Tuition, Financial Awards, and the Sunshine Fund

Expanding opportunities is in Nueva's identity. The Nueva community strives to make education for the gifted child possible—and therefore affordable—for families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Nueva is proud to have a need-blind admissions process, meaning students are admitted regardless of their financial need. Currently more than $4 million in need-based awards is given to families annually.

Tuition Rates 2018-2019

Grade Tuition & Fees Trips Total  
Prekindergarten $28,245 ----     $28,245      
Kindergarten $35,555 $40 $35,595  
First $35,555 $100 $35,655  
Second $35,555 $500 $36,055  
Third $35,555 $500 $36,055  
Fourth $35,555 $500 $36,055  
Fifth $43,080 $2,000 $45,080  
Sixth $44,180* $3,000 $47,180  
Seventh $44,180* $1,700 $45,880  
Eighth $44,195* $5,500 $49,695  
Ninth  $46,945** $4,000 $50,945  
Tenth $46,945** $4,000 $50,945  
Eleventh $46,945** $2,500 $49,445  
Twelfth $46,945**     $1,700       $48,645    

 

*Includes technology program fees. 
**Includes technology program fees, lunch, and Caltrain Go Pass.

How to Apply for a Financial Award

Nueva uses the School and Student Services (SSS) platform to
process all applications for tuition financial awards.

The Nueva School's recipient code is 5473

Button to SSS Financial Awards

 

  1. Be prepared. Applying for financial awards requires your family to complete your income taxes by early February.
     
  2. Apply online with School and Student Services (SSS) and complete the Parents’ Financial Statement and a Household Budget by January 11, 2019.
     
  3. All required forms and records should be uploaded directly to SSS by February 8, 2019. All documents are required to receive a financial award:
  • 2018 Federal Income Tax Return, including all pages, forms, and schedules.
    Note: See Admissions FAQ for information about using a preliminary draft of your return.
  • Your completed 2017 Federal Income Tax Return. 
    Note: This is not required for returning families if submitted previously.
  • All 2018 W-2 and 1099 forms.
  • November and December paystubs for each wage-earning parent or guardian.
  • IRS Form 4506-T, signed and dated.

Note: Returning families need to submit a financial award application each year since awards do not automatically renew.

Reduced IQ Testing and Application Fees for Applicants

The process of applying for reduced fees is a separate process from applying for a Financial Award. If you have any questions about reduced fees, please contact us at admissions@nuevaschool.org.

Additional Financial Awards for Enrolled Students

In order to enable full engagement in our wide range of school programs and activities, Nueva also offers awards with selected additional school-related expenses. Students receiving tuition financial awards may apply for an award from The Sunshine Fund, Alumni Trip Fund, and/or Nueva Parents Association Social Fund. These programs provide limited financial awards for participation in school programs. More information about Nueva’s financial awards program can be found as printable PDFs below.

Affording an Education at The Nueva School

Financial Awards Programs at Nueva

Frequently Asked Questions

Financial Award Process Checklist

Financial Award Key Dates

Friday, January 11, 2019 
PFS Applications Due

Friday, February 8, 2019
Supplemental Documents Due

Friday, February 15, 2019
FA Re-enrollment Contracts & Awards Released

Friday, February 22, 2019
FA Re-enrollment Contracts and Deposits Due

Thursday, March 21, 2019
Decision and Financial Award Letters Mailed

Friday, March 22, 2019
Financial Award Decision Emails Sent at 4:00 pm

Friday, March 29, 2019
PreK-4 Enrollment Contracts and Deposits Due at 10:00 am

Grades 5-12 Enrollment Contracts and Deposits Due at 12 noon

Questions? Contact us
admissions@nuevaschool.org

The Nueva School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Nueva does not discriminate on the basis of these factors in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial award programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.

Drew Willoughby

Class of 2009

"In 2008, my family was among about 10% of Nueva families whose primary earner lost their job in the wake of the financial crisis. If not for donors that fund financial awards at Nueva, I would not have been able to finish my schooling here. I want thank them, both for my own time at Nueva, and on behalf of all those students who may not yet be able to understand the profound impact donors have on their lives. I feel so fortunate to have been able to attend this school, and am grateful to be a part of this community every day."

Read Alumni Stories in Nueva News

Alumni Lee Holtzman poses with a lemur

“My years at Nueva were the best three years of my intellectual life,” upper school teacher and eighth-grade class of 2001 alum Lee Holtzman said. “Ever since I left Nueva, it was always the biggest part of me. Which is odd because I was only here for three years.” After only one week at the school, Lee identified the need for Nueva to expand from a PreK–8 school to PreK–12. “The end of my first week at Nueva (I started in sixth grade, so I was eleven), I went into the Head of School’s office, sat down, and said ‘You need to start a high school, because I need to go there!’”

Judee Brasesco and her two grandsons

Judee Brasesco has the unique perspective of seeing how Nueva shaped two generations of students in her family. When she learned about the Nueva School in the 1970s, she had two school-aged children, Jill Brasesco Thomsen (’77 sixth-grade graduate) and J.D. Brasesco (’80 sixth-grade graduate). Last spring, Judee’s oldest grandsons, Scott Brasesco ’18 and Chip Thomsen ’18, graduated from Nueva, and her youngest grandson, Jack B., is now an eleventh grader at Nueva.  

Andrew Lam and his parents in a city

When Andrew Lam (eighth grade,’01) visited the Upper School with his father last year, he was thrilled to see learning in progress. “There was stuff all over the floor,” he said. “An intentional mess of art and science projects where kids were learning and exploring.” He was happy to see that the culture of exploration and the freedom to make and learn from mistakes were still part of the school he loved so much.

Fun graphic, "May the task force be with you"

The Bridge Experience Task Force

Mission

1) To explore the idea of a Nueva Gap Year Program.

2) The task force determined that Nueva is well positioned to provide graduates with a unique gap year experience, and the task force was charged with defining and launching the program.

Three students from the Class of 2018 meet with Diane Rosenberg

"As you embark on your journey from here, I just wanted to warn you: you may end up back here.”

Lee Holtzman — upper school history of science teacher and Nueva alum — shared these opening remarks as she welcomed the Class of 2018 at their first official alumni gathering earlier this month. Just two days after graduates flipped their tassels and tossed their caps, they gathered at the upper school for a brunch to embrace their new official status as Nueva alums.

A Jane of All Trades

What do a wedding officiant, violinist, actor, stunt performer, stunt-coordinator, singer/songwriter, and audio book narrator have in common? They are all means of employment for New Orleans resident and Nueva alumna Olga Munding ’86. She also publishes the occasional short story and in the future hopes to complete a book on the time she spent with blues legend Jessie Mae Hemphill. 

The Walking Dead Editor Got His Start at Nueva

For the past six years, Nueva alum Dan Liu ’96 has been an editor for the award-winning AMC television show The Walking Dead. Dan got his start by editing the concept trailer for Da Vinci's Demons with an editor of The Walking Dead, who then brought Dan on as his assistant editor for Season 2. He has been a full editor for several seasons now.

Designing Philz Coffee Shops

Among the many moments Heather Keane Leonard ’98 remembers from her days at The Nueva School, the most vivid are the times she spent outside exploring the natural beauty of Nueva’s Hillsborough campus. Whether she was studying the shallow root systems of redwoods, playing the xylophone under the willow tree, eating miner’s lettuce along the Crocker Road fire trail, learning about Native Americans, or acting out Billy Goats Gruff on the “Billy Goat Bridge,” Heather understood that the outdoors were not only her playground at Nueva but also her principal classroom.

Rapping for Social Change

Through his organization Rap Force Academy, Nueva alumnus Rahman Jamaal ’96 has been pioneering Hip Hop education for the last fifteen years, since he first encountered the educational nonprofit Hip Hop Congress. He helps people improve their communication skills through writing and performing rap songs in workshops designed to enhance a person’s self-expression and awareness. Students build their artistic creativity by playing with words and trying out their own voice as they develop their musical prowess and employ nuances of sound to write a rap.