Academics

FPO

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

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, 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:

  • Project-based learning
  • Social-emotional learning
  • Design thinking and engineeering
  • Global citizenship
  • Differentiated curricula

Nueva's culture honors and embraces:

  • Spirit of inquiry
  • Integrity
  • Diversity of perspectives
  • Community and connectedness
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Social justice, equity, and inclusion

Learn More About Our Campuses

Lower, Middle, & Upper School News

Snapshots: Lower School

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, the Lower School halls were alive with the sounds of music and laughter. As part of Spirit Week, students dressed in their coziest pajamas and carried beloved stuffed animals. Throughout the Hillsborough campus, Lower School students could be found doing acrobatic movements, creating innovative LED art, getting lost in the world of books, and more. Join us on a walk through the Lower School!

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.