Visit our Affording a Nueva Education page to learn more about our financial assistance program. 

Visit our Grades PreK–8: IQ Assessment page to learn more. Upper School applicants are not required to submit IQ assessment results. 

Applications for admission for the fall of 2025–26 will be available in early September, and due January 9, 2025.

The application process for all grades involves several steps, and we strongly recommend that you carefully review our Visit and Apply pages to better understand the requirements of the grade you are interested in. If you have any questions about any part of the process, the Admissions Office is happy to help you.

If you are applying for the fall of 2025, please create an account through Ravenna, our application and event registration system, as early as you can. Once you have created an account, you will be able to register for Program Previews, Admissions Office Hours, optional events, and more. 

Pre-kindergarten Applicants

Children applying for pre-kindergarten must be 4 years old by May 26, 2025. However, we evaluate pre-kindergarten applicants at two distinct times during the admission season due to the timing of when applicants are old enough to take the IQ assessment.

Children applying for Round I of the pre-kindergarten admissions process must be 4 years old by March 9, 2025.

If your child's birthday falls between March 10 and May 26 of 2025, they can apply to Nueva during Round II of the pre-kindergarten admissions process. 

Approximately half of the pre-kindergarten class is offered enrollment in March, and the other half in early April. Students who receive wait pool letters in March will be reconsidered during Round II of the pre-kindergarten application process. 

Please see the "Who is eligible to apply during Round II of the prekindergarten admissions process?" question if your child does not meet the Round I age cutoff. 

If your child turns 4 between May 27 and and August 31, 2025, they are not candidates for admission into our pre-kindergarten program. This is due to age requirements and how age-eligible test dates align with our school admissions and enrollment deadlines. We encourage you to consider having your child apply to our kindergarten program next admissions season. 

K–12 Grade Applicants

Children applying for kindergarten must be 5 years old by September 1, 2025. Children applying for first grade must be 6 years old by September 1, 2025. With each grade, the child will be one year older: 7 years old for second grade, 8 years old for third grade, and so on. The process of determining placement for eligible candidates begins with observing your child in the age range standard for the Nueva School. Given that Nueva draws candidates from many educational backgrounds, grade placement is assessed in the context of a child's age cohort, social and emotional development, academic skills, and the mission of the school. 

If you believe that your child is a better match for a lower or higher grade than our age categories, please contact our office. We are happy to consider your request, and ultimately, our team will make the recommendation we think is best for each child. 

If your child's birthday falls between March 10 and May 26, they may apply during Round II of the pre-kindergarten application process. 

If your child is applying to Nueva during Round II of the process, their IQ assessment results are due on or before March 26, 2025, while all other application materials must be submitted by the January 9 deadline.

Please keep in mind that if your child takes the IQ assessment after January 9 and their scores are not in-range, and therefore not eligible to continue in the admissions process, they will need to wait a full 12 months before they can retake the assessment. As a result, they would not be eligible to apply for kindergarten admission the following year. 

Approximately half of the pre-kindergarten class is offered enrollment in March, and the other half in early April. Students who receive wait pool letters in March will be reconsidered for Round II of the pre-kindergarten application process. 

If your child turns 4 between between May 27 and August 31, they are not candidates for admission into our pre-kindergarten program. This is due to age requirements and how age-eligible test dates align with our school admissions and enrollment deadlines. We encourage you to consider having your child apply to our kindergarten program next admissions season. 

Our main entry points are pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 5, 6, and 9. Families are welcome to apply to grades pre-K through 10 as openings may occur. Applications for admission to grades 11 and 12 are only considered in special circumstances. 

Below are approximate average openings in each grade:

• Pre-kindergarten: 14–16 applicants
• Kindergarten: 20–22 applicants
• Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4: 0–3 applicants
• Grade 5: 10–20 applicants
• Grade 6: 20–25 applicants
• Grades 7 and 8: 0–3 applicants
• Grade 9: 35–45 applicants
• Grades 10: 0–3 applicants
• Grades 11-12: only considered in special circumstances. Please contact us directly at admissions@nuevaschool.org. 

Yes. If you have previously applied to Nueva, you are welcome to reapply. However, most of your application materials do not roll over. In some circumstances (see below), the Parent/Guardian Conversation and IQ assessment do roll over. If you are reapplying, please submit the Family Information Form, and we will contact you regarding the steps that are waived. 

Steps that may be waived for reapplies: 

Parent/Guardian Conversation: If you completed a Parent/Guardian Conversation last season, then this step is waived for this season unless your child is applying to a different division (e.g. you completed a Lower School application for 4th grade last season and are completing a Middle School application for 5th grade this season). Parent/Guardian Conversations are open to all Upper School applicant families but are optional.

IQ Assessment (LS/MS Applications Only): For the purpose of our admissions process, in-range Wechsler IQ assessments are valid for two consecutive admissions cycles and must have been taken within the last two years. 

If your child took the Wechsler IQ assessment last season and did not score in-range to be eligible to continue in the application process and you would like to apply again this season, they will need to retake the IQ assessment. It’s important to note that applicants may only take the IQ assessment once in 12 months; they must wait a full calendar year before retaking the assessment.

If you have questions about your results or if an existing report is valid and you would like to use it this season, please email admissions@nuevaschool.org. 

Admission to Nueva is not automatic nor guaranteed. Each applicant, regardless of their connection to the school, is evaluated based on the same criteria. Our goal is to ensure that all decisions are made with the best interest of each individual child in mind. 

While we deeply value the strong relationships we have with our current families, we encourage every family to explore all available school options. This approach ensures that the final choice is the best possible fit for their child’s unique needs and growth.

Yes. Our admissions events fill up quickly, so families who submit the application early have greater access to admissions events.

For applicants to kindergarten, Middle School, and Upper School, submitting the Family Information Form (and in-range IQ assessment scores for kindergarten and Middle School applicants) by November 13 guarantees an opportunity for an in-person Activity Session. For Upper School applicants, it also guarantees an opportunity for an optional parent/guardian conversation. 

For applicants to grades 1–4, we encourage you to submit IQ assessment results and the Family Information Form by early November. 

All applicants are asked to meet our stated deadlines. Only applications completed by the deadline will be considered. We understand that transcripts coming from the applicant’s current school might be sent after the application deadline, and only those documents will be accepted after the deadline.

Yes. If the cost of applying to Nueva is a financial hardship for your family and you plan on applying for financial assistance, fee waivers are available. 

• The process of applying for a reduced on-campus IQ assessment fee or voucher for an off-campus assessment is a separate process from applying for financial assistance. To request a reduced fee or voucher, please complete the Reduced Fee Application Form.
  • On-campus assessment appointments are only open to current community members (i.e., faculty/staff and siblings), families applying for financial assistance, and/or families applying through our partner community-based organizations (e.g., A Better Chance, Peninsula Bridge, SMART).
• Details regarding an application fee waiver can be found on Ravenna.
• Please contact the admissions office at admissions@nuevaschool.org for a Test Innovators or Clarity fee waiver. 

Visit our Affording a Nueva Education page to learn more about our financial assistance program. 

No. Due to the intimate size of our classes and the large number of applicants, we do not offer weekday shadow day visits for applicants. We invite your family to get to know Nueva by attending our school and admissions events. During these virtual and on-campus opportunities, families have the opportunity to meet and hear from a wide variety of Nueva students, parents, faculty, and administrators.

Accepted students to grades 5-10 will have an opportunity to spend a morning or afternoon on campus during decision week (mid-March). 

No. We do our best to mitigate bias in our reading and decision process. Therefore, we will consider only the required application materials and assessments and respectfully request no additional documents be submitted on behalf of a student or their family. 

Additional letters of support, including those from current Nueva community members, will not be added to a student's completed application. 

The Admissions Committee carefully reviews completed files and releases decisions through Ravenna on March 21, 2025 at approximately 4 p.m. Families must notify the Admissions Office of their decision to accept or decline the offer within one week of receiving the notice. Early responses are very helpful and appreciated! 

Pre-kindergarten applicants who receive a wait pool letter in mid-March are reconsidered during Round II of the pre-kindergarten admissions process. Round II admissions decisions are released through Ravenna on April 4, 2025. Enrollment contracts, with the deposit, are due back in the Admissions Office the following week.

Acceptance into the wait pool means that the Admissions Committee believes your student is a potential match for Nueva’s program. We place applicants in a wait pool because more spaces may open up by the end of the summer. We cannot give families an estimate of the likelihood that their student will be accepted, so we encourage wait pool candidates to secure a place at another school. You will be notified right away if a space opens at Nueva and the Admissions Committee selects your child. The wait pool closes when school starts in the fall.

The wait pool is not ranked. It represents a pool of applicants that the Admissions Committee will draw from if a student cannot enroll or re-enroll. When choosing an applicant from the wait pool, the Admissions Committee evaluates learning styles, abilities and talents, and various facets of the grade to build a well-rounded class.

No. We do not accept late applications or mid-year transfers for any grade. All decisions are made in the spring for the following academic year. 

Yes. We accept applications from international students. The process is the same for all applicants, including those from outside of the United States. Our program is conducted entirely in English; students must be fluent in English to be considered for admission to Nueva. Nueva issues I-20 visas to enrolled students who require one. 

Nueva does not offer a boarding or homestay program for any grade. Students are expected to live in the Bay Area with their parents or legal guardians. 

No. Students travel to school from the North Bay, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, East Bay, and the Coast. Families from the Central Peninsula represent 40 percent of the Nueva community. About 16 percent of our families live in the San Francisco area, and 30 percent commute from the Southern Peninsula.

Nueva offers several bus routes from San Francisco and the Southern Peninsula. Upper school students are provided Caltrain passes as part of their tuition.

Visit our Transportation page to learn more. 

A multitude of transportation options connect Nueva to communities throughout the Peninsula, San Francisco, and the greater Bay Area. Please explore these options on our transportation page.