The Nueva School

Nueva School
Upper School campus
Location
Map
Hillsborough and San Mateo
,
California

United States
Coordinates37°33′44″N 122°22′52″W / 37.5621280°N 122.3811965°W / 37.5621280; -122.3811965[1]
Information
TypePrivate, coeducational
Motto"Learn by doing, learn by caring"
Established1967; 57 years ago (1967)
CEEB code051213
NCES School ID00089169
Head of SchoolLee Fertig
Faculty140 full-time
Enrollment930 (PreK–12)
Classes15–18
Student to teacher ratio6.5:1
CampusesHillsborough, Bay Meadows
Campus sizeCombined area: 36 acres (150,000 m2)
Color(s)Blue and white
AthleticsBasketball, Cross-Country, Flag Football, Soccer, Squash, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, Golf
MascotMavericks
Team nameMavericks (athletics)
Websitehttps://www.nuevaschool.org/

The Nueva School is a private school, with two campuses—the lower and middle school in Hillsborough, and the high school in San Mateo, California—serving gifted students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Nueva was founded in 1967 by Karen Stone McCown.[2] Originally, the Nueva School only served younger students, but in 2013 it expanded to include a high school, and a new campus for it was built as part of the Bay Meadows development in San Mateo, opening in August 2014.[3][4][5]

Unique aspects of Nueva's curriculum include its focus on design thinking and social emotional learning. In his book That Used To Be Us, commentator Thomas Friedman lauded Nueva for its creativity-inspiring curriculum and overall philosophy.[6]

Nueva is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges[7] and the California Association of Independent Schools.[8] It has received the Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 1988, 1997, and 2010.[2] Nueva was rated the #1 private K-12 school and the #3 private high school in the United States by Niche in 2021.[9]

In 2024, the school announced that it would grant free tuition to admitted students with family incomes under $150,000 a year and "with assets typical of that income level." In addition, for students with family incomes between $150,000 and $250,000, tuition is capped at 10% of household income.[10] In the 2024-25 school year, the school reported that 20% of the student body was on financial aid and that most scholarship students had family incomes over $250,000.[11]

  1. ^ "The Nueva School". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. April 6, 1998. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Our History". The Nueva School. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  3. ^ Kinney, Aaron (October 10, 2014). "San Mateo: The Nueva School debuts Bay Meadows campus". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  4. ^ "The Nueva School – High School FAQ". nuevaschool.org. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "The Nueva School – Bay Meadows Campus Now Open". www.nuevaschool.org. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  6. ^ Friedman, Thomas L.; Mandelbaum, Michael (August 21, 2012). That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. Macmillan. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-1-250-01372-9.
  7. ^ "Directory of Schools 2019-2020" (PDF). Accrediting Commission for Schools Western Association of Schools and Colleges. July 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 16, 2019.
  8. ^ "California Association of Independent Schools – Search for a School". caisca.org. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  9. ^ "2022 The Nueva School Rankings". Niche. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Wood, Karin Storm (Spring–Summer 2024). "A Bold Step". Nueva Magazine: 6 – via Issuu.
  11. ^ "Affording a Nueva Education | The Nueva School". www.nuevaschool.org. May 21, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024.