Upper
School

FPO

The Nueva Upper School reinvents the high school experience as four years of inquiry-based learning, collaboration, and self-discovery.

A Nueva education develops creative, resilient, thoughtful leaders and collaborators who are ready to solve problems and have an impact on the world.
 

The Nueva Way at the Upper School

At the Nueva Upper School, the students’ experience — their courses, interests, and passions — 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. With support from advisors, students select from more than 100 electives that satisfy graduation requirements and allow them to dive deeply into exciting subjects.

Embracing the interconnectivity of the world, teachers build courses with global relevance and connections across academic disciplines. Assignments center around authentic, real-world challenges, and are flexibly structured to allow students to be creative and incorporate their personal interests. Surrounded by a community dedicated to intellectual pursuits, collaborative projects are dynamic and thought-provoking. From examining historical trends through unique lenses to writing code for mathematical processes, Nueva students are capable, adaptable, interdisciplinary thinkers.

Nueva Quest, the in-depth pursuit of a field of study during each year of Upper School, is another way students are empowered to follow their boundless curiosity. Students are mentored by experts, feel the joy of creating something from nothing or delving into an area of interest, and practice Design Thinking skills that will serve them well into the future.

Opportunities for personal growth, collaboration, and exploration abound beyond the classroom as students participate in extensive co- and extracurricular opportunities. Advisories, activities and clubs, rich arts offerings, and athletic programs are an important part of every student’s Nueva experience.

Cate Rose '22
 

When you’re in an environment that encourages mistakes, when you’re not in an arms race to add the most points to your GPA, when your school doesn’t make you compete for award after award and instead makes space in your schedule to investigate topics that fascinate you, this is when you are truly able to be collaborative, creative, to take risks in classes or new subjects, to celebrate others’ successes, and to learn from your failures.

 

Our Culture of Kindness

Nueva’s 50-year history of social-emotional learning (SEL) and commitment to developing students’ social and emotional acuity play an essential role in the learning atmosphere of trust, community, and inclusion at the Upper School. Nueva’s environment of caring and layered system of support ensures each student feels truly seen, heard, cared for, and valued. With formal training in SEL, faculty make themselves available for questions and conversation, supporting students in self-reflection, observation, inquiry, and the development of attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will serve them and their communities well into adulthood.

Each year during pre-term, the upper school community welcomes and integrates new and returning students through grade-specific fall orientation trips. These camping retreats in the California wilderness give students time and space to build relationships with faculty and classmates, and give them shared experiences to bring back to campus.

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The Writing & Research Center

We empower students to be strong, discerning researchers in any post-secondary context, and we help every student develop a clear, confident writing voice. Learn more about the ways the Writing & Research Center fosters our culture of curiosity.

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Design Thinking and Engineering

Nueva upper school students quickly become adept at design thinking process, practices, and mindset. Extensive offerings in design Thinking, engineering, computer science build skills through human-centered design challenges, ensuring all students have hands-on experience with the design thinking process and the ability to use computational thinking and problem-solving. Students also become confident, safe, and responsible at creating with the vast array of tools available in the I-Lab.

A wide array of electives enables students to dive deeply. Examples include Design Engineering for Social Good, Machine Learning, Engineering and Fabrication Workshop, and many more, all of which are taught using the Nueva Way philosophy emphasizing real-world context for learning.

Across the classes, students identify needs, prototype, obtain feedback, and create and test solutions, while gaining both knowledge and skills along the way. With experience, students have ready access to the design thinking tools: it ceases to be “a process” and becomes the way they think. They are empowered changemakers, prepared for a future where resilience is key and translating ideas into reality is essential.

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Global Citizenship

We prepare Nueva students to succeed in their interconnected world. They are encouraged to use Design Thinking skills to learn about the world through active participation, identifying situations where they can make positive changes and developing the personal and collaborative tools to take action. Students bring their SEL skills to bear as they engage with different cultures and diverse perspectives.

School trips, from nearby Oakland to countries around the world, provide immersive, inspiring learning experiences. Community service learning is woven into the curriculum and given special focus through service learning days, projects, and events.

Through our cross-disciplinary focus on environmental learning, we’re developing strong leaders who will build a more sustainable future.

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Internship Program

The Nueva Internship Program places our students in one- to eight-week engagements with more than 50 different Bay Area organizations spanning the fields of technology, research, politics, medicine, publishing, fine arts, and more.

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College Counseling

We believe that applying to college should be a personal journey to the best fit, not a process to fear. Nueva’s college counseling team works with all students, starting in their junior year, setting each on an individual path of self-reflection, dreaming, and strategic planning. We help students think about who they are, who they want to become, and map the best way to get there.

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Upper School Stories

Truly Stunning: Capitalism and the Apocalypse

As someone interested in the humanities and social sciences, I have taken many history courses at Nueva. My Capitalism and the Apocalypse course—which I am taking this semester—is truly stunning, as it exemplifies the subtle interconnectedness of all of these courses, and how history is an ever changing-field.

Snapshots: Upper School

No matter the day of the week or the time of the day, there are always amazing things happening in the classrooms at the Upper School. Block 2 on Wednesday, September 21 was no exception. From discussing class consciousness to investigating bacterial lab results, exploring a variety of art media to critiquing forms of graphic design, Upper School students dove into their classes with excitement. 

Top Moments from the Upper School Grade-level Retreats

At the start of every school year, each Upper School class takes part in an overnight camping trip. These trips allow students to bond together and kick the year off, and is a great chance to for them connect or reconnect with their grade and advisory groups. We asked students to reflect on their top moment from the retreat. 

Upper School Art Explores Temporality and Permanence

This spring, Nueva Upper School art classes have been exploring the themes of permanence and temporality, and what this means materially, conceptually and visually. Students worked in 2D and 3D formats to investigate the full range of possibilities related to their unique experience and voice. They came to the conclusion that nothing is permanent, and many sought to challenge the human myth of control and static definition related to the industrialized and colonized world.

New Upper School Psychology Program a Hit with Students

Does digital technology change our thinking? Why do art and music affect people differently? Can we predict who a person will be attracted to? How does a person form an identity? Can trauma be inherited? What are the roots of prejudice? These are some of the questions explored by upper school students in psychology.

Photo Walk Series: An Afternoon at the Upper School

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, upper school students could be heard presenting to their peers, playing games in world languages, and oohing and ahhing as they discovered the molarity of chemical solutions. We invite you to learn more about a variety of Block 8 classes below.