The Nueva School

The Nueva School serves students in grades P-12 at two campuses: the Hillsborough campus serves lower and middle school divisions, and the San Mateo campus serves the upper school division. The Hillsborough campus offers nearly 34 beautiful wooded acres for environmental exploration, including the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold-certified Hillside Learning Center. In contrast, the entirely LEED Gold-certified San Mateo campus reflects a sustainable urban design and features easy access to public transit. Students engage in various waste reduction strategies ranging from a full plastic trash study in Kindergarten to upper-grade students making their campus paper-cup free by switching to reusable mugs and hosting zero-landfill events. In 2019, Nueva launched a new Environmental Citizenship Program to systematically develop specific policies that integrate environmental literacy across the curriculum and educational activities. Program staff partner with faculty and administrators to support curriculum-adjacent activities and create meaningful integration of ecological learning and performance criteria in Nueva's trip program, student mentoring in clubs, and individual projects.

Application (PDF)