Notably
Nueva
Nueva is the place where gifted learners are empowered to fly as far and wide as their talents and passions can carry them.
Experts in Gifted Education
Since its founding in 1967, Nueva has set the standard for facilitating the growth and development of gifted learners. For over 50 years, we have pioneered new methods, continually evolved our practice, and collaborated widely with others in the field.
What is giftedness?
Gifted learners are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of academic aptitude (an exceptional ability to reason and learn), intellectual engagement, and curiosity. They often display unusual talent in other domains, such as athletics, music, dance, or the arts.
While no two students are the same, research shows that gifted students share common characteristics and behaviors.
IN THIS SECTION
The Nueva Way
The Nueva Way brings interdisciplinary learning to students, fully integrating their education with their observations of the world. Teacher partnerships and collaboration across subject areas provide rich assignments where students learn in layered, interdependent, and complex ways. Nueva faculty prepare our students to be problem solvers today, facilitating learning opportunities that tackle complex, meaningful issues. They blur the lines between the world and the classroom.
We teach to the stage, not the age, of each student. This personalized approach results in stimulating learning experiences, driven by our students’ curiosity. Nueva students learn by doing. They construct knowledge through hands-on engagement. As experts in project-based learning, teachers guide authentic, purposeful investigations that enable discovery while building the skills students need to be successful.
Student choice is woven into all of their learning. Their interests guide their studies, sparking authentic questions, deep investment, and joy in learning. They have a voice in choosing themes, topics, activities, clubs, and much more, as classroom and community citizens. This personalized approach results in stimulating learning experiences, driven by our students’ curiosity.
Innovation
A spirit of innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Nueva. Our faculty iterate and innovate how they teach in ways that offer relevant, real-world applications to our students. Teachers regularly introduce new projects and activities, and students are encouraged to devise imaginative and boundary-pushing ways to solve problems. We continuously seek the most effective learning experiences, apply the latest research and technology, and respond to our rapidly changing world. And Nueva’s robust professional development program means our faculty are also always learning, collaborating, and trying ground-breaking ideas—just as they ask our students to do.
Social-Emotional Learning
We believe that EQ matters as much as IQ. Nueva’s internationally recognized social-emotional learning program has been fundamental to our commitment to nurture the whole child since the school’s inception in 1967. Our values of care for self, care for others, and care for the community are the foundation of our culture. In a world where many report feeling less connected to each other, society needs people with the skills to understand themselves, their own emotions, and their impact on others.
We formally teach SEL skills at in pre-kindergarten through 11th grade, with curriculum evolving in an age-appropriate way. For gifted students in particular, having a dedicated class for social-emotional learning also gives them a space to understand their unique needs.
Design Thinking
A process for creative problem-solving, Design thinking is a pillar of Nueva's learning approach. It draws on the humanities for empathy and ethnography; the arts and engineering for idea generation and invention; and the sciences for hypothesis creation, prototyping, testing, and reflection. Students develop the mindset to identify situations where they can better the world, and Design Thinking gives them the tools and resolve to take action.
Nueva partnered with IDEO and Stanford’s d.School to develop the first Design Thinking program and Innovation Lab (I-Lab) specifically for PreK–12 education. Students engage in design thinking across the curriculum daily—in our two dedicated I-Labs and in their classrooms.
Global Citizenship
We want all Nueva students to become global citizens who will positively and profoundly impact the world. We encourage them to ask big questions — and to use Design Thinking skills to identify situations where they can make positive changes and develop the tools to take action.
School trips, from nearby California wilderness to countries around the world, provide immersive and inspiring learning experiences. Community service learning is woven into the curriculum and given special focus through service learning days and other projects and events.
Through our cross-disciplinary focus on environmental learning, we’re developing strong leaders who will build a more sustainable future.
