The Nueva School is a Pre-K through 8th grade private school

Private school

Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...

 in Hillsborough, CA for children. Nueva was founded in 1967 by Karen Stone McCown.

The school was originally located in Menlo Park, CA but now is located on the site of the former W. H. Crocker mansion, which was purchased and donated to the school by the late W. Clement Stone

W. Clement Stone

William Clement Stone was a businessman, philanthropist and New Thought self-help book author.-Early life and work:...

. The remodeled mansion houses the lower school, grades pre-K to 4. Other buildings include a gymnasium/performance space, science labs, and middle school classrooms. Recently, The Nueva School has many buildings including middle school classrooms for grades 5-8, a library, a research and design space, and a cafeteria. The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is one of six official academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the United States and foreign institutions of American origin. The Western Association of...

 and the California Association of Independent Schools. The school's music program was designed, in part, by Sir Yehudi Menuhin working with Dr. Genevieve Fitzmaurice. The school's mathematics program owes much of its approach to the vision of Mary Laycock.

Vision

Though Nueva has transformed from past to present (from day hikes on the Tanahana trail to high tech laptops, a computer lab, and creation/innovation labs), the general vision is the same. By emphasizing a love of learning and of process, the students discover the world of academia on their own. Very few, if any, textbooks are used, and instead they learn kinesthetically through inquiry, group discussions, and organic discovery. The small size of the school also allows the classes to integrate with one another and promote interdisciplinary learning. Beyond the classroom, Nueva also emphasizes "social emotional learning

Social emotional learning

Social emotional learning is a process for learning life skills, including how to deal with oneself, others and relationships, and work in an effective manner. In dealing with oneself, SEL helps in recognizing our emotions and learning how to manage those feelings...

" (SEL), and strives to teach students how to treat one another and maturely handle situations.

Mission

The Nueva Mission: The Nueva School creates a dynamic educational model to enable gifted children to learn how to make choices that will benefit the world. Our school community inspires passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the child’s imaginative mind.

The I-lab

The I-lab (innovation lab) is a learning resource for the kids of the Nueva School. In the I-lab a child develops many important skills like design thinking, brainstorming, how to use some power tools, and many other important school skills and life skills. It includes tools such as a Drill Press, a Table Saw

Table saw

A table saw or sawbench is a woodworking tool consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor...

, and a laser cutter to help students design and build structures and different projects.