The Nueva School
| Nueva School | |
|---|---|
Upper School campus | |
| Location | |
| , United States | |
| Coordinates | 37°33′44″N 122°22′52″W / 37.5621280°N 122.3811965°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, coeducational |
| Motto | "Learn by doing, learn by caring" |
| Established | 1967 |
| CEEB code | 051213 |
| NCES School ID | 00089169 |
| Head of School | Lee Fertig |
| Faculty | 140 full-time |
| Enrollment | 930 (PreK–12) |
| Classes | 15–18 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 6.5:1 |
| Campuses | Hillsborough, Bay Meadows |
| Campus size | Combined area: 36 acres (150,000 m2) |
| Color(s) | Blue and white |
| Athletics | Basketball, Cross-Country, Flag Football, Soccer, Squash, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, Golf |
| Mascot | Mavericks |
| Team name | Mavericks (athletics) |
| Website | https://www.nuevaschool.org/ |
The Nueva School is a private school with two campuses serving gifted students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The lower and middle schools are located in Hillsborough, and the upper school is located in San Mateo, California.
Nueva was founded in 1967 by Karen Stone McCown. Originally, the school only served younger students, but in 2013, it expanded to include a high school. The new upper school was built as a part of the Bay Meadows development in San Mateo, opening in August 2014.
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.
Nueva is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the California Association of Independent Schools. It has received the Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 1988, 1997, and 2010. Nueva was rated the #1 private K-12 school and the #3 private high school in the United States by Niche in 2021.
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. 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.