Upper School News

What does it mean to build the courage to imagine and craft solutions to challenges? How can design thinking, systems thinking, data science, computer science, and design engineering be used to address societal issues around social justice and equity? In Design with Impact (DWI), a core course in ninth grade, students engage in projects that help them bridge the skills in these five key areas and design for others. 

It’s a rare occurrence for it to be sunnier in San Francisco than in San Mateo, but upper school students in Chelsea Denlow’s Postcolonial Latin America history class experienced sunshine and blue skies, which made the vibrant colors of the Mission District pop as they visited the neighborhood last week.

On the final day of the fall semester you could hear the sounds of a waltz, smell freshly-baked crumpets, and see a top hat—or three!—in room 1109 of the San Mateo campus. 

Betsy Madden, upper school physics teacher, is in her second year at Nueva. In this conversation we learn about Betsy’s time working for the Red Cross and how teaching has provided a place for her interests and experiences to be put into practice. 

Jonathan Quick, in his second year at Nueva, teaches upper school English and is the ninth-grade co-dean. In this conversation, we hear about Jonathan’s unique path to Nueva, the importance of reading with his family, and his love of National Parks.

On the morning of November 17, students in the upper school spent time hearing about the experiences of nearly 70 Nueva student interns who took part in 35 unique internships and partnerships during summer 2021.

The last time the Nueva girls’ volleyball stepped on the court, they were competing in the 2019 California Interscholastic Federation Division V NorCal finals. The season culminated in a CCS quarterfinals playoff match against Castilleja on Nov. 2, after they earned an eighth-seed berth and defeated ninth-seeded Santa Catalina in their opening playoff match.

As the sun began to set, upper school students and teachers settled into the couches and armchairs of the Writing and Research Center last Thursday evening.

Wes Chao joined the upper school I-Lab team in 2019. We sat down with Wes to discuss his path to teaching, the role his outside interests play in his professional life, and to hear more about some projects our upper school students are currently working on in computer science.