Academics

FPO

Nueva students learn by doing. They construct knowledge through hands-on engagement. As experts in project-based learning, Nueva teachers guide authentic and purposeful investigations that enable discovery while building the skills students need to be successful and to feel a sense of interconnectedness and belonging.

At Nueva, learning is authentic, complex, and intellectually rigorous. Students do real work as authors, artists, inventors, explorers, athletes, and mathematicians. Giving students choice, autonomy, and high expectations for growth, we harness intrinsic motivation as the engine for academic excellence.

Through an interdisciplinary and inquiry-based program, students discover and master foundational skills in traditional academic disciplines while learning to grapple with the unknown, embrace multiple perspectives, and create novel solutions.

Lower School

Grades PreK–4

Our Lower School is a haven for young gifted learners. Our intellectually engaging and creative program incorporates the powerful and joyful elements of early education: deep investigation, inquiry, play, kindness, gratitude, friendship, community, and essential connections to the outdoors.

Middle School

Grades 5–8

The Middle School years are a time of excitement, in which students find their voice and discover how they can make an impact on the world. Teachers use projects, trips, and activities and clubs to make the middle school experience rich with academic and elective experiences.

Upper School

Grades 9–12

At the Upper School, the students’ experience is at the center of everything we do. We nourish their love of learning by providing each student unparalleled opportunity to chart their own pathway through high school. 

Nueva's hallmark programs feature:

Nueva's culture honors and embraces:

  • Spirit of inquiry
  • Integrity
  • Gratitude
  • Diversity of perspectives
  • Community and connectedness
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Equity and inclusion

Learn More About Our Campuses

Lower, Middle, & Upper School News

Upper School Coffeehouse: Fall 2025 Recap
Upper School Coffeehouse: Fall 2025 Recap

On October 3, the Upper School Arts Team presented Fall Coffeehouse—a bi-annual evening of performances by Upper School students, faculty, and staff that drew an audience from across all divisions.

Five Questions for...Isaac Strong, Middle School Science Teacher
Five Questions for...Isaac Strong, Middle School Science Teacher

Isaac’s love of science began in childhood on a nine-acre farm in the Pacific Northwest, where caring for sick goats and observing frog eggs transform into tadpoles sparked a lifelong fascination with the natural world. Drawn to Nueva’s emphasis on curiosity and student self-advocacy, Isaac joined the Middle School faculty in fall 2025.

Snapshots: A Day in the Life of an Upper School Student
Snapshots: A Day in the Life of an Upper School Student

Upper School student Anika A. ’29 takes us on a walk through her classes. She brings us along as she discusses women’s roles during the Tang dynasty; practices debate with classmates; has a conversation about Greek mythology; and builds two-verb sentences in Spanish.

Welcome to the Biology Research Teams (BRT): A Community of Discovery and Growth
Welcome to the Biology Research Teams (BRT): A Community of Discovery and Growth

Upper School biology teachers Jehnna Ronan and Lindy Jensen ask BRT1 and BRT2 students each spring to share advice for future classmates. What began as a simple self-evaluation prompt has become both a source of curriculum inspiration and a way to strengthen community ties.

Read on for a sample of the advice that Jehnna described as “so sweet, wise, and actionable—it seemed a shame to keep it to ourselves.”