Middle School Electives and Extracurriculars
Students Learn Best When They Are Given Choices
Choice is fundamental to Nueva’s student-centered pedagogy, and middle school students have a voice in choosing where to dive deeply in many areas of their education. Choices abound for Nueva middle school students, and as they grow, they take increasing ownership of their academic experience. Our extensive electives, clubs, and extracurricular offerings give them a lot of freedom to explore topics that interest them.
Beginning in fifth grade, students choose electives courses from a wide range of topics. Seventh- and eighth-graders also have an opportunity to choose their physical education elective. Offerings have included dancing, hiking, rock climbing, yoga, strength and conditioning, racquet sports, and even an off-site squash class.
Click here to learn more about middle school clubs.
Electives
Electives provide students with significant choice and an intellectual toolkit, framing questions using multiple approaches to understanding complex phenomena.
Each course explores contemporary issues across a variety of disciplines, engaging our students in compelling deep-dives to foster our students wonder and curiosity as catalysts for authentic, inquiry-based learning.
Example of Electives Offerings
- Kinetic Art: Mobiles
- Living in Chinese Dynasties: Pre-Modern Chinese Culture and History
- Creative Writing: The Multitudes
- Game Theory
- Reimagining Superheroes and Fairytales
- FTC Tech Challenge
- Nueva/Stanford Earth Science Collaboration
Kinetic Art: Mobiles
Living in Chinese Dynasties: Pre-Modern Chinese Culture and History
Creative Writing: The Multitudes
Game Theory
Reimagining Superheroes and Fairytales
FTC Tech Challenge
Nueva/Stanford Earth Science Collaboration
“My Economics: A Study of Choices electives class was so engaging for me. We learned through hands-on, game-based activities. The model/simulation of a flashlight market demonstrated the concept of a perfectly competitive market, which was better than reading articles.”
– Christine Z. '24
Extracurriculars
There are a variety of after-school and enrichment opportunities for Middle School students. These extracurriculars students allow students to pursue an activity they are passionate about outside of school hours. A subset of clubs meet after school and our Nueva Enrichment program offers students the chance to take a deep dive into a specialized area of study.
Examples of Extracurriculars