Innovation
Labs

The Innovation Labs (or I-Labs) are spaces on both campuses in which students are able to play, design, prototype, and make. The I-Labs are designed to enable every student to pursue a plethora of interests, and to foster Design Thinking practices in doing so. Students have access to tools, teachers, and resources, enabling them to become content creators and problem solvers.

In a given week, 72% of the student body spends time in the I-Lab.

The I-Lab team nurtures Nueva’s comprehensive PreK–12 Design Thinking program, which embraces engineering and computer science to prepare students for an open-ended and rapidly changing future. Nueva I-Lab engineers start working with students as early as age five and continue through to their high school graduation. This allows the facilitation of long-term growth and development in students through their entire childhood and adolescence.

Mentored Collaborative Environment

An important measure of an education is a student’s ability and willingness to learn, grow, and create outside of traditional school structures. In order to truly support and assess this eventual goal, we must take a step back and give students a choice of where and how to spend their time. Students have the opportunity to utilize the I-Lab outside of class time, whether during lunch or after school. 

Many students take this time to pursue personal interests and to explore new tools, materials, and concepts. Others opt to form groups and clubs, using the I-Lab space to advance project work in a collaborative and supportive environment. 

Learning Through Play 

Of course, a large part of this unstructured access is the encouragement and support of play. Whether students are working on developing a transparent toaster, or just curious about what will happen if they glue two things together, the I-Lab team is ready to support them. Often what begins as a carefree exploration will develop into an in-depth endeavor, from which students will develop a more complete understanding. We seek to cultivate an environment in which students are able to reap the benefits of play, inquiry, and discovery.