged with defining and launching the program.

Three students from the Class of 2018 meet with Diane Rosenberg

"As you embark on your journey from here, I just wanted to warn you: you may end up back here.”

Lee Holtzman — upper school history of science teacher and Nueva alum — shared these opening remarks as she welcomed the Class of 2018 at their first official alumni gathering earlier this month. Just two days after graduates flipped their tassels and tossed their caps, they gathered at the upper school for a brunch to embrace their new official status as Nueva alums.