The Nueva School

We are family! This morning we hosted our virtual Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day. From students to parents, faculty to staff, grandparents to special friends, we’re all part of the Nueva family. Check out this video of our guests' dance moves, and have a happy Thanksgiving break, Mavericks!

"That's one of my favorite things about Nuevathe teacher-student relationship is very special. I think it's very unique to Nueva." ~ Karen Tiegel, Interim Middle School Division Head Learn more about all the AWESOME things made possible by the Nueva Fund in our Instagram Stories: https://www.instagram.com/sto/highlights/18140702470112609/ Make a gift today to help us meet our Give Week goal to reach 50% participation by the end of THIS WEEK! https://www.nuevaschool.org/suppor/annual-giving/nueva-fund

Joining from across the country and spanning classes from the 1970s to 2020, alumni and parents of alumni enjoyed sharing the impact of their Nueva experience a...nd learning more about the school’s vision for the future during an intimate conversation with Head of School Lee Fertig. #NuevaAlumni See more

The Nueva Spirit Store is having a holiday blowout sale! Shop now for 25% off all Nueva apparel and accessories. New products have been added for a bigger selection, so beat the holiday shipping rush and shop for your favorite Nueva gear now at https://apparelnow.com/nuevaschool!

When PreK teacher David Robinson had the idea to build individual water stations for his students to conduct individual experiments outdoors, the Nueva Fund provided the resources to support his plan. This year, your support of the Nueva Fund directly benefits our remote learning program. We already have 100% Nueva Fund participation from our board of trustees and leadership team! Will you join them? Click the link to make your gift or pledge today: https://www.nuevaschool.org/suppor/annual-giving/nueva-fund

Check it out! Get your custom Nueva golf balls by signing up for the Nueva Cup! There’s still time to register and compete in our month-long tournament, sup...porting our alumni and athletics programs. #NuevaAlumni #NuevaCup The Nueva School REGISTER TODAY: https://www.nuevaschool.org/s/annual-giving/golf-tournament

We are so excited to welcome back students and teachers. Let’s just say, the campuses are alive with the sound of Mavericks! Taking a moment to appreciate our community’s culture of care in keeping us all safe so we can be together. P.S. It's Give Week at Nueva! We are so grateful to our community's support of the Nueva Fund, which has helped fund professional development for online learning and a number of our health and safety initiatives this fall. Our goal is to reach 50% family participation by the end of Give Weekmake a gift today to help us meet our goal! https://www.nuevaschool.org/suppor/annual-giving/nueva-fund

We look forward to welcoming special guests of our PreK through 12th grade students to spend the morning with our Nueva community on Friday, Nov. 20 at virtual Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day! Please register attendees by Nov. 17 to ensure they receive the event information and Zoom link. https://www.nuevaschool.org/support-nue/alumni/grandparents

We can’t wait to welcome guests from around the globe this Friday at our virtual Grandparent’s and Special Friends’ Day! Be sure to register your child(ren)’s guest by Tuesday, Nov. 17 to ensure they receive all program info! Registration link here for #NuevaGPSF https://www.nuevaschool.org/support-nue/alumni/grandparents

Over the weekend, a group of students joined writing teacher Jennifer Perry and SEL teacher and US counselor Lelia Youn on a socially distanced urban hike that skirted through Glen Park, Noe Valley, and Diamond Heights! They climbed up and down the many hidden stairways of these hilly San Francisco neighborhoods, discovered Little Free Libraries, and even contributed to or found a book in one of the 10-12 Little Libraries that they encountered. (This was a Nueva teacher treasure auction event made possible through our annual benefit auction!)

FORE! Best of luck on the links to all our golfers as we kick-off our month-long Nueva Cup Golf Tournament! There’s still time to sign up, and support the Nueva Alumni Association and Nueva Athletics programs! https://www.nuevaschool.org/s/annual-giving/golf-tournament

Check this out! Sixth graders demonstrate Newton’s Laws of Motion in this cloth-pull experiment. "It seems like magic, but it’s really just Newton’s laws! Dalton Lobo Dias, physics teacher See more videos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF0wHo7gwxs/... P.S. If you want to try this at home, you'll need a slippery cloth (sixth graders received super slippery polyester fabric in their kits), an object with a flat surface, and it all needs to be done on a smooth surface.

My advice to you is to find a fight that pulls you and see how you can make a difference. Max Gotts ’20 Student voice and agency are deeply embedded into the Nueva way. Today, students hosted a roundtable focused on high-level questions around the impact of divestment of Nueva’s endowment from fossil fuel companies. This followed yesterday’s special programming, which included an introduction to divestment and an alumni panel where graduates shared the climate change-relat...ed work they did while in high school and why they are passionate about environmental issues. These two events exemplify Nueva students’ deep desire and value in looking at complex issues through community discussions. Here’s what attendees said about today’s roundtable: Thank you for inviting us parents. I have been in similar conversations with institutional investment firms and investment committees where the discussion hasn’t been nearly this mature or insightful. George, parent '17 '22 Many years ago, Nueva first graders convinced Nueva to alter their building plans to respectfully accommodate for the importance of a few trees. We have institutional history in caring about the perspective of students, particularly on environmental issues. Patrick Berger, economics teacher Divestment is an all-school concern. Anna I.-M. ’22 It’s really cool to feel like you’re making change. Julia K. ’22 I think this experience has taught me that it’s really great for students to jump in and take action. Andrew C. ’22 73% of attendees said they would be more likely to consider divestment in their personal lives after having listened to the panelists! Nueva Alumni Association

Voting is an important tool in our democracyregardless of who you vote for, the important thing is that you vote. Nueva students and families understand how critical voting is, and over the past month more than 130 families have volunteered with Reclaim Our Vote. Through writing postcards, Nueva families reached 9,000 voters! This opportunity not only helped the greater community, it also helped our Nueva community by bringing together families across divisions on Zoom to write postcards, learn about the nonpartisan Reclaim Our Vote campaign, and to support voter equality. As Adrienne P. ’22, the upper school Community Service Learning rep on Student Council, said: It’s something that is impactful and easy to do from home!

L’chaim (cheers)! How fitting that the first upper school Friday wake-up ritual fell on the first day of the Jewish New Year, which provided a great opportunity for students and faculty to set their goals and intentions for the year. Shana tova (happy new year) to everyone in our community who celebrated Rosh Hashanah this weekend. May your year be sweet.

Today is the first day of Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month! It is important not just this month but every month for us to recognize the contributions and achievements of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Learning about and celebrating the diversity in our own communities have always been core to a Nueva education. First grade teacher Emily Mitchell is a prime example of this! In 2005, in her first year as an associa...te teacher at Nueva, her second grade class walked the Mission district in San Francisco to see the famous murals, which depict the history, culture, and values of Hispanic and Latinx people who helped shape the city and the Bay. This month, Emily and her first grade students will begin an exploration of identity by reading Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh, a story about two cousins, one in America and one in Mexico, who write letters to one another to teach each other about their lives. Since then, students have continued to explore the murals of the Mission (pre-COVID, of course!), as this is an important part of our curriculum.

Join us for the 13th annual Nueva Cup Golf Tournament! Through the month of October, participate in our remote tournament and help support the alumni and athletic programs along the way. *Don't miss our special student and Young Alumni discount during registration!* #NuevaAlumni Nueva Alumni Association LEARN MORE & REGISTER:... https://www.nuevaschool.org/s/annual-giving/golf-tournament See more

Science experiments are a go in remote learning! Middle school students are growing Wisconsin fast plants at home using materials we sent home in their class kits. These plants are perfect for an at-home experiment because they grow rapidly and their life cycle allows students to observe two or three generations of plants in one semester. Students are learning about genetic variation, natural and artificial selection, and pollination (last week, students even created th...eir own bee sticks to pollinate their fast plants). This setup of 24 hours of light for six weeks is a lot to ask, but the hands-on experimentation, data gathering, and analysis will be invaluable. 8th grade biology teacher Tom McFadden Pictured: Colin C. and Terry D. with their plants, which grew over 11 inches in under two weeks and also flowered! See more