Nueva Magazine – Fall/Winter 2023

Nueva is an independent, co-educational, preK–12 school for gifted learners. Our school community inspires passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the imaginative mind. Nueva uses a dynamic educational model to enable gifted learners to make choices that will benefit the world.

nuevaschool.org

PEOPLE OFTEN SAY that childhood is a time of freedom, but many school kids would disagree. First, you have reading. After reading, science. After science, math. After first grade, second grade, and so on. In some ways, the dictates of curricula and academic requirements seem to represent a limited path, one mapped out by others. Amid such structure and sequence, it’s worth asking, how do kids learn to explore on their own? How do they discover their interests? Find their voices? Develop independence? How do kids learn to draw their own maps?

The Nueva experience answers these questions by creating a journey of self-discovery for every student. We know our students are “wildly capable,” as Lower School Division Head Megan Terra says. Our program reflects this foundational belief by giving them opportunities for choice and self-advocacy amid the structure and sequence of school. Our feature “Taking Charge: How Nueva Puts Students in the Driver’s Seat of Their Own Learning” on page 20 offers a close look at how we support each student in finding their individual and authentic path.

Our alumni regularly come back to share with us how their Nueva journeys have served them. On page 27, Briana Das ’17 describes how the confidence she developed at Nueva allowed her to transform an initially disappointing experience at college. In our alumni section, starting on page 46, you’ll find accounts of the life paths of two other impressive Nuevans, as well as an amazing array of updates from graduating classes as far back as 1982.

EDITORIAL TEAM

Rachel Freeman Communications and Website Manager

Karin Storm Wood Director of Communications

LiAnn Yim Digital Communications Manager

ALUMNI NEWS

Diana A. Chamorro Director of Alumni Relations

In addition to these individual paths, this issue of Nueva Magazine also contemplates institutional paths. In December, we crossed the finish line of a six-year journey to “Realize the Potential” of our unique learning community. Read about the impact of our ground-breaking, history-making $100 million capital campaign on page 14. We also survey the territory that lies ahead for our school, in a feature on page 34 about Renew | Belong | Innovate, the new strategic roadmap we have set for ourselves over the coming years.

Finally, we follow our eighth grade students as they explore one of the most significant journeys in history: the 7,500-mile Silk Road. On page 28, we reveal how this milestone middle school study helps our students understand the different choices humans have made when they cross paths with different cultures—and what those choices can teach us today.

As members of the Nueva community, we cross one another’s paths in both time and space. Wherever you are—moving toward us, here with us now, or venturing beyond—we hope you discover, in these pages, views of this special place that are both familiar and new.

Go Mavericks! The Editorial Team

Taking Charge

How Nueva puts gifted students in the driver’s seat of their own learning

28

Silk Road

Time Machine

A bygone era informs humanities students’ perspectives on modern life.

32

Paths to Nueva

Over the Pacific, across a desert, and from the Nueva mansion... Faculty and staff share their journeys to Nueva.

34

The Road Ahead

Introducing Nueva’s new strategic framework for 2022–2027.

40

Fun Facts

Whose family has a giant sulcata tortoise? Who believes kelp will save the world? Who is a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo? Get to know some fun facts about the Nueva faculty/staff.

37

Deep Dive into the 80s and 90s

Are you ready for a #throwback?

This fall, two of the newest advanced English seminars gave students the opportunity to study literature with a focus on the 1980s and 1990s.

42

Q+As

Meet our new director of athletics and our new director of social justice and equity.

44

Feeling Fully Me

Sami K. ’23 reflects on her experience attending the Student Diversity Leadership Conference.

GREETINGS FROM NUEVA! The past weeks have brought a rapid succession of achievements: the record-breaking capital campaign we just concluded, the joyful all-school carnival that is Intersession, the unprecedented number of prospective students and families we have welcomed to our campuses.

I also delivered my annual “State of Nueva” (TL;DR: It’s strong!), preceded by a wonderful jazz reception by seven students and Jim Munzenrider, who kindly let me join them on the xylophone before I took to the podium. Another highlight: a recent meeting in my office with two extremely committed lower school students. Concerned about the amount of food waste we generate at the school, these young environmental advocates presented their ideas for helping their peers take more ownership of this issue. And finally, I attended the alumni social in NYC in January, where I saw firsthand just how deeply connected our alumni remain to each other and to Nueva. All of these moments demonstrate the difference our school makes in the lives of its gifted students, present and past, and their families.

At this high point in my tenure at Nueva, I can’t help but reflect back on the challenging terrain we have traveled since my arrival in the summer of 2020. Now, in hindsight, it is easier to recognize the value of the challenges we faced together in those early days. They surfaced crucial reminders of the things we cannot take for granted: That our students’ social-emotional health and belonging are bellwethers for every other measure of student success. That clear and comprehensive systems support creativity and innovation. That opportunities for growth and leadership are essential for our professional community to thrive. That we do our best work when Nueva’s visionary founding spirit is felt, and co-created, by all of us.

If the lessons of the pandemic have pointed us toward better, healthier, and more thoughtful approaches to teaching, learning, and living in community, one could say that the strategic planning process we engaged in last year was fortuitously timed. Those lessons directly informed the resulting new strategic framework, Renew | Belong | Innovate. This framework will serve as our roadmap as we stake out new ground, with new curricula in environmental citizenship and civil discourse, new and enhanced facilities for humanities, arts, and athletics, new partnerships with community organizations, and a new center for educational innovation.

And just as this framework identifies new strategic goals for us, it also doubles down on our mission, vision, and values—the very things that have made Nueva the school of choice for gifted learners and their families for decades, as well as for faculty and staff who want to hone their professional practice in a truly inspiring educational environment. I invite you to learn more about this roadmap for Nueva’s future, and the progress we’ve already made on that path, in the pages ahead.

As you read this issue of The Nueva Magazine, we hope you share the optimism and drive we feel as we continue along the journey of Nueva’s second half-century.

LEE FERTIG Head of School

“We do our best work when Nueva’s visionary founding spirit is felt, and co-created, by all of us.”

NOTED

OPERA TOGETHER

Fourth grade students perform La Bohème in the Hillsborough ballroom with singers from the San Francisco Opera.

Story page 4.

Opera Together

Fourth Graders Perform

La Bohème with San Francisco Opera Singers

On Nov. 3, melodies from the opera La Bohème could be heard reverberating through the Hillsborough mansion ballroom, as fourth graders took the stage alongside four San Francisco Opera singers and an accompanist for an abridged performance of Puccini’s most famous work for a packed audience of lower school students, faculty, and fourth grade parents.

This performance was a showcase of one of the central themes of the lower school music program: the voice and body as musical instruments.

“Students often don’t realize how much capacity our voices have for music making,” said lower school music teacher Gemma Arguelles. “Watching an opera helps convey the power of the voice, as students begin to understand that opera is storytelling with music.”

And for fourth graders, they weren’t just watching the opera, they took part in the performance. Fourteen students volunteered to be on-stage performers and the rest of the grade joined in as the chorus.

This lower school tradition is part of the SF Opera’s Opera Together program, in which our Nueva fourth grade students rehearse twice a week for more than a month before they are joined on performance day by professional opera performers.

Chorus is an integral part of the fourth-grade music curriculum, and one class per week is dedicated just to this specialty. The other sessions are focused on reading music and playing instruments. Music reading is scaffolded, so students begin in the first grade and each year the students’ skills become advanced. Students also play Orff instruments and by the end of fourth grade, they will have made their own musical arrangements that involve both playing music and singing at the same time.

It was clear that the performance helped to get students excited about singing.

“Kindergarteners in the front were responding to specific lyrics, and at the end of the performance I heard a second grader exclaim, ‘That was a fast way to die!’” Gemma shared.

“My hope is for students to realize how beautiful and expressive singing can be if they put their spirit and all into it,” Gemma added. “And singing in an ensemble like our chorus allows students to do this together. It’s one of the few class programs that challenge students to go at the same pace as their peers—everyone has to go at the same tempo. My hope is for them to build a love for making music together.”

— Rachel Freeman

Consider reading Design for Belonging by Susie Wise, a beautifully illustrated and written book about creating spaces that matter. Belonging doesn’t happen naturally, and we can intentionally use design for inclusion. Think about moments when you felt a sense of belonging: What feelings did you have, and what elements were in your surroundings? On the flip side, what conditions were in place when you felt othered? Examine how space, roles, events, rituals, grouping, and communication all play a role in building communities. Learn how to notice design elements that include or exclude, and practice small habits for the long community win.

ELIZABETH HOANG Lower School Assistant Division Head

I am reading at the moment

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur, the creator of the award-winning television series The Good Place. It is a very funny—and also thoughtful— guide to moral philosophy. This choice was inspired by the current eighth graders’ interest in ethics! Schur explores philosophy and philosophers over the last three millennia in order to answer the question how can we be good—or perhaps rather how can we make good choices?

It explores philosophical concepts or qualities like ubuntu, deontology, existentialism, utilitarianism, and more—so it may make you more fun at parties! I also would highly recommend the audio version, which is narrated by lots of actors from The Good Place.

JUDITH WORRALL Middle School Writing Teacher

I recommend Ireland by Frank Delaney. Delaney combines his Irish gift of gab and love of Irish history in this fictional tale about the dying breed of wandering storytellers in Ireland. While the reader may initially feel on the fringes of the group listening to one of the tales, by the novel’s end, Delaney has brought you into the inner circle, sharing Ireland’s cultured but troubled past and how it resonates with the present day. If you are one for oral tales around a campfire, with a pint, or with friends, this is a novel for you.

KEVIN DINEEN Upper School Master Scheduling and Academic Data Coordinator

ART BRIEFS

Upper School PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

In Rachel Dawson’s Intro to Painting class, upper school students produced close studies of objects. For this still-life painting project, they meticulously rendered three objects that represented something from their past, present, and future.

Upper School IT, THESE, THOSE

Students in Intro to Drawing created detailed object-based drawings for an assignment art teacher Danielle Lawrence calls “It, These, and Those.” The assignment invited students to explore the relationship they have with an object or objects, or that society might have. They explored questions including, “How does an object get fetishsized in our society?” “How do we use objects as value?” and “What class symbolisms are apparent in some objects?”

“A lot of people did commentary on materialism and consumerism,” Danielle shared. “You’ll see people who are interested in drawing fancy bags or Starbucks cups as they were thinking about consumption.”

Lower School SETTING THE SCENE

In second grade, students explored the composition of landscapes with water-resistant versus water-soluble pastels and watercolor. Making individual choices about how to use frames with landscapes, students then used different-sized frames to isolate a portion of their landscape and replicate in another version.

Lower School HORIZON, FRAME, CONTRAST

First and third graders studied the artist Agnes Pelton, an ancestor of first grader Chloe and third grader Jude S. Their grandmother, Nyna Dolby, a family and art historian of Pelton, visited the classes to share an in-depth history on her life and work, including images of how Pelton used her sketchbooks to develop her ideas and artworks.

Students developed their own compositions through an iterative sketchbook process and explored some of the formal elements that appear in Pelton’s work: horizon, frame, and contrast. Pelton often accompanied her paintings with poems, a practice that students also explored.

The classes discussed how artists can make the invisible visible, the power of imagination, and that in the etymology of “inspiration” is spirit and respire. So, art teacher Helen Wicks suggests, when looking for inspiration, take a moment and breathe!

PHOTO: DAMIAN MARHEFK

ARTS

An Air of Mystery

Upper school’s fall production of Clue kept viewers on the edge of their seats

BY OWEN Y-L. ’24*

WAS IT PEACOCK, MUSTARD, OR PLUM?

Was it with the rope, the lead pipe, or the candlestick?

This year’s upper school fall play production of Clue kept the audience pointing fingers until the very end.

Based on the wildly popular board game Clue and its 1985 movie adaptation, the play opened with each of the six characters receiving a mysterious dinner party invitation. Their host threatens to expose their darkest secrets unless they show up to his mansion and follow his instructions. When a series of murders unfolds, the party guests—colorfully named Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Mrs. White, Colonel Mustard, and Mr. Green—must scramble to uncover the murderer among them before it’s too late; their lives and reputations are at stake, after all.

The show utilized farce comedy, a genre defined by hyperbole and absurdity, to deliver witty one-liners and over-the-top characters. Upper school theater teacher and director Zoe Swenson-Graham described it as a “fast-paced, zany, kooky, physical comedy.”

“It’s a real opportunity for the actors to not only explore physicality but also to explore big characters,” Zoe said. She appreciated the cast’s “willingness to try all of our weird ideas.”

A unique logistical challenge that arose was the double-casting process: most roles were played by two different actors depending on the performance, and each actor played more than one character. This meant they had to learn twice as many lines as usual and had less time to devote to each role. However, cast member Sophie Druskin ’24 believes the extra effort and moving pieces involved was worth it.

“The complexity is what makes this such a fun show to watch,” Sophie said. Prior to the show, she expressed excitement to see the audience’s reaction, wondering if they would be able to “catch” everything.

Sophie, who played both Mr. Green and enigmatic party host Mr. Boddy, described the cast as “fantastically skilled at comedy.”

“At times it’s hard to work alongside them because I can’t stay in character,” she said, recalling instances when rehearsal had to be paused for the actors to regain composure after collective fits of laughter.

The play was performed Dec. 2-4, with four shows in total. Congratulations to the cast and crew!

To learn more about Nueva athletics, visit nuevaschool. org/athletics.

For the Love of Running

Analise C.

I joined cross country in sixth grade, just as we were emerging from the hibernation of shelter-in-place. Becoming part of its tight knit community helped me build a strong foundation of friends I would rely on throughout middle school. Be it handmade medals at mock meets or surprise popsicles during heat waves or group photos on bus rides, cross country is more than just a sport—it’s a team, one that sticks together no matter what. These are the people with an extra hairband for when you forget yours, sunscreen spray for cloudless days, and a cheer to get you through those last ten meters of the race.

Running can be demanding—and sometimes exhausting. Standing squished in a line-up of 50 or 60 people waiting for the whistle can be nerve wracking. Struggling up hills, hearing the ominous steps of the runner behind me can be disheartening, especially when the finish line seems ages away. It’s times like these when the support of my teammates matter the most, when their cheers ring loudest, pushing me to add a touch more speed, widen my stride just a little bit. This belief in building each other up is what makes cross country so special.

Cross country—really, Nueva sports in general— fosters a culture of support and encouragement which bleeds into all the social and academic parts of school. More than anything, it’s a place where we can give it our all and be proud, no matter the time on the score sheet. It’s a place where we push ourselves further than we knew you could go. From water fights on the cafe lawn to WBAL meets, cheering each other down dusty courses, we’re a team brought together by a shared love for running, an amazing coach, and a whole bunch of Maverick spirit.

Dylan L.

What I love about cross country is the feeling of accomplishment. Sure, running a 15K doesn’t feel like the most fun at the moment, but what they say about “runner’s high” is so true. I feel like I can do pretty much anything—until I realize my legs hurt too badly to do much else but sit. Setting personal records on mile times, upping my weekly mileage, not having shin splints for once, medaling in a race are just some of my simple joys of cross country.

Nueva Cross Country is a team but before that it is a family. Losing your voice because of cheering too hard at the finish line for teammates, feeling sick after eating way too many snacks provided by our amazing team parents, and high five-ing until your hands hurt are all common occurrences. We are super lucky to have Janita as our coach, who always makes us smile no matter how tired of running we are. Whether it’s running loops around the library, doing drills behind the J-Building, or long runs on the trail, it is the spirit of togetherness that keeps our feet moving. One of the coolest things about cross country is that we get to meet people across grades—some of my best friends on the team are fifth and fourth graders!

The cross country team has given me some of the most unforgettable memories. Cheering or being cheered for at meets or running in unison at practice are near the top of my list, but my favorite memories don’t have anything to do with running. Cross country is 75 percent running, 25 percent fun. I still remember back to sixth grade when after having way too much candy at our end of season party, myself and teammates performed a Rockette kickline. Or when during the recent heat wave we absolutely drenched each other in a water fight. This is what cross country is all about: togetherness.

Three eighth graders reflect on their experience on the Nueva cross country team, sharing the values they’ve learned, the memories they’ve made, and the fun that they’ve had.

← At the Crystal Springs Cross Country course, head coach Janita Kumar leads the Mavericks in a team-favorite pregame cheer: “Mavericks on me, Mavericks on three. One, two, three, Mavericks!”

Nueva Cross Country isn’t all about the race or your placing, but about hard work, determination, and team bonding. From long distance endurance training to short sprints and cheering on our friends to workouts in the cafe, the Nueva cross country team always has a blast. With constant energy, music and encouragement, practice is something you always look forward to. This is often the case because our coach Janita is absolutely incredible and always pushes us to do our best.

Not only is cross country fun, it has taught me to not let other people intimidate me. I’ve learned that no matter the size of the other runners or the school they run for, I can’t let that get in the way of running a good race. Our coach is a big reason why I have become more confident when I run, because no matter what the results are, she is always there to support me.

It has also been a place where I have gotten to meet a variety of students and make new friends. Our friendships get so much stronger because of all the memories we make together. We are always there to cheer on and motivate each other, creating a much tighter bond between all of us. It’s amazing to think that I can be friends with a fourth grader, someone I would never have met if not for cross country.

Some of my favorite things I will take away from cross country are all the unforgettable moments and memories because it creates an environment that I love to be a part of. We participate in team traditions every year; for example, to start the season we run with Pringle in hand to improve our running form and we always yell the same cheer on the bus to a meet. Also during the heatwave, our coaches also let us have a water fight with spray bottles and play “duck duck sploosh” with sponges.

For all these reasons and many more, I am so grateful to be a part of the Nueva Cross Country community.

Julia C.

“

The Latinx Heritage Dinner was a lovely way to connect with new families, see old friends, and meet some Nueva teachers and staff. Hearing Latin music fill the Hillsborough ballroom felt welcoming and like home. I’m so appreciative of Nueva for providing space for families to connect and celebrate.”

JESSICA SALCEDO, P ’27

QUOTED

WELCOME TO

MAVFEST

Close to 2,000 Nueva Mavericks—students, families, faculty, and staff—attended the first-ever MavFest celebration on the San Mateo campus on August 27 to start the school year. There were carnival games, student performances, a barbecue lunch, dessert food trucks, and the very popular dunk tank.

“It was incredible to see our entire community of students, parents, faculty, and staff come together at our inaugural MavFest and to participate in the joy, fun, and connection we have with one another,” said Head of School Lee Fertig. “Over the past two years, we have longed for the opportunity to be together, and MavFest was the perfect way to begin our new school year.

“Thank you to our Nueva Parents’ Association (NPA) for organizing and developing this new tradition. On behalf of our entire community, I extend my heartfelt thanks to our MavFest co-chairs, Cindy Chang, Michelle Sinapuelas, and Michele Young, as well as our NPA co-presidents, Lily Jensen-Blumberg, Sarah Ordody, and Jennifer Sepulveda, for their phenomenal leadership in creating such a memorable day. I also want to thank Diana Chamorro, the school’s director of alumni relations, for partnering with the NPA to ensure MavFest was an amazing community event that we all could enjoy together.”

1. Close to 2,000 people gathered on the San Mateo campus for the first-ever MavFest!

2. First grader Taotao L. was accompanied by her parents, Ning and Rui, and her younger brother Yangyong.

3. Second graders Leah M. and Gemma B.

4. Sophomores Ethan H., Oliver C., Nathan S., Leo S., Leah T.

5. Middle School Division Head Karen Tiegel gets dunked in the water tank.

6. Sixth grader Veda P. steps up to take her turn dunking Middle School Division Head Karen Tiegel in the water tank.

7. It was a family affair when siblings 11th grader Jaxon J., former student JR, seventh grader Jazper, and fourth grader Skyler May took to the stage to perform at MavFest.

8. Freshmen Mylie M., Pearl Y-L., Soraya J., and Lila P.

9. Freshmen Jack H., Livie P. F., and Frances L.

$100 Million Capital Campaign Makes History

ON ANY GIVEN DAY in room 1103 on the San Mateo campus, you’ll find upper school students tinkering with computer-aided designs, practicing for a debate tournament, or reciting Shakespeare. On the Hillsborough campus, in EC 108, you might see lower school students engaged in a soil study or middle school students discussing game theory. Just a few years ago, these essential learning spaces on our two campuses were merely a vision.

It is the execution of this vision that puts our school in a league of its own. Nueva has achieved a rare distinction among independent schools: breaking the $100 million mark with a single capital campaign. Six years in the making, and paused midway due to the pandemic, the Realize the Potential (RTP) capital campaign made history at Nueva in several ways.

RTP was launched to raise funds for a range of new facilities and improvements at the school.

Of the total funds raised— over $100 million—$65 million was earmarked for campus projects. Thanks to careful fiscal planning and construction management, the Nueva community has already benefited from new facilities funded by the campaign. In

2019, the San Mateo campus’s new Diane Rosenberg Wing (seen here) opened, and in 2020, the Hillsborough campus’s new Science and Environmental Center (next page) and expanded café opened. Built with sustainability in mind, these new facilities make significant use of solar power and have a net carbon footprint of zero. The remainder of the funds earmarked for facilities, along with funds above our $100 million goal, has been allocated to future improvements to the school’s humanities, athletics, and arts facilities, as envisioned in the 2022–2027 strategic framework, Renew | Belong | Innovate (see page 34). Plans for these improvements are already underway.

Realize the Potential also yielded an unprecedented

POTENTIAL REALIZED

The Rosenberg Wing (seen here) opened on the San Mateo campus in 2019, and the new Science and Environmental Center (next page) opened on the Hillsborough campus in 2020. These new facilities dramatically increased the number of classrooms on both campuses, and fortuitously so, given the sudden need for social distancing and smaller cohorts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

$35 million increase in Nueva’s endowment, bringing its anticipated total value in 2025 (when all pledges have been fulfilled) to $45 million. The new endowment funds have been allocated for two purposes: first, to expand and enrich the professional development opportunities available to the faculty and staff who make Nueva an unparalleled home for gifted students; and second, to offer additional financial assistance to more families so that the community’s commitment to broad socioeconomic representation can be achieved.

Credit for the phenomenal success of the RTP campaign is due to Nueva’s deeply generous community—and a veritable army of campaign volunteers. Bruce Cozadd, a longtime member of the board

continued next page >>

A “RELENTLESSLY OPTIMISTIC” CAMPAIGN CHAIR

From his first years as a Nueva parent, Bruce Cozadd has always been one of the most stalwart champions of the school’s mission.

“Nueva has emerged as a national model for gifted learning,” he said during the campaign, “not because we follow the tried and true path, but because we blaze our own trail.”

“The success of RTP is a testament to this extraordinary place and its profound and lasting impact on so many students and families.”

LEE FERTIG, Head of School

and five-time Nueva parent, served as campaign chair.

“He was relentlessly optimistic about what we could achieve,” said Gerald Risk, trustee and former board co-chair. “He set a goal of a hundred million dollars… I think he was literally the only person that believed that that was possible. He did more work than anyone. He made more phone calls, he reached out to more people, he had more meetings.”

A remarkable 76 members of the Nueva community served as campaign volunteers. From committee co-chairs (see below left) to solicitors, they

worked tirelessly to secure commitments from their peers.

“Our volunteers’ enthusiasm, commitment, and belief in Nueva’s mission and vision cannot be overstated,” said Joe Cheeseman, director of development. “Over the past seven years, the number of personal interactions that our volunteers had with the Nueva community to secure over $100 million in commitments must be in the thousands, maybe tens of thousands.”

Head of School Lee Fertig also expressed his gratitude.

“The success of RTP is a testament to this extraordinary place and its profound and

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP

For generations to come, Nueva students, faculty, staff, and families will be the beneficiaries of the campaign’s leaders, listed below.

RTP Capital Campaign

Bruce Cozadd

Transformational Gifts

Bruce Cozadd

Leadership Gifts

Mei Chen

Robert Frank

Melissa Kraus

Community Phase Gifts

Janet Cheston

Puja Kaul

David Popowitz

Arvind Sharma

NF + RTP GIFTS

Millie Chou

Brent Cromley

Jason Friedrichs

Katherine Lau

Maribeth Portz

Chris Sun ’96

Senior Class Gifts

Robert Frank, 2019 Chair

Buffy Poon, 2020 Chair

EXTRAORDINARY, PACE-SETTING GIFTS

The capital campaign benefitted from several remarkable partnerships between the school and our generous supporters. As the school successfully secured funds for facilities, a Nueva family ensured similar commitment to institutional sustainability by pledging a second $1 million gift toward our goal of raising $35 million for the endowment. Another family offered a $1 million leadership-gift challenge that yielded seven additional significant gifts, each between $100,000 and $250,000.

Last spring, as the campaign prepared to enter its final phase, a third Nueva family offered a $20 million dollar-for-dollar challenge match. Eighteen million dollars in major gifts and pledges were secured quickly; in the final phase of the campaign, a $2 million dollar challenge match was presented to the entire Nueva community and inspired a resounding response. All in all, this gift represented $40 million raised for Nueva!

Finally, just as the Realize the Potential campaign was concluding, another generous donor pledged $15 million, which will help accelerate new facilities to support humanities, arts, and athletics on our Hillsborough campus.

“Our volunteers’ enthusiasm, commitment, and belief in Nueva’s mission and vision cannot be overstated.”

JOE CHEESEMAN, DIrector of Development

lasting impact on so many students and families. We are eternally grateful to every person who contributed to this campaign, whether by volunteering their time, making a gift, or both. Your efforts will benefit Nueva students for generations to come.

“With the conclusion of the campaign and the launch of a new strategic framework,” Lee continued, ”we mark the end of one momentous chapter in Nueva’s history and begin an exciting new one. The Realize the Potential capital campaign has set the stage for a very bright future.”

SO MANY PEOPLE TO THANK!

This summer, commemorative plaques will be installed at both campuses to recognize the hundreds of people who made campaign gifts of all different sizes.

592

TOTAL GIFTS

28 DONORS gave between $1 million and $20 million

519 DONORS gave between $1 and $10,000

—Karin Storm Wood

“We mark the end of one momentous chapter in Nueva’s history and begin an exciting new one. The Realize the Potential capital campaign has set the stage for a very bright future.”

LEE FERTIG, Head of School

Ever Had a Kid Like Me?

Christine Z. ’24 reflects on her Nueva summer internship

BY CHRISTINE Z. ’24

This summer, I embarked on an internship at REEL. It’s difficult to encapsulate this experience in words… I learned so much about twice-exceptionality and filmmaking, more than I ever will in a traditional classroom setting. More importantly, I felt the real impact of REEL’s work on 2e (twice-exceptional) families around the Bay Area.

The term “twice-exceptional” (2e) is used to describe students who experience learning differences (neurodivergence) such as dyslexia, ADHD, or autism and significant academic, creative, or leadership strengths. 2e children’s unique brain wiring makes them appear wildly asynchronous—they’re exceptional at some aspects of learning and living, and confounded by others.

As a part of this internship, I produced a series of short videos on individual students’ 2e journeys, under the “Ever Had a Kid Like Me?” project. This project came naturally to me, as I am deeply passionate about neurodiversity and storytelling. I collaborated with another intern, Aaron H., to come up with interview questions, film interviews with our subjects, and edit the videos. The task seemed daunting at first, but it was also a healthy amount of challenge outside my comfort zone. With the support of Callie, Abby, and Yael from REEL, we successfully carried out the project. The final video I produced is a great source of pride and joy (I’ve watched it at least 30 times now, and it never gets old).

always check the cameras to ensure they aren’t covered by a leaf…but I also learned many intangible things.

Through my interview with Serena, I got a glimpse into her experience with navigating twice-exceptionality, as well as intersections with her identity. She discussed the Asian stigma around learning differences and labels. When she was finally diagnosed, however, she “felt a huge change from being demonized as a child to being like, ‘oh, I wasn’t the terrible person I was made to be or thought I was.’” It was a deeply vulnerable interview, and I’m grateful that she was willing to share that with me. It didn’t occur to me how impactful her story would be until I finished adding the rolling credits to the video and watched it from beginning to end.

As a closing farewell to my summer internship experience at REEL, I attended the “REEL IS REAL” party to celebrate the organization’s nonprofit status. At the celebration, I met many 2e parents. They all shared one common concern—their child’s learning. One parent shared a particularly moving story about overcoming difficulties during remote learning, which almost brought me to tears.

Watch Christine’s video here: www.reel2e. org/post/ ever-had-akid-like-me

I learned about REEL through Nueva’s internship program. After reading the mission statement, I was drawn to the term twice-exceptionality. Prior to learning about the organization, I had never heard of the term before. I realized that many teachers and parents still lack awareness and understanding of this unique challenge. The goal of the “Ever Had a Kid Like Me?” project was to showcase the “humans” behind the label of twice-exceptional and bridge understanding between parents and educators.

Through this project, I essentially received a crash course on video production. I learned, for example, to never shine a ring light directly at someone’s face…and to

It hit me then that REEL is making a real difference. It’s not measurable by any numbers, but rather through the mutual understanding of challenges and triumphs among the parents standing there. I hope my video inspires a similar feeling of solidarity and shines a brighter light on twice-exceptionality in the broader community.

Christine Z. ’24 is curious about brain sciences and hopes to pursue a career in neuroscience or psychology in the future. In her spare time, she loves to watch and critique movies, play music, and spend time with her dog.

REEL strives to ensure that Silicon Valley twice-exceptional students thrive in school by raising parent and educator awareness and understanding of practical, research-based strategies to address their needs successfully. For educators, REEL creates and curates resources, workshops, and programs to help them make school a place that 2e learners can be successful. For parents, REEL organizes and disseminates events and tools to help parents learn to advocate for and support their 2e kids. Learn more at www.reel2e.org.

CULTURAL HISTORY MADE VISIBLE

As part of their study of the Silk Road, eighth graders visited San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, exploring the syncretic art and iconography that resulted from the interactions between Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam along the Silk Road. Read more about this middle school milestone on page 28.

FEATURES

Taking Charge

STORY BY RACHEL FREEMAN

How Nueva Puts Students in the Driver’s Seat of Their Own Learning

There is an apocryphal origin story about Nueva.

As the story goes, according to Upper School Division Head Liza Raynal ’93, when Karen Stone McCown went about founding Nueva, she gathered a number of bigpicture thinkers together and asked them what they wished they had had in a school. To a one, they talked about wanting a place where they could pursue topics about which they were deeply curious, a place where questions were not pushed aside but were eagerly addressed head-on.

And so, when The Nueva School opened in 1967, student agency became one of the core tenets of the institution.

“Karen basically said, ‘If you are going to have a school for this particular population of kids, you need to create spaces for choice and exploration for them,’” Liza added.

The idea of student agency gets tossed around a lot in the world of education, and there seems to be universal agreement that it is an important aspect of a child’s development. But what exactly is student agency? And how does Nueva help students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade build this skill so they can become agents of change in their own lives and the world around them?

“Because we focus on how we can take the ‘ceiling’ off of learning, we are intentional about creating spaces where students can lean in and be leaders—spaces we might otherwise have overlooked,” said Megan Terra, lower school division head. “Kids are wildly capable, and we put a high level of trust in them.”

At Nueva, empowering students to make choices and advocate for themselves and others is integral to the school’s constructivist approach to gifted education. Teachers help students learn these two important lifelong skills so that they feel empowered to steer their educational journeys. This emphasis on

personal agency—choice and self-advocacy— gives our gifted students more differentiated opportunities to tap into their intrinsic interests. This increases the likelihood that the choices they make will foster learning that is authentic, engaged, and lasting.

Freedom to Choose

As early as pre-kindergarten, Nueva students learn that life is a series of choices, big and small, and that those choices can lead to successes and failures and have immediate and long-term consequences, for themselves and for others.

Students are offered many choices—and a lot of flexibility about how they access those choices—because teachers want them to deeply understand that their interests matter. This is the most direct way to lead students to be engaged in their own education, in the school, and in the world.

Beginning in pre-kindergarten and throughout the lower school, faculty design emergent curricula—a process where teachers plan units of study, activities, and projects based on the the interests and passions of the specific group of students with whom they are working.

Choice, Megan explained, “is about students being able to recognize and feel a deep sense of their own capacity, both in terms of having important ideas and also being able to investigate them, explore them, and develop new understandings and knowledge.”

Throughout the day, teachers seek to provide lower school students with many opportunities for choice. Students can often choose how they show their understanding—through writing, performing, singing, art, and a myriad of other ways. They also have close to 15 options for how to spend their recess time, options ranging from building in the forts to playing games in the library to building and creating in the I-Lab.

In addition, built into the weekly lower school schedule is Choice Time, when students and parents lead projects in areas of curiosity and passion, and students can choose to dig in and try something new or continue to hone an existing interest. On a Friday afternoon in fall 2022, a kindergarten student taught his classmates how to play Chinese chess, a passion of his that he wanted to share with his peers.

↑ Ronoy G. takes the lead in assembling a Chihuly-inspired art piece for his class. Providing Ronoy with a sense of agency, preK teacher Claire Wasserman-Rogers is there to follow his lead and offer her support.

The opportunity for students to choose for themselves areas of interest to pursue continues in the middle and upper schools.

“We have a lot of chances for students to think about what they love to do or what they’re curious about,” said Middle School Division Head Karen Tiegel. “Students can explore things that are interesting to them but also things that might push them outside their comfort zones a little bit, because we not only want them to thrive with what they are interested in but also to get them to consider other points of view that they might be curious about as well.”

When students have the autonomy to choose what they learn and how they approach their learning, they tend to get excited and go further and deeper in their learning.

By design, “there are multiple ways students can fulfill graduation requirements,” Liza said. “Maybe a student has chosen to take Chinese over Japanese or Number Theory over Computational Biology.”

And within their classes, students are also presented with choices that shape their learning.

“If students are studying slime mold, they can pick what substrate they want it to grow on. Or maybe they just read The Crucible and are writing a historical play set in a particular era of their choosing,” Liza added.

After senior Isabella Y. took her first economics course in a seventh grade elective with Patrick Berger and discovered how much she loved it, she knew it was a subject she wanted to continue studying. By the time she graduates in June, she’ll have taken “every single economics class offered at Nueva.”

“I took Patrick’s game theory class, and I really loved everything we were doing,” Isabella said. “So when I got to high school, I started taking every possible economics course. To be able to take all of my core classes—math, English, science, history—but still get to take one or two economics classes every semester has been so great.”

“I love the way that kids get so enthusiastic about their learning,” Karen said. “Students might be sharing their learning with a friend and then it turns into wanting to present to the whole class.”

This enthusiasm, Karen said, is borne out of students’ abilities to choose what and how they learn.

The Recital and Quest projects that eighth graders and high schoolers, respectively, take on each year are another example of student choice that is core to the Nueva experience.

“These are projects in which students say, ‘I have a vision, I have choice, and I have the ability to shape my trajectory,’” Liza said.

Prior to the high school’s opening in 2013, “Recital was originally created as a capstone project for our oldest students, before we sent them out into the world, to help them understand how you can take something that you are curious about and turn it into a prolonged experience,” Liza said.

Quest is a culminating upper school project that bridges the two main components of student agency: choice and self-advocacy. Students select whatever topic they’d like to explore in depth and then reach out to experts in this area of interest to serve as mentors.

“I’m a huge proponent of Quest,” Isabella shared. “It’s all about picking the right topic; in doing so, the project can go far.”

Isabella did a combined Quest for her sophomore and junior years, where she and Fiona Tan ’22 created a mentorship program that paired Nueva high school students with sixth grade students from the SMART program.

“We did that completely on our own,” she said, beaming. “We had [former Nueva teacher] John Feland and [former Director of Social Justice and Equity] Alegria Barclay in our back corner giving us advice and mentorship, but we were the ones who met with the students’ parents, gave them the information [about the partnership], organized everything, led the info session, and organized training for them. It was such a good experience. And along the way, everyone encouraged us to keep going. Every new person we connected with told us, ‘I’m here for you; reach out if you need anything.’ But they didn’t

↓

By developing close relationships with their teachers beginning in lower school, students build confidence in advocating for themselves, a life skill that carries through all of their at Nueva and beyond.

offer to step in, which propelled us forward and also allowed us to take charge.”

Finding and Using One’s Voice

It’s this “taking-charge” mindset that Nueva hopes all its graduates reach.

“At its core, student agency is about self-advocacy, and it is something we teach from a very early age,” Karen said. “I think it makes our school unique.”

One of the ways students in the lower school learn about self-advocacy is through curricula that introduce them to local and global changemakers.

“Our teachers center changemakers—people who were able to leverage resources, bring people together, and speak up for needed change,” Megan said. “So there is a lot of modeling for students and holding up this value of agency in support of the community and in support of advocacy for self and others.”

In the second grade, students study the history of the Bay Area region. As part of this study, they learn about the Chinese railroad workers who built the transcontinental railroad. In spring 2022, as an extension of their learning, students connected that underrepresented chapter in history to Nueva, and specifically to the history of the Hillsborough campus Crocker mansion, which is home to the lower school. The Crocker family built their wealth from the Central Pacific Railroad.

“Students were able to see that that is a piece of history that we are part of,” Megan said. “We are deeply connected to it. And yet they noticed, in all of the history of our school that lines our walls, we’re missing a really important piece of the story.”

Second graders applied design thinking to this observation—brainstorming, collaborating, providing feedback on ideas, receiving feedback and iterating. They built prototypes for how they would want to honor the Chinese railroad workers. They then presented their proposal in persuasive letters to Megan.

“They said, ‘We really feel it’s important to make this visible at Nueva. We should create some type of monument to honor the contributions of the Chinese workers and the ways that this land and this school has benefited from that,” Megan added.

Students felt empowered to speak up and voice their opinions on a topic of deep importance to them, a key aspect of self-advocacy.

“A real litmus test for how well we are engaging student agency,” Megan said, “is where we see student advocacy show up in spaces that are not necessarily part of the designed curriculum.”

In spring 2022, third graders demonstrated the ways in which they felt agency over their school experience when they collectively realized they wanted more physical education (PE) in their school week. A group of students collaborated with each other, did research about the benefits of PE during the school day for children their age, and collected the names of their classmates to determine if this was a widespread concern. (“All but one student felt very adamant that this was a concern,” Megan said with a laugh.)

“Then a group of students put together a list of all of the reasons why more PE time was really important to them,” Megan shared. “We met and I had an opportunity to hear more about their hopes and dreams. In true Nueva form, I shared with them the rationale of why our program is the way that it is—what some of our goals are for our PE program, what some of the constraints are, and the need for balance across subjects. I also shared with them about an expert who had worked with Nueva to help us think through our physical education and wellbeing programs.”

↑ Two middle school students create rangoli art during the AAPI Festival in May 2022.

With that information and perspective, students were asked to think more comprehensively about the specific benefits of PE, as opposed to movement in other parts of their day. They created a digital presentation, which included a proposal both for where additional PE classes could be added to the third grade schedule and for ways that teachers across all disciplines could bring more movement into their classes.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for students to show leadership and to feel agency, and to do so in a way that was pretty rigorous,” Megan said. “They had to hold many perspectives and understand some of the competing challenges that we’re working to balance. Ultimately this initiative led to real change, and we were able to add more PE blocks throughout the third grade schedule.”

In the middle and upper schools, students have many opportunities to practice self-advocacy, ranging from scheduling tutorial times with teachers to creating clubs and events.

In spring 2022, a group of middle school students approached Karen about recognizing AsianAmerican and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And so, on a Friday afternoon in late May 2022, the J Plaza on the Hillsborough campus was abuzz with middle school students gathered for the first Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Festival. Organized by the seventh and eighth grade social justice team and run entirely by students, the festival featured booths celebrating a number of Asian and Pacific Islander cultures.

“They were really thoughtful about their approach to making this new event happen,” Karen said.

When then-Senior Class Rep Cate Rose ’22 heard from her peers that they wanted to create a “Wall of Rejection” display adorned with real college rejection letters they had received, Cate brought this idea to Liza. To Cate and her classmates, the idea was simple: The college application process is taboo and in a culture that often does not talk about rejection and failure, the students wanted to normalize not being accepted everywhere one applies.

During the first conversation Cate and Liza had, “I shared some of the concerns the adults had about the display,” Liza recalled. “We were worried that our younger students—9th and 10th graders, who have yet to embark on the college application process—would become fearful and apprehensive about the process, and begin to think the process is all about rejection.”

Liza demonstrated the “Yes, and” approach that Nuevans know so well: acknowledge the need the seniors had for doing this, while conveying the

necessary constraints to the initial idea. Cate went back to the drawing board, even consulting with the art teachers about how this idea could be transformed into something that both met the needs of the seniors and held the real concerns about the younger students.

“My job in situations like this one is to say to students, in a way that is compelling, what our constraints are and why we would like to consider changing directions,” Liza said. “I want students to know, ‘It’s not me against you.’ With this approach, students are able to recognize that addressing the constraint does not squash their need. I want them to think, ‘You just told me that it can’t be manifested in this way so I’m going to take my need and come up with a new solution.

“Then I have faith, trust, and respect in them to come up with something awesome. And they never fail to amaze me with what they invent.”

Ultimately, Cate and her classmates created a “Kaleidoscope of Butterflies” installation (“My favorite collective noun: a kaleidoscope of butterflies,” Liza said), in which students cut each rejection letter into the shape of a butterfly.

This approach of partnering with students and addressing constraints that an initial idea or proposal has helps prepare students for life beyond Nueva. The world is not designed so people get their way all the time; rather, it is about understanding the need and working within a structure to come up with a solution for that need.

↑ In spring 2022, second graders presented about the life of the Chinese-American changemakers they had researched.

↓ To open up a conversation about the oftentaboo college application process, students in the Class of 2022 created a “Kaleidoscope of Butterflies,” with cut-outs of college rejection letters they had received.

The comfort of going to a teacher or division head isn’t something that just happens. It is deliberately cultivated. When Isabella joined Nueva in the sixth grade, she remembers feeling like she had been thrown into the deep end.

“It was just so different from my elementary school; at first it was a big culture shock,” she said. “But I started reminding myself that I came to Nueva because I love to learn. I started believing that I deserve to learn just as much as everyone else. There was a big emphasis on how close the students were with the teachers. We were always encouraged to go talk to them, to flesh out our ideas. I realized how helpful it was.”

When Gabriel H. ’24 joined the high school at the start of his sophomore year, he took note of the student/teacher relationship.

“That was one of the things I liked about coming to Nueva,” he said. “Faculty are very responsive. Tutorials were not something that they had at my old school. If you needed help, it wasn’t built into the schedule. Here, everyone I know goes to tutorials, so it doesn’t feel like something that you should be ashamed of.

I feel like it’s a part of the culture at Nueva to get help from teachers.”

“When you start doing tutorials you build that confidence and you start to understand that you deserve that time with your teachers,” Karen explained. “Meeting with your teachers is not seen as something bad; it’s seen as an opportunity to clarify something. Then when you go into the larger world and college, you are comfortable going to professors’ office hours and asking them questions.

“If you don’t ask [for what you want], you never learn the answer. The answer could be no, but if you take that step of asking and understand that you have a choice, that you have the power to change things— or at least to negotiate and brainstorm—that’s incredibly empowering.”

When Choice and Self-Advocacy Come Together

When students know they have a choice and a voice, they are more equipped to follow their own paths both at school and in life. This is what Nueva hopes its students truly understand and embrace when they graduate and set out for life beyond Nueva.

Alumna Briana Das ’17 recently reflected on the impact this lesson had on her life after Nueva. When she couldn’t pursue the course of study she was interested in at Brown University, she decided to work with like-minded students and professors to create the class she envisioned.

“Together we were able to create something: a class in design engineering,” she said. “We even convinced [Brown] to fund it, found teachers for it, and made it happen. I give all credit to the Nueva faculty for creating this environment of learning. By the time I graduated from Nueva…I was someone who was ready to tackle the world.” (Read more about Briana’s experience at Nueva on the next page.)

And this—advocating for oneself and others and understanding the power in choice—may be the most profound and lasting lesson all Nueva students learn. [N]

↑ Tyler Huang ’22 (right) helps David Hershenson ’22 set up his Quest project: a robot he designed and manufactured to make boba tea. Quest, a hallmark project of the upper school, bridges the two main components of student agency: choice and selfadvocacy.

FIRST PERSON BY BRIANA DAS ’17

Let’s find out the answer together

Briana Das ’17 shares a few words about the impact that her Nueva education has had on her life.

I went to a public school for middle school. I knew exactly what I needed to do to do well: memorize textbook pages, regurgitate them onto a page. I tested very well. Doing these rote activities meant that I was also a little bored, so all of the things that made me excited to learn were things I did outside of school.

When I was looking at high schools, I thought I would end up in a similar environment, until one day that literally changed my life.

A friend said to me, “I’m going to learn about this new school, Nueva. Would you like to come?”

I decided to go. My friend and I rolled up to a Nueva open house event, and I had the best time. I fell in love with the way people were thinking and talking about what it meant to be at school. It was not a place for you to sit down, face the board, write things down, and then regurgitate them later on a test. So I went home and declared to my parents—I’m sure they loved this—that I was going to go to Nueva.

In the week before the start of the school year, Nueva organized an event to give us the opportunity to meet with people at the school. I was a little terrified. At this point, I had really only met teachers. I had no idea who I would be spending my time alongside in the classroom. I thought to myself, “These kids are gifted! These kids are smart! These kids are child prodigies!”

But I went, and surprisingly I had the absolute time of my life. I also made some really good friends, to whom I still talk to this day. I felt immediately at home. All of those weird random questions that I thought I had to pursue outside the classroom were suddenly things we were talking about at a social function.

And that didn’t stop when school started. The questions I used to think would make me sound dumb in front of my peers were questions that my peers also had. I was often told, “Let’s find out the answer together.”

One moment that particularly stands out to me to this day, was in my ninth-grade math class with Erin Walker. Up until this point, I was used to math teachers giving timed multiplication tests and lots of work to keep up with the textbook. This class was not like that. First of all, we never sat in chairs—thank you, Erin, for putting up with that chaos—because

we were always up at the whiteboard. We were doing proofs, we were solving problems. Whenever I had a question, Erin said, “Oh, you know who else had that question? Why don’t you two go work on it together?”

To say that was revolutionary to me, as a 13-year-old, cannot be overstated. It blew my mind. I felt so, so lucky to be there. And it wasn’t just in math class. This was in every single one of my classes.

In those years, I often described myself as a perfectionist—someone who needed to know exactly what I was walking into every single day. One of my biggest transformations at Nueva was learning to be able to say, “I don’t know, but let’s find out.” Feeling safe enough to do that was huge for me.

I give all credit to the Nueva faculty for creating this environment of learning. By the time I graduated from Nueva, I was a different person than the scrawny little perfectionist that I came in as. I was someone who was ready to tackle the world. I had big dreams. I was going to take science classes at Brown and all my design classes at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). I was going to have a great time and it was going to be perfect.

But my first year at Brown was not perfect. I felt really lost. I had come from this place— Nueva—where the answer was always, “Yes,” and I was now at a place where the response was, “Why are you asking me this question?”

During a lecture class my first year, I asked a question and the TA told me, “You don’t need to know that. It’s not on the test.”

I was shocked to my core, and I began to wonder if college was the right place for me. That summer, after my first year of college, I visited Nueva several times. I talked to my Nueva teachers, who helped me gain a sense of perspective and helped me believe there were ways I could make college work for me. I went back to Brown with a whole different perspective, which was, “I’m going to find the things that I loved about Nueva on this campus.”

So I went out in search of Nueva people, which is an ambiguous term for what I like to call “the only people I like spending time with!” These are people who are incredibly nice and incredibly funny. More importantly, they deeply care about themselves and their place in the world.

When I went searching for these people, I found them, and I felt extremely loved. They

came from all sorts of backgrounds, but they were quintessentially Nueva people. They were worried about social impact. They wanted to explore things that were not necessarily standard on the menu at Brown, and we all just explored those things together.

One of the things Nueva taught me that I brought to college was a love of design and design thinking. As a standard liberal arts school, Brown does not really offer design and design thinking. It’s one of those things where you just walk down the hill to RISD and you do your “little artistic free expression.”

But to me, that’s not what design or design thinking was. It was a holistic process of looking at the world and solving problems in a very empathetic way. I tried to convince the Brown administration of that, which they didn’t love. But I found this group of friends that really did believe it, and I found professors who were very much like Nueva teachers—who even let me call them by their first names. And together we were able to create something: a class in design engineering. We even convinced the school to fund it, found teachers for it, and made it happen.

This class is still being taught at Brown— it’s in its fifth semester. I credit this all to being able to come back to Nueva and talk to my teachers, gain a new perspective, and then take that with me to my last few years of college.

Now I’m back in the Bay Area, and I have a real job, and Nueva still impacts me to this day.

I work at an immigration start-up that is using legal collaboration technology to help people apply for asylum, work visas, green cards, and other immigration documentation.

The projects I am working on are so quintessentially Nueva. They are the types of opportunities I was looking for when I was doing my Quest project all those years ago. Now I get to bring all that to life—and get paid for it.

I would not be the person that I am today if it had not been for those four years, plus all of those text messages, random meetings on campus, grabbing tea with one of my old teachers, hanging out with all my old high school friends that happened over my four years in college and the years that have followed.

I’m incredibly grateful to Nueva and will probably be grateful for the rest of my life.

SILK ROAD

STORY BY KARIN STORM WOOD

In 2013, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences convened a commission to address a decline in students pursuing the humanities, which is the study of languages, literature, history, law, philosophy, ethics, and comparative religion. In the commission’s final report, it evocatively described the humanities’ enduring value: “[they] are disciplines of memory and imagination, telling us where we have been and helping us envision where we are going.”

A bygone era informs students’ perspectives on modern life

Nueva’s eighth grade Silk Road study, a longstanding milestone in our middle school, demonstrates the enduring value of the humanities. The storied trade route—or, rather, a network of routes—spanned 7,000 miles, was in use for 2,300 years, and is considered the first example of globalization. Throughout the unit, students encounter some of history’s leading intellectuals, explorers, and conquerors, as well as religious traditions. As such, it offers our students a view of where humanity itself has been, and one that may help them understand better where it is going.

Starting with an outdoor mapping exercise to convey the geography and sheer scale of the Silk Road, students quickly learned that the Silk Road involved much more than trade. Along its routes traveled not just people and valuable goods, but languages, faiths, and ideas themselves. As eighth grader Meera N. put it: “The people who traveled across the Road

were exposed to so many different perspectives and ideas. [This] not only changed the way they saw the world but also helped them find their place in it.”

To unpack these encounters, teachers Cynthia Kosut and Jennifer “JP” Perry introduced the foundational concept of “imagined orders,” articulated in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens Imagined orders, which spring from humans’ tendency to hold beliefs and create rules, allow our species to coexist and cooperate in large numbers despite not knowing one another.

Analise C. described imagined orders as “the idea that humanity uses shared myths to cooperate on a large scale.” She remarked on the interesting examples that she and her classmates identified in their own lives: “the stock market, holidays, even a calendar!”

Cynthia and JP then asked their students to construct their own imagined orders. They assigned groups of students the task of allocating a single melon to feed a “village” of six people: a religious leader, a teacher, a middle-aged small merchant with a heart condition, a warrior, a sickly girl, and an infant boy. The students had to negotiate and reach a consensus on how to distribute the melon—and then use critical thinking to justify their decision, especially if they granted some people more and others less (see photo on page 30).

Though playful on the surface, the exercise asks students to address a fundamental ethical dilemma that faces all societies: Who in our society deserves the best chance at survival? The students’ responses implicitly assigned different values to people, demonstrating how inequality can be woven into the very fabric of a society.

With so many examples of vastly different religious, ethnic, and cultural traditions coming into contact for the first time, the Silk Road offers a fascinating look at human civilization evolving over many centuries. After reading a chapter from Behave by neuroscientist (and parent of eighth-grade graduate Benjamin ’11 and high school graduate Rachel ’17) Robert Sapolsky, the students contemplated the prevalence

(Data) Mapping

For a programming project in their computer science class with Angi Chau, some eighth graders used datasets collected by Silk Road researchers. They created interactive maps reflecting the spread of different languages and religions over time such as this example, programmed by Natasha M.

of implicit bias, a human tendency quite different from imagined orders but equally hardwired.

“Often, we associate the unfamiliar with bad, and the familiar with good,” said Kaiyan N. “When [humans] travel across wide expanses, they commend places with similar practices to them, as Ibn Battuta did with Persia and other Muslim regions. Bias leads to hatred of the unfamiliar, such as when Ibn Battuta reached China.”

Battuta, along with Alexander the Great, Xuanzang, Empress Wu, Genghis Khan, and Aurel Stein, comprised the unit’s “Silk Road Six”: diverse figures whose identities, travels, and choices the students studied closely in their final culmination projects.

Cynthia explained why understanding conflicts borne of religious difference is particularly important for Nueva students.

“In the Bay Area, we live in a mostly secular environment, but most of the world does not,” she said. “As the students learned how each of the Silk Road Six was influenced by one or more of those religions, they saw that there’s a big difference between religious tolerance and forcing your religion on others.”

JP added, “The most successful religions were the ones that embraced syncretism,” the fusion of different faith traditions (another term that the eighth graders mastered). “They took on local customs. They embraced local languages. Those religions spread the farthest and had the most practitioners, as opposed to rigid faiths that refused to translate their sacred texts.” The students studied syncretism on a trip to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (see photo on page 19).

Analise captured how the Silk Road study led the class to deep inquiries into the dynamics of human civilization.

“We could draw lines of connection across time to poke, prod, and question the nature of humanity. How do geography and background influence our shared myths? In what ways are religions, beliefs, and imagined orders spread through trade? What does culture mean—and how is it formed?”

The Silk Road’s two-millennium lifespan provided a lens onto questions facing us in the 21st century, sparking “meaningful (and fun!) debates about society—good, bad, or somewhere in between,” according to Analise.

“The semester was full of these little moments: from Xuanzang and his religion-driven journey; to

Faced with the task of constructing an imagined order to feed their village, this group agreed on allocating unequal portions to its inhabitants. “Sickly girl is bigger, needs more energy [than infant boy],” read their notes. “Warrior can save lives, needs energy to succeed.”

“Once again, HISTORY REMAINS RELEVANT and dictates our life today. We need to examine history to change the world.”

comparing the Declaration of Independence and the Hammurabi Code as two vessels of imagined order; to reading accounts of slavery and talking about prejudice and biases in our world. What linked them together was their reflection of history onto our modern-day society.”

“That's the piece about the humanities that I think is missing in the world today,” said Cynthia. “People don’t know how to look back. But when you do look at something that happened hundreds of years ago, you tend to be more objective. And then you can ask, ‘And how different is that from today?’” Kaiyan agreed.

“Even now, when we have come so far, there is so, so much left to do when it comes to [having] an objective opinion on everything, whether it's race, sex, gender, or political party,” he said. “We still are not objective as often as we’d like to think we are, attacking scarecrows that are truly not representative of the people who inhabit our world.

“Once again, history remains relevant and dictates our life today. We need to examine history to change the world.” [N]

↙← Marketplace Machinations

In a lively and competitive grade-wide activity, teams of students representing the Silk Road’s main geographic regions traded the goods, religions, and technologies native to their respective areas with their neighbors. As the game progressed through three rounds of trading, the patterns by which these commodities spread across the Middle East and the Far East demonstrated how geography determines economics. The winning teams accumulated the most diverse collection of wares, faiths, and knowledge (and the fewest diseases), nicely simulating the Silk Road’s most thriving societies.

↓ Good Reads

The Silk Road curriculum draws from a wide range of recent scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Through curated excerpts, the eighth graders develop an understanding of the fundamental conditions and systems that define human societies, and even civilization itself. “These kids are not reading material written for eighth graders,” said Cynthia Kosut. “These are grown-up books!”

↖↑ Cynthia Kosut (above left) and Jennifer “JP” Perry (above) oversee the Silk Road simulation activity in the Hillsborough gym.

ZOE MONOSSON

San Mateo I-Lab shop manager

PATHS to

Since I attended Nueva from kindergarten through eighth grade, Nueva has always been a home away from home. There’s a special bond that I feel towards my fellow “Waves” (dating back to the pre-Maverick days) and I’m so thrilled to have started my second chapter in this community. Nueva nurtured my curiosity and love for trying new things and I truly believe that I wouldn’t be the creative learner who I am today if I hadn’t gone to Nueva. I feel so lucky that I received the education that I did and am excited to perpetuate that experience to others.

In launching our online directory, we asked teachers and staff the question: HOW

DID YOU GET TO NUEVA?

Here are a few of their answers.

CHRIS SCOTT

upper school Japanese teacher

I got to Nueva by car, across the desert, with two angsty cats. I was teaching in Austin, TX, before I came to Nueva, and I was ready to get back to the West Coast. Nueva reminded me of everything I love about teaching and learning, so I knew I wanted to be part of this community.

IHMAR

ALDANA

upper school math teacher

I come from a US territory across the Pacific—the island of Guam, to be exact. After five years of teaching in the public school system back home, I decided it was time to explore other opportunities in the mainland. I have always loved the Bay Area and visited a few times to visit friends and family. Luckily, I stumbled upon this math teacher opening at Nueva and applied. That is how I got here.

My maternal grandparents were both teachers— in fact, my grandmother was my second grade teacher—so teaching is in my blood. After receiving my Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Stanford University in 2006, I taught Japanese language and cultural studies at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, for six years before returning to San Francisco to become a freelance translator. When a job opened up at Nueva in 2014 to build the Japanese program at the new upper school, I knew it was time to return to my roots as a teacher. I’ve been here happily ever since.

COLIN TRIBBLE middle school humanities teacher

My journey at Nueva started many years ago when I joined as a student in preK! In a sense then, I didn’t find Nueva, but Nueva found me. My years attending the school as a student were some of the most joyful years of my education. I relished the freedom, the strong relationships with teachers, and of course our amazing trips and curriculum. When I took on the mantle of educator, it was an easy decision about which school I wanted to teach at. Because I had been so happy at Nueva, I wanted to learn how to make that happen for others.

ANNA LYON middle school writing teacher

My maternal grandparents were both teachers— in fact, my grandmother was my second grade teacher— so teaching is in my blood.”

“

There’s a special bond that I feel towards my fellow ‘Waves’.”

RASHIDA BLADE kindergarten teacher

After leaving a career in accounting, I decided to get back into education. While substitute teaching, I came across Nueva and began working in the middle school. I was captivated by the environment and non-traditional education style. After some time, students began to ask me why I didn’t just work full time at Nueva, and when some of our Black students mentioned how they don’t see enough teachers who “look like them,” I decided to apply for a position. I’ve been here ever since!

EMILY MITCHELL first grade teacher

My journey to Nueva felt incredibly serendipitous as I had recently moved to the Bay Area and was looking to make a career change. I lost someone very special to me around this same time...and her dream was to be a teacher. As a way of honoring her legacy and connecting to my greatest passion—learning—I knew that teaching was my true calling. I arrived at Nueva and immediately felt like I had found my home. I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I truly believe that life works in mysterious ways. Teaching is what I am meant to do.

Hillsborough

I followed my kids to Nueva in the late 1980s, working in the library for four hours two afternoons a week for six months— and never left!

NUEVA

LIANN YIM digital communications manager/ journalism and yearbook teacher

MYNA CHIEM controller

I was born and raised in Vietnam. My family fled to America after 1978 when the Vietnam War ended. I took ESL classes and enrolled in college with the assistance of the financial aid programs and earned my B.A. in accounting. Throughout the years I worked for multiple nonprofit organizations. I eventually found myself coming to Nueva, where it matches my work experience and has a fascinating staff. I enjoy the fact it supports low-income students like I once was. I am thrilled to work for an institution like the ones that helped me to get where I am today.

In early 2017, a guest speaker came to visit The Kinkaid School, where I was teaching journalism and advising student publications. He projected this message: Comfort is the enemy of creativity. I thought about that all school year. I came to Nueva looking for change and challenge, excited by the possibilities and opportunities inherent in building a new high school. Other steps that led me here: I double majored in journalism and history at New York University and completed an M.F.A. in creative writing at the University of Maryland. I love reading, writing, editing, and publishing.

MARILYN KIMURA

librarian

Teaching is what I am meant to do.”

“

I was captivated by the environment and non-traditional education style.”

Comfort is the enemy of creativity.”

I followed my kids to Nueva in the late 1980s... and never left!”

The Road Ahead

STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

2022–2027

One evening in January, hundreds of parents, faculty, and staff gathered in the upper school’s Writing and Research Center and over Zoom for Head of School Lee Fertig’s “State of Nueva” address. Having touched on highlights of the current school year, he turned to the school’s recently adopted five-year strategic framework, Renew | Belong | Innovate—a roadmap for Nueva in the years ahead.

He began by pointing out that Nueva is now 55 years old.

“In the human lifespan, many would suggest this sits squarely in the category of ‘middle age,’” he said, drawing chuckles from the audience.

At this inflection point, he noted, many people engage in activities that honor their past, to stay rooted in their life’s priorities. They also celebrate the present by striving to live the fullest experience they can, with as broad a circle of family and friends as possible. And as the psychologist Erik Erikson indicated in his developmental theory of psychosocial development, in middle age one ideally strives to envision the future in generative ways, rather than succumb to stagnation.

“As we celebrate Nueva’s 55th year, it is time for us to embed ourselves in who we are, embrace the full potential of today’s societal dynamics, and ensure Nueva continues to lead as a maverick as it always has done,” Lee said. “It is time for us to renew, belong, and innovate.”

The development of the framework was a full-year process involving the Nueva community: parents, students, alumni, faculty and staff. Taryn Grogan, director of enrollment and strategic engagement, and Janet Cheston, trustee and parent, served as the steering committee co-chairs. The framework was formally adopted by the Board of Trustees on May 25, 2022.

In the pages ahead, explore the roadmap for Nueva that this framework lays out, and see how Nueva’s journey along it has already begun.

STRENGTHEN OUR FOUNDATIONS

After a period of significant change and pandemic disruption, this pillar ensures that Nueva stays true to its roots as a school that provides an excellent, differentiated education to gifted learners and enables them to make choices that benefit the world. By lifting up our humanities, arts, and athletics programs, we will ensure that every discipline at Nueva offers excellence in breadth and depth. To attract and retain the talented and thoughtful educators that our students need, we seek to improve the experiences of our professional community in every way.

What We’re Working On Spotlight on the Humanities

This issue’s feature on the current iteration of Nueva’s long standing eighth grade Silk Road study (page 28) is an example of how we are expanding awareness of hallmark humanities programs at the school. (Graphics throughout this issue indicate stories that point to the progress being made on the framework’s three pillars.) [1.2]

Nueva’s new Athletic Director is a former professional athlete with a track record of expanding and strengthening athletic programs. Read more on page 42. [1.3]

Professional Growth

Under the leadership of Allen Frost, upper school teacher and former director of the Innovative Teacher Program, a task force is developing a professional-growth framework for all faculty and staff. The goal is a flexible protocol that meets Nueva employees’ desire for self-accountability as they refine their professional skills, while ensuring consistency and evenness across classrooms and departments. An initial design of this framework will be proposed before the end of the school year. [1.4]

RENEW

1.1 Reiterate, proactively communicate, and demonstrate Nueva’s enduring commitment to its core foundations to reinforce the school’s mission, vision, values, and culture given pandemic disruption and school growth.

1.2 Enhance humanities and arts by increasing breadth and depth of offerings and expanding awareness of hallmark programs PreK-12.

1.3 Increase support for athletics to ensure required resources within each division and create a longterm vision for the program consistent with Nueva’s vision, mission, and values.

1.4 Continue to increase commitments to expert faculty and staff through bold and creative strategies to recruit, support, develop, and retain the very best, with specific focus on health, wellness, and systems for efficiency.

FOSTER INCLUSION AND WELLNESS

Creating and sustaining a learning community in which every individual Nueva student and adult can flourish intellectually and emotionally requires deliberate action. This pillar is dedicated to increasing the support we provide to ensure that everyone in our community feels a deeper sense of wellness and belonging—prerequisites to doing one’s best work.

What We’re Working On Making Space

In response to upper school students’ request for a space dedicated to quiet reflection and relaxation, the comfortable, student-designed Swellness Room was opened last fall. It is slated to be expanded by next fall. We also seek to expand our student support teams and programs on both campuses. [2.1]

BELONG

2.1 Create a robust system of student support to meet the individual needs of Nueva’s broad range of gifted learners and sustain their health and wellness.

2.2 Prioritize in-person community connections in response to disruption from global pandemic.

2.3 Increase awareness of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives, including community engagement around, and accountability for, the importance of justice,

Last August, Nueva held its first-ever MavFest, a schoolwide community celebration at our San Mateo campus. See page 12. [2.2]

Beloved Community

Nueva’s continued commitment to fostering a beloved community took a significant step forward this winter with the creation of a new standing committee of the board. Composed of trustees, parents, and employees, the Beloved Community Committee (BCC) was created, in part, to support the school’s efforts to ensure that all Nueva community members feel supported, heard, and empowered to thrive. To build greater awareness and support for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) at the board level, where key strategy and resourcing decisions are made, the BCC will develop critical “JEDI lenses” for board committees to consider when making decisions and developing recommendations. Ann Wilson Green, who serves as a BCC co-chair along with Leila Johansson, explains: “These lenses will ask: does our Governance Committee reflect the diverse community we strive to achieve at the school? How will the Finance Committee’s budget decisions around financial assistance impact the school’s JEDI initiatives?” Finally, to ensure greater accountability and develop metrics for our progress, the BCC is also supporting a comprehensive audit of our JEDI efforts, and it will help the school prioritize the recommendations that emerge during that process. [2.3]

Leadership Development

A second initiative introduced this winter is Nueva’s first in-house People of Color Leadership Institute, a professional development opportunity designed for Nueva employees of color to expand their leadership practice and build community with one another. Sixteen Nueva faculty and staff of color comprise the first cohort. The institute offers a structured curriculum with sessions such as “Autobiography of a Leader,” “Designing from the Grassroots,” and “Leading as a POC: Communication & Strategic Thinking.” [2.4]

Nueva sent an unprecedented six upper school students and 17 adults to the annual NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) and NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) in San Antonio, TX. Read about the conferences, and the new leader of our newly expanded JEDI team, on pages 43–45. [2.4]

BUILD FOR OUR FUTURE

The final pillar of our 2022–2027 Strategic Framework outlines the next chapter in the school’s long history of innovation. New course offerings will reflect the world our students are entering, and new facilities to better support student exploration and achievement— particularly in the humanities, arts, and athletics—will keep the school moving forward. Our school’s long history of close ties to the wider world of education and industry will be reignited through a new center for educational innovation and a recommitment to Nueva’s Mission II.

What We’re Working On Campus Master Plans

The last several years have seen the addition of significant new facilities on both campuses (see page 14). As we envision future expansions, we are guided by comprehensive, multi-phase campus master plans. Terry Lee, associate head of school, is leading the charge. ¶ Enhanced security on both campuses, phase one of this multiyear effort, has been completed. ¶ Phase two will see the Hillsborough library remodeled and expanded into a humanities center at the heart of that campus, akin to the Writing and Research Center (WRC) at San Mateo. At the upper school, a range of space improvements will be made, including reconfigured arts and athletics spaces. Several new classrooms will be created by enclosing the WRC’s mezzanine with glass (for sound-proofing purposes), and relocating some administrative offices to an underutilized open-air space near the gym, which will also be enclosed. ¶ Next, the focus will turn back to Hillsborough, where a new facility dedicated to fine arts and performing arts, including a versatile black box theater, will be built on the site of the old middle school quad. It will also provide permanent homes

equity, diversity, and inclusion for all members of the Nueva community.

2.4 Increase support for JEDI initiatives, including programs and systems for recruitment, retention, access, and inclusion for individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups.

INNOVATE

3.1 Continue to innovate and enhance curricular offerings, including:

• Add new topics in emerging fields of study reflective of significant changes in the world; create a new signature program for Upper School social-emotional learning; pioneer preK–12 curriculum to teach and practice civil discourse.

• Coordinate and formalize continuity of community service learning (preK–12).

• Expand environmental citizenship studies (preK–12) and increase sustainability on campuses and throughout operations.

3.2 Invest in new and enhanced facilities for humanities, arts, and athletics.

3.3 Explore the creation of a collaborative center for educational innovation and teacher development in partnership with educators, universities, researchers, and industry leaders.

3.4 Clarify and refine objectives for Mission II outreach given current school size and availability of resources.

This story provides updates on the sections of the strategic framework that are highlighted above.

for Admissions and Development. ¶ In the final phase, the Hillsborough gym will be redesigned for the exclusive use of PE and athletics. At the same time, the playing field will be expanded and laid with weatherproof turf. ¶ Reflecting on these ambitious campus plans, Terry said, “We often talk about the connections between people, place, and program, and we’re doing this fine-tuning and this expansion planning for the program and the people—not just to ‘have more space.’ The place helps enable our people and our program to fulfill their potential.” [3.3]

Sustainability Director of Environmental

Citizenship Sarah Koning and her team have embarked on a three-year, cross-divisional composting study to develop a plan for composting all of Nueva’s food waste on site. This fall, the team placed worm and bokashi composting bins next to the Hillsborough café; students learned how to sort their food waste into the correct bins. Composting has also become part of the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten science curriculum. In her upper school Soil Health class, Sarah’s students are studying insect composting; designing, iterating, and then building a biome on the Hillsborough campus; and exploring models for teaching younger students about how composting systems work.

[3.1]

As of this writing, we were welcoming finalists for Nueva’s director of teaching and learning. Among many other responsibilities connected to our mission to educate gifted learners, the new director will be spearheading one of the most exciting initiatives of the strategic framework’s “Innovate” pillar: developing a center for educational innovation and teacher development at Nueva.

Special Topics

SENIORS TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THE

80s & 90s

STORY BY LIANN YIM

ReadinGS:

Native Speaker White Noise

FOR SENIORS, English class is a smorgasbord—a panoply of teacher obsessions and expertise. There’s a class on adaptations, taught by Alexa Hart. Pearl Bauer is teaching a class called “Victorian Seriality.” Jen Neubauer is teaching memoirs. Gretchen Kellough is teaching Afro-Caribbean literature and film. Lillian Howard has a class centered on the “transgressions” that occur when boundaries—set by society, family, the law, the environment, or even boundaries that are self-imposed—are crossed.

This menu of diverse classes are, by design, not offered to students as a choice, which makes it somewhat of an oddity at Nueva; students are placed into a seminar that best suits their schedule. Across all three divisions, students are given so many choices in what they want to dive deeply into that their 12th grade English seminar is seen as an opportunity for them to explore a genre that they might not have chosen on their own. In the past, seniors have expressed that they were surprised by how much they liked the topic—whether it was about monsters in literature or Gothic literature— and that being in a class they didn’t get to choose stretched them.

This fall, two of the newest advanced English seminars being offered are the 1980s and 1990s classes taught by Allen Frost. In these literature and cultural studies courses, students spend the semester reading, viewing, and listening to texts of all kinds (novels, poems, short stories, television shows, films, and popular music) from that respective decade. In examining these cultural products, students probe the question, “To what extent is art the product of its time?”

Plays: M.Butterfly angels in America

“I think it’s incumbent upon me to make sure that all students get to do something that’s interesting to them within these decades because they didn’t get to choose the class,” said Allen, who met with every single student to ask them what they were interested in and wanted to study in the 80s and 90s. In selecting a theme for his two classes, Allen wanted to make sure that there were enough good core texts that would offer students opportunities for rich close study, analysis, and discussion. In the 80s and 90s, he noted that there was “a lot of innovation” in literature that came from a number of different sources.

“In the 90s, for example, we finally had an explosion and recognition of authors from previously marginalized voices,”

Music: Alanis MorisSette

Allen explained. “There’s this boom, long overdue. It’s when Toni Morrison wins the Nobel Prize in Literature. Junot Díaz and Jhumpa Lahiri are producing critically acclaimed work, as well as a number of gay writers, because of the AIDS crisis that’s taking place. There’s also a sense in a lot of the literature of the 90s of being on the precipice of something major that is going to happen, of ‘What’s going to happen in 2000?’”

Although the class is focused on the United States, there’s “a lot of global flavor” to the writing of the 90s.

“Because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and globalization, writers in America felt like they could no longer just write about America. There was a sense that they needed to write about how this echoes in the broader world,” Allen said.

The 80s seminar read White Noise by Don DeLillo, and is now reading David Henry Hwang’s play M. Butterfly. In the 90s class, students have read Native Speaker by Korean-American author Chang-Rae Lee. They recently began reading Tony Kushner’s play Angels in America by having a number of guest teachers join the class to act out the first four scenes.

Riyana Srihari, a senior in the 90s seminar, described the class as “one of the most beautiful English classes I’ve ever been in.”

“It’s a class that is very intimate because of the topics we are discussing,” Riyana said. “We’ve had a lot of discussion around immigration and immigrant identity, and for me, that has been really valuable because I’m first generation [American] in my family. Reading novels like Native Speaker has been really cool because it kind of subverts the dominant narrative we see in the media about immigrants. This novel is so different and edgy, sometimes cynical about his immigrant experience. And I think that is really beautiful and speaks to the complexity of that experience.”

A lot of experimentation is taking place in both the 80s and 90s seminars. One such experiment is an ongoing immersion project, where students sign up to study a TV show or a music album from that decade.

“They’re meant to consume it in a kind of ambient way,” Allen explained. “There’s no assignment on it, nothing is due. The experimental part of this is to investigate the question, does listening or viewing this on your own help you understand or illuminate some of the texts we’re reading in class? What themes were people obsessed with in the 80s, in the 90s?”

Students are listening to podcasts on the O.J. Simpson trial, watching Twin Peaks, listening to the music of Alanis Morissette, among other things. On a recent in-class assessment, they compared one of their core texts to the television and music they were studying on their own.

Another class experiment is what’s called “teacher provocations.” For 10 minutes at the beginning of class, Nueva teachers or staff members have been invited to talk to the students about something from that particular decade that was important to them—a historical moment, a work of literature or media, or some other keystone moment—and how these cultural texts and moments influenced their lives.

“It’s fun to hear from other people in our school who have their own connection to the history and culture we’re studying,” Allen said. “People can be conversant in this in a way that, if we were studying the 1800s, they couldn’t be.”

In the 90s seminar, Director of Enrollment and Strategic Engagement Taryn Grogan and teachers Jen Neubauer and Rob Zomber came to talk about the O.J. Simpson trial. English teacher Alexa Hart talked about the TV series My So-Called Life, and how important it was for her to see a teenager (played by a teenager) who was grappling with issues that were relevant and universal to her life at the time. Former neuroscience teacher Luke De talked about the Human Genome Project, which launched in 1990, and how he thought that once they solved it, all the world’s problems would be solved. And in the 80s class, upper school Associate Director of Admissions Elise Maar talked about Top Gun (1986), while physics teacher Mark Hurwitz talked about the Challenger explosion and how it not only devastated the country but affected the work he was doing at the time as a graduate student.

Another experiment Allen has undertaken is to make the learning visible.

“That’s one of Nueva’s principles of practice— making learning visible,” Allen said. “It can be hard in the humanities, so I wanted to think about how we do that. How do you make research in the humanities accessible beyond esoteric academic articles?”

To that end, students in the 90s class created a map on the wall that attempts to draw connections and themes from some of the decade’s art and literature to history-defining moments. Viewers are invited to examine the map, see the ways in which these cultural works illuminate the historical, political, and social movements that shaped the decade, and scan the QR codes to read work by the students.

The map is still on display; stop by the second floor outside the WRC to take a look. [N]

Literature: Pulitzer Prize

TV: My so called life

Podcast: O.J. Simpson Trial Games: Rubiks Cube

SCIENCE: Human Genome

TV: TWIN PEAKS

JULIAN TATTONI LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE ASSOCIATE TEACHER

ANDREA HART ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS, LOWER SCHOOL

Prior to starting my career in education I was a field wildlife biologist working across California, New Jersey, and Hawai’i.

My parents have a giant sulcata tortoise. He walks laps and chomps the lawn all day. He’ll live 120 years so he’s in the will as a family heirloom!

LEE FERTIG, HEAD OF SCHOOL I studied guitar, music theory, and jazz composition one summer at the Berklee College of Music.

JOHN DIXON MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNING SPECIALIST

I am an avid swimmer and I have completed the swim from Alcatraz Island almost ten times.

SARAH KONING DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL CITIZENSHIP

I am obsessed with kelp, including kelp as: a carbon sequester, as a plastic replacement, or as a nutritious snack. Kelp will save the world!

GAVIN BRADLEY DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING

I learned to play rugby in the Marine Corps and played for 16 years, including a national championship and a professional season in Sydney.

FACULTY & STAFF FUN FACTS

DAVID ROBINSON PRE-KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

Every time a friend has a baby, I knit a hat and slippers for the baby. I don’t know where all those hats end up after the baby outgrows them.

MARILYN KIMURA LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

I love driving to the Grateful Dead.

LORI MUSTILLE FOURTH GRADE TEACHER

I have harvested buckeye seeds from Nueva trees, successfully germinated and grown these over the last 6 years. Come see some on my classroom balcony!

SASKIA CHAN, SCHOOL NURSE I have an ever- expanding collection of eccentric garden gnomes...stop by the health office to ask me about my collection!

REENIE CHARRIERE MIDDLE SCHOOL ART SPECIALIST I love climbing ladders!

RASHIDA BLADE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER I grew up with a mother who is a musician, so a lot of the time I sing when I speak. My students find this amusing, curious, and sometimes annoying.

ELAINE CHAN FIRST GRADE TEACHER I have an obsession with jackets and coats. I own over 50 pieces of outerwear!

LINDA OWOLABI THIRD GRADE ASSOCIATE TEACHER

I love spending time at airports, I will happily get to the airport 4 hrs before my flight to grab a bite to eat while I people watch.

KASEY WOOTEN LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER

I am an avid forager who loves a good treasure hunt in the wilderness, whether I’m collecting mushrooms, berries, seaweed, or memories.

RAMIRO ORTA MANAGER OF TECHNOLOGY

I am an avid vinyl enthusiast and music lover. I own over 2000 vinyl records with a large selection being classic jazz albums from the 60s and 70s.

DEBORAH SNYDER LOWER SCHOOL MATH SPECIALIST I used to be a professional pastry chef, and I still stress-bake.

NICOLE MACARAEG, MIDDLE SCHOOL SEL TEACHER I have names for all of my house plants. My favorites are Jonathan Plant Ness, Kamala, and Phoebe.

SPENCER HAWLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHER

I love watching videos of people doing magic tricks for monkeys.

LIZA RAYNAL UPPER SCHOOL DIVISION HEAD

I’ve felt really lucky to have traveled with students to nine different countries and three different states.

WES CHAO UPPER SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER

I’ve been bungee jumping, even though I’m deathly afraid of heights.

JUDITH WORRALL MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING TEACHER

I volunteer weekly, including feeding and taking feral cats to vets for neutering and health care with Coastside Feral Care.

SANDY CHANG MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING TEACHER

I worked as a legislative writer for two US Senators while attending grad school and rode the elevator up to my office with Teddy Kennedy many mornings.

RACHEL DAWSON

CLAIRE YEO UPPER SCHOOL ASSISTANT DIVISION HEAD

The four cities where I’ve lived are all dynamic port-towns with amazing histories: Sydney, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and San Francisco.

MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL ART TEACER

I love researching genealogy! Recently, I traced my father’s side all the way to Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, and the Plantagenets.

JASON MCEUIN, MIDDLE SCHOOL PE TEACHER I am a 4th degree black belt in taekwondo.

ANNA LYON MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING TEACHER

HELEN WICKS LOWER SCHOOL ART SPECIALIST I love to walk on my hands. As a youngin’ I would walk on my hands directly after dinner… every night.

I was in the 2012 Guinness world record for the largest gathering of natural redheads. The record has since been broken.

SABRINA GARCIA MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE ASSOCIATE TEACHER I lived in France and Alaska while conducting subtidal research.

EMMA SAMEROYNINA

FOURTH GRADE TEACHER

ANDREW ALEXANDER UPPER SCHOOL MATH TEACHER I have seen both Andean and California condors in the wild.

ANA CECILIA ALVAREZ MIDDLE SCHOOL HUMANITIES TEACHER Soy chilanga! Meaning, I am from Mexico City.

I studied at the School of American Ballet and performed with the New York City Ballet in The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and many more.

Brett McCabe

Meet our new director of athletics

Can you share a little about your journey to Nueva? They say if you do something you love, then you will never work a day in your life. This is how my professional experiences have felt. I grew up loving sports, and I have been fortunate to be involved in athletics my entire career.

After playing baseball professionally, I became a coach and administrator at the collegiate level. After seven years, and wanting to be closer to family, my wife and I moved to Dallas, TX, where I served as the director of the McKinney Marshals baseball organization for eight years. I then transitioned to being the athletic director at Parish Episcopal School.

During my 10 years at Parish, I helped grow Parish’s athletic program. We added two additional sports and entered the biggest division of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Despite being the smallest school in the league, we enjoyed a high level of success—including six state championships.

What are you looking forward to in your new role?

Initially, I look forward to getting to know everybody in the Nueva community while supporting the athletic department. Over time, I look forward to making a difference in the lives of our

student-athletes. I want to enhance their experience to the fullest. This is done in many different ways: providing support, maximizing opportunities, embracing competition, hiring the best coaches, improving and expanding facilities, using the best equipment, and anything else I can do to make the kids feel special and appreciated.

What drew you to the Athletics program at Nueva and what opportunities do you see? In my initial conversations with [Associate Head of School] Terry Lee, I became more and more interested in the school. Terry was very passionate about Nueva, the community, and in particular, athletics. He really sold me on it.

Then I had the opportunity to visit and meet with many people on both of Nueva’s campuses. It was obvious that Nueva is a special place where everyone really cares and wants the best for one another. That level of support was important to me.

Nueva’s athletic department is still relatively young, which reminds me of when I became the athletic director at my former school. I see many similarities and look forward to helping the department grow and improve.

Every year, second graders study what brings people to the Bay Area. What draws you to the Bay Area? For me, this is an easy one. I was born just up the road in Sacramento. All my family still lives there, so having the opportunity to return to Northern California was a no-brainer. Plus, is there any better weather in the country? I don’t think so.

What is something that people might be surprised to know about you? I am a former professional baseball player. I played for the Chicago Cubs Organization. [N]

QUICK FACTS

Favorite sport to watch: Football

Favorite sport to play: Basketball

Favorite pre-game song: “Crazy Train” by Ozzie Osbourne

Favorite pre-game meal: None. I like to play and coach on an empty stomach.

Favorite travel destination: Myrtle Beach, SC, and Lake Tahoe, CA

Person, place, or thing that brings you joy: My wife and kids

Morning beverage of choice (or how you take your coffee): Orange juice. I’ve never drunk coffee.

Secret hidden talent: I am ambidextrous.

Number one thing on your bucket list: Take my family to Hawai’i for a vacation.

Your hero: My dad

Savannah Strong

Meet our new director of social justice and equity

What drew you to this role?

As a classroom teacher at my previous school, I found myself asking more and more questions about how to create a class community in which all of my students could thrive. That was grounded in my own experience as a Black girl growing up in predominantly white and wealthy spaces in Connecticut. I always felt like an outsider. I had to contort and change in order to fit in, in order to accomplish what I thought belonging was. And it worked: by a lot of external metrics, I had a lot of success as a student. But there was an aspect of myself that was constantly wearing a mask.

When I got to college, I began to engage in a process of deep identity work. I began to come into a racial consciousness. That process was messy and hard: I didn’t feel as though I had a community or a framework to map what I was feeling on the inside onto.

It is so important that every single student feels that they are not only celebrated and affirmed, but also that they have the support they need, to understand who they are, in all of their beauty and complexity, so that we can create a school community in which every student could thrive.

What do you see as the importance of DEI work at Nueva? I see DEI work as deeply empowering. This holds true even for folks who hold a lot of power, who move through the world with different types of privilege. It’s important for us to recognize where we hold power and to understand our ability to leverage that power to make a more just and equitable world. The work of DEI at Nueva needs to be held by the collective.

What values inform your work? Belonging is a big one. Belonging means showing up in all of your beauty, complexity, and diversity, knowing that this is a space for you where you will be celebrated and affirmed.

Community and justice, too—recognizing that our lived experience is impacted by our history and that our history has created unequal opportunity. We so often get mired in what is, and we start from this place of trying to fix what is. For me, instead, the first step is actually to dream expansively of what can be, and then to decide collectively how we get there.

I don’t know if in my life I’ll ever see the world that I dream of. But giving myself

QUICK FACTS

Favorite book to gift: Resmaa Menakem’s My Grandmother’s Hands

Favorite travel destination: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Song that gets you on the dance floor: “Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone Person, place, or thing that brings you joy: My apartment on Sunday morning, a cup of black coffee, and Miles Davis.

Favorite rule to break: “No white after labor day.”

Hidden talent: I’ve got some pipes.

Your hero: The late, great bell hooks.

Last “supper” (i.e. favorite meal): I’ve recently made the decision to start becoming a vegan. But that aside: my mother’s spaghetti carbonara.

the space to dream radically, in and of itself, is a liberatory practice that allows me to continue to do the work.

What do you hope to achieve in this role? Part of creating and sustaining a community in which everyone belongs is creating spaces in which everyone feels that they can exhale, that they can be in community with each other and just experience joy and celebration. So the JEDI team (b Garcia, Shelby Divan, Matthew Oakland, and I) has been expanding our affinity spaces across the community.

That said, my deepest goal is for every single community member to be able to celebrate themselves and to be celebrated by the folks around them. [N]

As part of its renewed commitment to social justice and equity, Nueva sent an unprecedented 17 educators to the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference (POCC) in San Antonio, TX, where they participated in seminars and workshops on topics relevant to people of color in independent schools. Upper school teachers Pearl Bauer and Gretchen Kellough also presented “Belonging on our Bookshelves: An elementary and high school collaboration.” (This collaboration was featured in the Spring/ Summer 2022 issue of Nueva Magazine.)

Nueva also sent six upper school students to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), a multiracial, multicultural gathering of upper school student leaders from across the U.S. and abroad. SDLC focuses on self-reflecting, forming allies, and building community. We invite you to read some reflections from students who traveled to Texas for this moving experience.

Feeling fully me

What I’m taking with me from the Student Diversity Leadership Conference

STORY BY SAMI K. ’23

DISPATCHES FROM SDLC

[ DAY ONE ]

Zara M. ’25

8:15 a.m.

Opening ceremonies

Nueva students and teachers sat together in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. We listened to civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen talk about her experience proposing and drafting the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Rights Act, and she shared with us her sexual assault story— how she overcame what

happened to her and what it was like working to find her assailant. Nguyen’s talk was so moving. It was especially inspirational to hear how she put her career on the line to fight for what she believed in.

10:45 a.m.

“Silent Movement”

Dr. Rodney Glasgow, a DEI trainer and facilitator, read prompts regarding identity (e.g. “if you identify as Black or African-American, please stand up if you are able.”). It was interesting to see the

AT SDLC, I DISCOVERED a sense of belonging with strangers whom I would never have talked to otherwise. I have wanted to go to SDLC ever since I was in the ninth grade, when I created the first multiracial space for my middle school’s ALANA (African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American) space. I saw the immediate impact the space had on the other students who attended. What really struck me was that one of my peers wrote about their experience of attending this group and how the existence of the mixed space made them reconsider their own identity.

diversity among us, and to stand alongside people with a shared identity was very powerful for me.

1:15 p.m.

Susan B. Anthony family group

We discussed two or three core cultural identifiers including race, socioeconomic status, and ability.

3:30 p.m.

Snack

I had lemonade, chips, and chocolate. This was a great time for me to get to know

my home group, a smaller subset of the family group.

3:45 p.m.

We did guided journaling about the pandemic and how we have changed over the years. We also did an “identity molecule,” where we connected different aspects of our identities. For me, I connected race with gender, since being a woman of color has shaped the way I have been perceived by the world.

7:30 p.m.

Affinity groups

I went to the South Asian Affinity Group. There were more than 60 people in the group! The facilitators gave us prompts—such as completing the sentence “Being South Asian to me means…” It was so amazing to talk about our shared love for desi food, music, and culture.

On their first morning, the Nueva cohort dined at Box Street Social, a restaurant that serves brunch all day and where the ceiling is covered in a white shag carpet. →

This year, as a senior, I applied to attend SDLC because I have felt disconnected from my mixed identity—feeling more half and half than whole, racially—and I wanted to gain the tools to facilitate productive discussions that include solutions instead of simply reflections. In joining this multicultural space and hearing others stories, I felt full in my mixedness.

Over the course of two 16-hour days at SDLC, I learned how to talk about eight core cultural identifiers—race, sexuality, gender, age, ability, socio-economic status, religion, and family structure— and how to create space to connect across uncommon territory.

The SDLC and POCC conferences were held in San Antonio, TX. Students, faculty, and staff enjoyed strolling along the San Antonio River Walk, which winds and loops under bridges and connects restaurants, historic sites, and tourist attractions. Pearl Y-L. ’26 said, “It was so beautiful, especially lit up for the holidays.”

To help create this connection, the conference offered affinity spaces for students who identified as Black, East Asian, LGBTQ+, Latinx, Jewish, multiracial, and transracially adopted, as well as a white awareness space. I joined the multiracial affinity group. On the first day we did an activity in which we would all be connected through our (mostly) different racial identities. I said, “On one hand I’m Chinese and on the other I’m white.”

Then someone who shared part of my identity joined the circle and spoke about their identity, starting with the identifier we had in common. It was very cool to see how identities either ran in a line or reversed orders, and to hear the “Oohs” and “Ahhs” that swirled around the room when someone said something distinct.

In addition to affinity spaces, SDLC also assigned students to family groups, which offered us another opportunity to issues around diversity. Family groups consisted of roughly 50 students and two facilitators and were named after influential women ranging from activists to pop culture icons (I was in the Serena Williams group). Each student at SDLC was separated from their school contingent in order to meet new people across the country. Family groups were also broken into smaller randomly selected home groups of five to 10 people.

Although we sat on the carpet in our family groups for the majority of our time, there were plenty of activities to stretch our legs and meet people from other family groups. There was a smaller version of fishbowl, with four people in the middle discussing a given prompt and everyone else observing, and rapid-fire questions between two concentric circles of people, with one circle rotating every three minutes to discuss a given prompt.

Hearing a diversity of perspectives was an informative experience for me, and I left both these activities and the conference having felt seen, without a need to explain myself or make excuses for one side of myself. I was fully me, in my mixedness, without compromises.

[ DAY TWO ]

Sami K. ’23

1:30 p.m.

Keynote Speaker #2

Katherine Dihn, head of school at Marin Country Day School spoke about her immigration process to the U.S. and migration across the U.S. It was clear that she developed a lot of resilience through this experience.

Pearl Y. L. ’26

3:15 p.m.

Affinity groups

In the AAPI affinity group, we did a spectrum activity

similar to one we did in our family groups. Then we discussed many topics, including Asian beauty standards, social justice, and feeling “not Asian enough.” The conversation that stuck with me the most was a candid, shocking discussion of Asian fetishization.

5:15 p.m

Dinner (see photo opposite)

I ate barbecue chicken and salad with a lemon bar for dessert. I sat with a student from Houston and another from Fort Worth, TX, and

they both were similarly confused about the lack of flavor from the barbecue.

[ DAY THREE ]

Sami K. ’23

8 a.m.

Closing ceremony

An activity that stuck with me was “May Peace be with You,” in which we greeted as many people as possible to pass our energy to them with a fist bump, a hand shake, or a hug.

11:15

Final closing ceremony with Mariana Atencio

We finished the conference together with the attendees from PoCC—all 8,000+. In this final session, we heard from Atencio, the first Latina journalist correspondent on MSNBC and NBC News, about tackling prejudice head on. She presented three tools: 1) “Shake off and recenter with your power,” 2) “Look up! Speak up! Pull up!” and 3) “Creation, outlook, network, time, ritual, order, love (C.O.N.T.R.O.L.).” I felt

so free after listening to her speech, and I hope to follow her advice in the future to feel grounded in myself.

Pearl Y. L. ’26

Although the conference attendees started as strangers, we ended closer than I feel with many of my classmates. When our time was up, many of my peers shed tears over our beautiful group. In the end, I felt as if I was being forced away from my family.

ALUMNI

GREETINGS, NUEVA ALUMNI!

The vibrancy and connectedness of our Nueva alumni community are contagious. Over the past six months, Nuevans hosted numerous regional gatherings and #NuevaNoshes, class representatives kept fellow alumni informed and engaged, we launched MavNet— our first-ever alumni networking directory—and best of all, we welcomed many alumni back home to Nueva.

Annually, alumni enjoy a variety of opportunities to engage with one another and the greater Nueva community. We’re dedicated to hosting socials and reunion events to renew connections, and offering programs to support lifelong learning. We also provide ways for you to give back to your fellow Nuevans by serving as class representatives and mentors to alumni and current students; sharing internship opportunities and job openings; and directly benefiting the next generation of students—and the school’s sustainability—with your generous philanthropic support.

I hope you enjoy reading more about members of our alumni community. I invite you to share your personal or professional updates and future alumni gatherings for us to include in the next issue of Nueva Magazine. We are grateful for the many ways our alumni community supports and enriches Nueva and we look forward to seeing and hearing from you over the coming year. As always, our doors are always open to welcome you home to our Hillsborough and San Mateo campuses!

Sincerely,

Diana A. Chamorro Director of Alumni Relations

VISIT AGAIN!

From catching up with beloved teachers and mentors to reacquainting with favorite spots—labs, classrooms, nooks, trails, and more—on campus, the familiarities of our Hillsborough and San Mateo campuses are always ready to welcome you home!

Want to plan a visit to campus? Contact the Alumni Office at alumni@nuevaschool. org or (650) 350-4562.

SEE YOU ON MAVNET

NUEVA LAUNCHES ALUMNI NETWORKING DIRECTORY

Want to meet fellow alumni in your region? Interested in professional networking? Have a job or internship opening at your company that you’d love to hire a fellow Nuevan to fill? These reasons and more are why you should join Nueva’s first alumni networking directory, MavNet! Visit nuevaalumni.org to claim your profile and begin connecting with your Nueva alumni community and register for our upcoming events.

STAY CONNECTED! FOLLOW NUEVA ONLINE… nuevaalumni.org

instagram @nuevaalumni facebook @nuevaalumniassociation

View more alumni photo albums by scanning this code

Fun, Games, & Learning

Young alumni enjoy opportunities to return to campus

From socials and alumni games to Intersession classes, we hosted fun and meaningful opportunities for young alumni to spend time with one another and engage in uniquely Nueva experiences from the late summer through early winter.

In August, the Class of 2022 experienced their first alumni event at our Summer Send-off. Mingling over boba and playing lawn games, the recent grads shared summer recaps along with farewells to classmates and teachers before heading off to their first year of college.

“The alumni get-together was a great way to see my classmates before I left for Rice, and it was so nice to hear last-minute advice from teachers. I definitely look forward to future alumni events!” said Anya Patel ’22, who is enjoying her first year at the Houston-based university.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving break, our inaugural alumni basketball game ushered in a new tradition, as former boys’ players from the Classes of 2012 to 2022 reunited with old teammates to scrimmage the current varsity squad in a friendly competition at the Hillsborough campus’s GCC.

“The alumni basketball game was super fun,” said Class Rep Tyler Huang ’22, who supported outreach efforts to all former players. “Getting to play against the current team and catch up with former teammates, who I haven’t seen in a while, was really enjoyable. I’m already looking forward to next year.”

For alumni who attended the lower and middle schools, it was a fun full-circle moment.

“It definitely [brought] back fond memories, especially since [we played] at the Hillsborough campus, which I called my second home for 10 years,” said Class Rep Stanley Wang ’20.

Closing out 2022, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams welcomed back former teammates for pick-up alumni games over both the Thanksgiving and winter breaks.

During the first week of January, more than 60 members of the Classes of 2017 to 2022 kicked off 2023 by returning home for Intersession and our annual Young Alumni

Social. At Intersession, alumni supported all aspects of these events—as participants, support staff, and session facilitators.

Jason Hwong ’20 was hands-on with upper schoolers, leading three sessions: Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) for Computed Numerical Control (CNC), Modeling Dynamic Mechanical Systems, and Modeling Earth Systems.

“I was most excited about the CAM for CNC machining session as it is a topic that I’m passionate about and have worked on for the last several years,” Jason said “It was also something that I started learning while at Nueva, so it was a great experience to be able to go back and share one of my deep interests that was sparked in the I-Lab.

“The one thing that I enjoyed most about returning to Nueva as an Intersession facilitator was the energy, excitement, and deep level of engagement of Nueva students. This is something that is unique to Nueva and I found that I left with a lot of motivation to pursue my interests more deeply after facilitating these sessions.”

Intersession attendees participated in a variety of sessions specially curated for our alumni community, including a session on criminal justice reform, another about life in the front office of the Warriors, and a third about women in tech. Behind the scenes, a strong cohort of recent grads supported logistical needs and unforeseen pivots due to a severe storm hitting Northern California, which resulted in nearly two days of sessions being canceled.

Our Young Alumni Social reunited friends after their first semesters at college and others who were months into new jobs with each other and former teachers, deans, advisors, counselors, and mentors.

“It is so lovely getting to come back to Nueva through these alumni events!” said Sophie Heap ’22. “I’m always interested in catching up with both fellow classmates as well as my former teachers and seeing what they are up to. As much as both my peers and the Nueva community are growing and evolving, Nueva always feels like home when I come and visit.”

(1) Anika Sareddy ’22 and Willow Teeter ’22 at the Young Alumni Social.

(2) Thanksgiving alumni soccer game participants (l to r): Rohan K. ’26, Coby Wagonfeld ’22, Rowan T. ’23, Daniel R. ’23, Ayaan Banerjee ’22, Anuj T. 23, Sam Tateosian ’22, Ajay Tadinada ’22, Aleeha Banerjee ’20, Anya P. ’23, Claire Green ’21, and Gaelen Clayton ’21. (3) Thanksgiving alumni basketball game participants. Back row (l to r): Trevor Golob ’21, Josh Francis ’20, Sajin Patel ’22, James Tilson ’22, Amit Singh ’20, and Paul Burke ’22. Front row (l to r): Tyler McGraw ’12, Connor McGraw ’22, Stanley Wang ’20, Quetz Medina ’21, boy’s basketball head coach Mike Green, Ryan

NUEVA CUP RETURNS

After last year’s postponement due to a severe storm, nearly 100 members of our community joined us on October 10 at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae for the 14th annual Nueva Cup golf tournament. The event welcomes parents, students, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends to participate in a fun-filled day on the links.

“I always look forward to the Nueva Cup! It is such a fun community event,” said Margie Mizukami, grandparent of seventh grader Kota N., who has been a regular participant of the tournament with her husband Bob Erlbeck (pictured above).

Congratulations to our Nueva Cup winners (l to r) parent Anthony Lee, sophomore James L., and friends Brent Hargest and Casey O’Sullivan.

Cheng ’21, Matthew Risk ’22, Tyler Huang ’22, and Noah Van Horne ’21. (4) Jason Hwong ’20 leading an Intersession class.

(5) Sophia Hoermann ’22 teaching upper schoolers metal working techniques.

(6) Young Alumni Social attendees (l to r): Amalia Kamon ’21, Claire Green ’21, teacher Lee Holtzman ’01, and Leo Ikle-Maizlish ’19.(7) Summer Send-off attendees (l to r): Upper School Head Liza Raynal ’95, Adrienne Park ’22, Sophie Heap ’22, Hannah Sievers ’22, Mira Deb ’22, Avery Chen ’22, Aanika Gupta ’22, and teacher Rob Zomber. Pictured back row, college counselor Paul Gallagher. (8) (l to r): Miles Frank ’22, Ian Lum ’22, teacher Michelle Grau, and teacher Mark Hurwitz.

Live from New York… It’s Nueva!

New York City is home to many Nueva alumni and our January 31 social at Lindens in the SoHo neighborhood brought together members of the Classes of 2017 to 2022 for a fun and festive evening. The event saw the range of life stages of our young alumni, from graduates of the founding class, who are now living and working in Manhattan, to our most recent 2022 graduates attending colleges in the region.

The robust gathering served as the first alumni event for many in attendance and even welcomed a few out-of-state friends based in Connecticut and Pennsylvania to spend time with one another and Head of School Lee Fertig, Director of Development Joe Cheeseman, and Director of Alumni Relations Diana Chamorro.

“It was great to see how many Nueva alumni were in New York and hear about what they’ve been up to! We always love meeting some of the current Nueva faculty and staff and hearing about what’s going on on campus,” said Saira Yusuf ’17, who is working at Mobiquity, a small UX consultancy.

“The enthusiasm, excitement, and positive reverberations from the event could be felt 3,000 miles away on our San Mateo campus,” Diana said. “I can’t wait to host more regional socials in the coming year—stay tuned for what city we head to next!”

(1) Class of 2017 friends (l to r): Saira Yusuf, Kian Motamed-Zaman, Jenna Li, and Olivia Jorasch. (2) Former Current editorin-chief Sinead Chang ’18. (3) Current NYCbased students and recent residents (l to r): Aiden Herrod ’18, Sinead Chang ’18, Neel Gupta ’18, Hanna Zarrinnegar ’20, Talia Schonberger ’18, and Madeline Park ’20.

Advancing Mission II through our Alumni Program

As we are mission-driven to support our students to become changemakers in the world, Nueva’s Mission II demonstrates the school’s commitment to being a resource for people outside our school community. Typically this means inviting educators from across the world to learn about key aspects of our program and pedagogy by visiting the school or participating in one of the many Nueva institutes.

Recently, Nueva’s alumni program engaged in an important Mission II initiative of its own, partnering with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) to create an internship opportunity at Nueva to support a first-generation college student’s professional growth and to help diversify the number of professionals in educational advancement. This partnership led to our welcoming Villanova junior Zenaida De La Cruz to work in Nueva’s Development and Alumni Relations Office under the mentorship of Diana Chamorro, director of alumni relations.

“Education is the most powerful tool you can have and is something that has changed my life,” Zenaida, a native of Idaho, said. “Being a first-generation college student has presented many challenges for me, but overcoming those challenges has made my experience even more valuable.”

Zenaida’s work as an alumni relations intern at Nueva has touched the lives of all current and future alumni, as she was integral in the building and launching of MavNet, our networking directory and virtual home for our entire alumni community.

“I loved that I [was] able to positively impact the experience of [Nueva’s] gifted learners at the alumni level,” she said.

Diana reflected on the role that Nueva’s Mission II played in the creation of this professional opportunity for peo ple who have been underrepresented in educational advancement. “As a Latina, I am humbled to be able to mentor students and young people in this way,” she said. “It is critical to continue diversifying our industry, and it is a personal and professional priority to do my part. Guided by Nueva’s Mission II, our community is having a greater impact, one student at a time.”

A JOYFUL REUNION

Beloved event welcomes grandparents and friends

back to campus

After two years of virtual-only presentations, panels, performances, and classroom visits, we welcomed hundreds of cherished guests back to both the Hillsborough and San Mateo campuses for our beloved fall event—Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ (GPSF) Day— for a morning of song, cheer, and connection on November 18. Adding to the day, many community members unable to join us in person were still able to participate in the festivities as GPSF Day offered a hybrid experience.

“Getting the chance to show my grandparents around the halls I so often reference in the stories I tell them was a very special experience. I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity to share a little piece of the magic of Nueva with my grandparents,” said senior Drew S.-S. of hosting his grandparents (pictured above) during his last Nueva

Following the welcome program at the upper school’s GPSF Day celebration, senior Drew S.-S. poses with his grandparents (l to r) Kathy, Susan, and Don.

Zenaida De La Cruz >>

Learn more about the CASE internship program and read a Q&A with Zenaida.

Oh, the Places Mavs Go!

From #NuevaNoshes to regional reunions and meetups, alumni stayed closely connected to fellow Mavs throughout the summer and fall.

EVANSTON, IL

Class Reps Tyler Huang ’22 and Stanley Wang ’20 coordinated an epic #NuevaNosh outing on December

1 for all Nuevans currently studying at Northwestern. Members of the Classes of 2020 to 2022 enjoyed reconnecting over dinner and reminiscing about favorite memories from their time at Nueva. Pictured (l to r): Alice Enger ’20, Annie Edwards ’21, Tyler Huang ’22, Anna Ikle-Maizlish ’22, James Tilson ’22, Sam Tateosian ’22, Joshua Yao ’22, Cate Rose ’22, Tara Saxena ’21, Stanley Wang ’20, and Alex Mengarelli ’20. Inset: Former The Nueva Current staffers at Northwestern, Joshua Yao ’22 and Sam Tateosian ’22, enjoyed a special delivery to campus—the November issue of the paper!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

(l to r) Theo Rode ’22, Maya Chow ’22, Sophia Yin ’22, April Zhang ’22, and Powell Matthewson ’22 organized a #NuevaNosh brunch outing a few months into their freshman years.

How to #NuevaNosh

NUEVA MAGAZINE 52

HOUSTON, TX

While in Houston for a conference, college counselors Gavin Bradley (far left) and Paul Gallagher caught up with Anya Patel ’22 and Kaya Ben-Efraim ’22 (far right), who are both first-year students at Rice University.

Nueva will pay for your coffee or meal when you dine with three or more Nueva alumni. To qualify, take a picture of all alumni at your event and send it to the Alumni Office along with a personal update and a copy of your restaurant receipt for reimbursement*. We will mail you the reimbursement for the meal and post your picture on social media, in the alumni newsletter, and/or magazine!

*$50 maximum. Alumni submitters must be registered on MavNet, and limit one submission per alumni per calendar year. Reimbursement is for food items and non-alcoholic beverages purchased for Nueva alumni only.

“It’s incredible that Nueva sets aside funds to cover these mini alumni reunions; it’s a reminder that even though we’ve graduated we’re still really valued by Nueva.”

Cate Rose ’22

PHILADELPHIA, PA

Recent grads studying at Yale, Dartmouth, and Penn reconnected in the City of Brotherly Love for a fall break #NuevaNosh. Pictured (l to r): Coby Wagonfeld ’22, Wilson Green ’22, Humza Rabbani ’22, Avery Chen ’22, Ayaan Banerjee ’22, and Holden Johnson ’22

BOSTON, MA

(L to r) Andrew Chu ’22, Fiona Tan ’22, and Humza Rabbani ’22 at a Northeastern University squash tournament.

NEW YORK CITY, NY

Inset: Former Tidal yearbook editors-in-chief Sinead Chang ’18 (left) and Maya Chawla ’21 are all smiles after meeting up for brunch in SoHo. Bottom left: (l to r): Humza Rabbani ’22, Enzo Salles ’22, and Wilson Green ’22 #NuevaNoshed at Katz’s Deli—their favorite pastrami spot.

Middle: Class of 2021 friends closed out the summer with a #NuevaNosh.

Pictured clockwise: Maya Chawla, Shalin Zarboulas, Sean Cheong, and Ryan Cheng.

Bottom right: Upcoming five-year reunion celebrants (l to r) Neeraj Sharma ’18, Talia Schonberger ’18, Sinead Chang ’18, Zack Chroman ’18, and Jack McClelland ’18 spent time together over hot pot. Top right: (l to r) Owen Zhang, Ajay Tadinada, Enzo Salles, and Sajin Patel hosted a Class of 2022 meetup during their college fall break.

CAMBRIDGE, MA

Top: (l to r) Eugenia Theodosopoulos ’20, Irene Madejski ’20, Noah Tavares ’20, and Eliot Cowan ’20 hosted a December #NuevaNosh. Middle: Current Harvard students and visiting friends at dinner in October. Pictured (l to r): Fiona Tan ’22, Audrey Chin ’19, Maya Bodnick ’22, Yoav Rafalin ’22, Andrew Chu ’22, Eleanor Monroe ’21, Noah Tavares ’20, and Eton Shon ’19. Bottom: In September, (l to r) Hannah Zuklie ’17, Om Gokhale ’18, Viraj Garg ’18, and Sinead Chang ’18 at an al fresco #NuevaNosh.

Rebecca Gardyn Levington ’86

Children’s book author, poet, and journalist Rebecca Gardyn Levington ’86 lives in the New York metropolitan area with her husband and two sons and is looking forward to the March 2023 release of her second picture book, Whatever Comes Tomorrow. As she anticipates this new milestone in her career, she recently reflected on navigating life, new career opportunities, and a poignant lesson she learned from a Nueva art teacher.

You are an author, poet, and journalist. Tell us how you began your writing career. After graduating from UCLA as a communication studies major with a specialization in business administration, I moved to New York to work in advertising because it sounded like the perfect mix of creativity and business. However, for many reasons, it wasn’t the right fit for me. I’d always loved writing, so I decided to try journalism and enrolled in graduate school at NYU. That led me to internships at New York Newsday, The New York Observer, and AdAge Magazine, and ultimately to a position as a senior editor at American Demographics magazine (a now defunct marketing magazine that was far more interesting than it sounds!).

I had been living in New York when the events of September 11 shook us all to the core. I did some soul-searching and realized I wasn’t happy with my job. I quit and began freelancing, thinking that if I could create my own hours and write about topics that most interested me, I’d be more fulfilled. And I was, for a while. I ended up writing hundreds of articles, from features on non-profit and business leaders for The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Working Mother, to relationship pieces for Bride’s

and Ladies Home Journal, among many other publications.

Do you think Nueva and your educational experience here has had a long-term impact on you personally and professionally? I do. At Nueva, I always felt seen. I wasn’t ever “just another student.” I truly felt as if the teachers wanted to get to know me and my interests, to understand what motivated me and what didn’t, and to provide me with challenges and opportunities that would inspire me to thrive. They allowed me the room to experiment, to dabble, to figure out who I was. I think having that support and freedom really helped me as an adult to strive for an authentic life. And while I certainly admit to losing my way at times, I went into adulthood knowing, in my core, who I was and what I was capable of.

My teachers at Nueva were phenomenal. They applauded creativity, nurtured individuality, and allowed me the space to play and discover who I was meant to be. About six years ago, I received an email from someone at Nueva letting me know that they’d uncovered a poem, encased in a plaque, signed by me (see photo, above right). They attached a photo and asked for

what occasion the poem had been written. I couldn’t believe it. It was a poem I had written in 1986, when I was 11 years old, as a gift to commemorate my sixth grade graduation from Nueva. I was enrolled from preK all the way through 6th grade, which was—at the time—the highest grade.

I remember being extremely emotional that graduation day, having attended the school for what was essentially my entire life. When I received that email and photo in 2016, I had just begun my journey into writing children’s poetry and picture books, and it almost felt like a sign from the universe—a reminder that the person that Nueva had helped me become was the person I was always meant to be.

What inspired you to transition careers and become a children’s book author? When I gave birth to my first son, I naïvely believed I would continue my freelance journalism career and “just write while the baby sleeps.” But, alas, new motherhood is all-consuming (and exhausting!) and those naps were far too unpredictable. Before I knew it, a decade of full-time mommying had gone by and I hadn’t written a word (other than in my journal, of course!).

I missed writing so much, but didn’t want to go back to journalism. While I liked writing for magazines and newspapers, the deadlines and structure were very constrictive. What I’ve always loved most about writing is playing creatively with words. In 2016, I ended up taking a local writing class called “Where Do I Begin?” The teacher gave us weekly prompts and for some reason I kept coming to class with rhyming poems. Turns out, the teacher was an author of middle grade novels, and she thought some of my poems could be fodder for picture books. She told me about the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and I went to my first kidlit writing conference that summer. I knew immediately that these were my people and this was what I was meant to do.

Do you have a particular focus, area, or theme you like to write about? I find

inspiration and ideas everywhere and about all kinds of things! I love wordplay, so many of my ideas come to me in the form of words, phrases, idioms, and puns that can be taken literally. For instance, my debut picture book, Brainstorm!, illustrated by Kate Kronreif, was inspired by a literal rainstorm. I was sitting at my desk, uncertain about what to write, when it started raining outside. I suddenly realized I was brainstorming during a rainstorm and wondered: “What would a brain ‘storm’ look like? What if ideas really did fall from the sky?” A poem began to pour out of me (pun intended) about a girl who imagines a literal storm of ideas, pictures, words, titles, beginnings, middles, endings, etc. all swirling all around her until, in the end, she finds herself inundated by a flood of possibility.

I also get a ton of ideas from things I did or feelings I felt as a child. For instance, my upcoming book, Whatever

Comes Tomorrow, illustrated by Mariona Cabassa, was inspired by my childhood struggles with anxiety—though of course I didn’t know until later that that’s what it was. I just knew that I craved structure and rules and I worried constantly about the unknown. Whatever Comes Tomorrow is essentially a poetic mantra, written to all children (as well as adults like me, who still need to hear it!), a reminder that we have all done or faced hard things in the past and we will continue to do and face hard things in the future. The trick is to remember that strength during the hard times and know that, for better or worse, this too shall pass.

Do you have any core memories from Nueva? It’s been almost 37 years since I graduated from Nueva (how has it been that long?), but I will never forget this moment: I was in art class, maybe in first or second grade, and I felt like I’d

messed up my project. I was extremely upset, but the fantastic art teacher at the time (whose name, I’m embarrassed to say, eludes me) said, “Rebecca, always remember: there are no mistakes in art.”

She then showed me how my “mistake” could easily be transformed into something else, something even more beautiful. That lesson has stayed with me all these years. I think about it all the time when I am creating, of course, but also in all kinds of situations. There are no mistakes in life, really. Any “mistake” we make helps us grow into better people. There is always some way to turn our messes into masterpieces—or, if not, we can at least learn from the experience.

What advice do you have for current Nueva students about exploring new areas of interests? Above all else: Be true to who you are! Really think about what you love to do and what you really don’t love to do. What activities make your heart sing? Which ones make you cringe? I absolutely recommend exploring all kinds of things and to push yourself to try things that maybe feel a little out of your comfort zone. But ultimately, it’s important to listen to your heart. Don’t spend too much time doing something that doesn’t feel right to you. When I look back at my career, I realize I knew pretty early on that both advertising and journalism weren’t the exact right fit for me, and in many ways, I was forcing a square peg into a round hole. Yet I stayed in both careers far longer than I should have and wasted many years doing things that didn’t bring me joy. My favorite saying is “Do what you love and love what you do.” Life is way too short to do otherwise.

“ The person that Nueva had helped me become was the person I was always meant to be.”

Rebecca looks forward to the 2024 release of five more children’s picture books, all on various topics. If you’d like to connect, visit her website RebeccaGardynLevington.com to subscribe to her monthly newsletter, get a peek into her writing life, learn upcoming book news, and participate in giveaways.

<< Rebecca’s sixth grade graduation poem from 1986.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Osher Lerner ’19

Adventurer, lifelong learner, skateboarder. That’s just a few ways to describe Osher Lerner ’19. After spending the fall semester studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea, he returned stateside to continue his studies at UC Berkeley in electrical engineering, computer science, and physics.

Osher recently spent time reflecting on his time at Nueva, opportunities he’s seized since graduation, and his love for tackling the unfamiliar.

Tell us about life after Nueva. My favorite thing to do since high school has been engaging in new communities. At UC Berkeley, I’ve had the pleasure of fraternizing with skateboarders, linguists, astronomers, actors, botanists, salsa dancers, and more. The diversity in the city is just lovely. I’ve also enjoyed organizing meetups and communities of my own, notably a very tight-knit machine learning student group as well as some esports teams and competitions.

You are majoring in electrical engineering and computer science with an emphasis in machine learning, and minoring in physics. Have you explored any long-term career goals? My goal is broadening existing engineering efforts for sustainable technologies using AI algorithms. But like many other young adults, my future is still undecided. I’m also considering pursuing teaching and research in theoretical physics.

What are some of the recent opportunities you’ve pursued? I’ve done some crazy cool jobs. My brother Yoni ’17 and I worked together in Chile to discover recipes to replace meat and animal products with equally tastin’, smellin’, lookin’, and cookin’ plant-based sources.

I helped astronauts aboard the ISS find some missing duct tape while working at NASA to automate logistics of deep-space missions using deep learning. Most recently, I tried an academic position researching autonomous navigation for rovers on the surface of other planets.

From these three roles, I learned how to collaboratively cultivate ideas among researchers, the bizarre legal beast that is the U.S. government, the popularity of mayonnaise in Chile—but most of all, I liked working with my brother!

How has your time at Nueva impacted or influenced your interests and passions? Life changes over and over again so it can be hard to hold on to the

past. Nueva encouraged my curiosity, passion, and compassion in a way that’s absent from most cultures I’ve immersed in since. Sometimes I feel the Nueva spirit within me flutter like when I channel Anna Sandell’s ’18 explosive kindness. In a history of technology class during my last semester, Lee Holtzman (and her dad) imparted and exemplified so many life lessons that I asked her how I could possibly retain them when I went out into the world. She said, “If you forget, just ask me.” Nueva is not just a memory, but an active community I’m still learning from.

Have you continued working on any of the projects or subject areas you were passionate about as a student at Nueva?

I spent a lot of my hours at Nueva with the robotics team, where I plunged into several technical projects. A lot of our wild ideas I’ve since discovered are legitimate fields of academic research in computer vision and control theory. Even more than my own progress, I love seeing current Nueva students developing these initiatives now, continued and improved through generations of programmers on the team. I do my best work on passion projects when I contribute to self-sustaining communities, and I’ve been learning to create inclusive spaces for that purpose ever since Team 4904.

You took on a new adventure studying and living in Seoul this past fall. What was that experience like? Seoul was such a blast. Intoxicating and vast. Noncompliant and smoothly efficient. Generous and subtly genuine. I worry I can’t communicate the experience authentically, but I can wholeheartedly recommend living there for a semester or two. I went because I wanted to sharpen myself on the unfamiliar, so I might take on a more definite form in the absence of the pressures of home. Well, since going there, it’s no longer so unfamiliar, and now I have a new home.

I was only there for four months, but this city quickly became my world. In that

time the weather went from sweatilysweltering to hair-freezing (folliclefreezing? hair-hielo?). I have my usual PC bang, kimbap suppliers, skateboarding spots, and stray cat friends, plus I’ve been adopted by a group of older sisters.

Tell us about studying at Yonsei University. I hoped to broaden my horizons through classes on language, democracy, fiction, and abstract mathematics, and somehow ended up performing in a musical-turned-play-turned-improv-show.

The school is famous for its cheer team, who compete with our rivals at sporting events more than the athletes do—and they host the world’s hottest K-pop groups in our annual school concert. By chance, I met an old friend studying here too, my Nueva classmate Kiki Kim ’19! She is wonderfuller than ever, and it was such a joy to learn together.

How has living in South Korea broadened your global perspective? It’s been enlightening to contrast Korea’s contemporary history with Israel (my birthplace). Israel is profoundly disparate, yet shares a similar ongoing split-state conflict, a mandatory draft, idolization of American culture, and a love of the board game Rummikub. Seeing the minutiae of these manifest differently in South Korea reveals that unshakable, fundamental aspects of society aren’t inevitable.

Living as a foreigner specifically, I got to mingle with the weirdos of the world who left home and became foreigners there, too. We frequently communicate through three or four languages simultaneously when a group shares no common tongue. Compassion and reservation of judgment allowed me to learn from beautiful people with violently opposing attitudes to my own, and I am reminded of the limits of my own understanding.

You shared you hope to return to live in Seoul again. Would it be to pursue postgraduate studies or to live and work? My first priority in returning to Korea is to reconnect with my newly found family there! I am enamored with the ebb and flow of daily life in Seoul, though the work-culture is inescapably brutal. I’m hoping to primarily attend a Korean language school and do post-grad research or work part-time on the side. The case for living there long-term is increasingly compelling, though.

As you reflect on being a few years removed from Nueva, do you have any advice for current students? If you manage to worry less about college, jobs, relationships, and all that, you may be more receptive to good things already coming your way. I’m already certain you’ll figure life out yourself, but in the meantime I hope you can be happy.

“Nueva is not just a memory, but an active community I’m still learning from.”

Osher Lerner ’19

ALUMNI OFFICE THE NUEVA SCHOOL 131 E 28TH AVENUE SAN MATEO, CA 94403

BRIEFS

1982 Raquel Bennet, PsyD., is a psychologist and ketamine specialist living in Berkeley. She is the proud founder of the KRIYA Institute and KRIYA Conference, which are both devoted to the use of ketamine in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Raquel has been studying the therapeutic applications for ketamine for over 20 years and was recently named as one of the most influential women in the field of psychedelics.

1992 Natascha Sherman

based WBZ NewsRadio 1030 profiled his latest endeavor—the ToolBus—a mobile, solarpowered innovation studio. The converted former yellow school bus was built to empower boundless creative freedom and features 3D printers, laser cutters, and a welding station. Passionate about creating meaningful maker experiences, he introduced the ToolBus to excited fourth through sixth graders at a local Worcester, MA public school.

following their graduation, Julianna began working at the Gretchen Whitmer for Governor campaign as a multimedia producer. ¶ “I’ve traveled all around the state with Gretchen. The 2022 Michigan election [was] a big must watch, and I’m grateful [I was] able to do my part in supporting democracy and the right to choose.”

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Do you have news or personal updates you’d like to share?

We invite you to submit a class brief about exciting personal events, including marriages or new arrivals, professional experiences or accomplishments, recent travel, reunions with fellow Nueva alumni, and more. nuevaschool.org/ classbriefs

Hess competed on an episode of Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay. The Colorado-based chef and restauranteur’s episode premiered on August 11.

1995 Courtney Stephens received the Guggenheim Fellowship for her work in non-fiction and experimental filmmaking. ¶ “I’ll be using the grant to make a feature documentary in Kansas about weather forecasting and the legacy of the ‘Wizard of Oz’ in the state.”

2017 Inventor, creator, and entrepreneur, Jeremy Trilling graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in December. In May, Boston-

2018 Sinead Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in May with a B.A. in journalism and political science and is now working at creative communications agency Day One Agency in the big city (aka NYC)! Current hobbies include being in a big hurry all the time, obsessively updating Goodreads and still dating Viraj Garg ’18. If you’re reading this and you’ve also ended up in New York, you know what to do! ¶ Zack Chroman moved to New York City in the fall and is loving living in the city. He is working for a trading firm, Jane Street, alongside a few other Nueva alumni. ¶ In the Spring of 2022, Julianna Garber graduated from the University of Michigan with a dual degree in film and directing for theater. Immediately

2019 Nehmat Vijan spent the last year living and working in Boston. Before moving to the East Coast, she started working at Vineyard Vines as a sales associate. After a month, she was promoted to crew lead and continued in that role when she moved to Boston. What was supposed to be a part-time job to make extra money became a full-time career in retail. Nehmat moved back to the Bay Area this summer to start a new position at Louis Vuitton Palo Alto as an operations associate.

2020 Lyz BushPeel spent a fulfilling sophomore year on campus at Columbia University, double majoring in English and philosophy, after an entirely online freshman year. During the school year, she interned at Harvey Klinger Literary Agency, where, through vetting queries, she got a glimpse into the triumphs and foibles

Audrey Cho ’19 Named a Udall Scholar

Crediting a 10th grade two-week trip to the Tidelines Institute in Alaska as a pivotal moment, Audrey Cho ’19 has made it her mission to address climate change. A third-year environmental science and policy major at Smith College, Audrey was named a recipient of the prestigious 2022 Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, a program which recognizes students committed to careers in conservation, the environment, and Native American nations.

“Everyone has a different level of education and understanding about the issues,” she said. “We need to talk to people in terms they can understand and resonate with, about how this affects their health and the health of their family.”

Audrey was one of 55 undergraduate students selected from a national pool, and she spent summer 2022 at the University of WisconsinStout conducting ethnographic research on community responses to water pollution from agricultural fertilizers.

of human imagination. During the summer of 2022, she spent time focusing on her health, alongside pursuing a short fellowship. She is spending her third year reading English at Cambridge, where she has come to enjoy traditions like formal hall, but still has no small amount of trepidation about looking the wrong way before crossing streets. In her free time, she still writes fiction, and is now working on her 20th novel. ¶ After finishing her gap year in 2020–2021, Isabel Chambers embarked on her sophomore year at Boston University. At BU, she took classes in journalism, Italian, religion, and American studies, and explored her interests in international relations. She dabbled in writing for the school’s independent newspaper, The Daily Free Press, and dedicated many hours to community service after joining Alpha Phi Omega. During summer 2022, Isabel worked part-time at Athleta and began her studies of microeconomics in preparation for the fall. Isabel plans on majoring in international relations with minors in Italian and journalism. ¶ After six months of intensive work as a mental health counselor in an inpatient psychiatric unit, Eugenia Theodosopoulos made the long-awaited return to classes this past fall, marking the start of her third year at Northeastern University. While Northeastern’s illustrious co-op program ate into the better part of her summer, she made the most of the remaining time on a three-week excursion to her homeland—Greece. In combination with some much-needed rest at home

in the Bay, she approached junior year’s expected trials and tribulations with a newfound confidence. Currently studying psychology with minors in behavioral neuroscience and human services, Eugenia’s course load is a rollercoaster of psychoanalytic theory, behavioral genetics, and community outreach. Sticking to her roots as editor-in-chief of Nueva’s yearbook, Eugenia is going into her third year of working as the social media coordinator for the Center for Research Innovation, a role that kindly juxtaposes the intensity of per-diem shifts on a locked psychiatric unit. ¶ Stanley Wang is a third-year student at Northwestern University majoring in biological sciences with a concentration in cell and developmental biology. He is a member of the Chinese Students Association, the Northwestern Club Ski Team, and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. ¶ This fall, he got more involved with the Nueva Alumni Association as a Class Representative and shared, “Being a Class Representative gives me the opportunity to engage with the Nueva community past and present and to try and maintain the interconnectedness of our grade post-graduation. I think it’s important for me to continue to stay connected with the Nueva community as Nueva has given so much to me throughout my life. Starting at Nueva in preK, I quite literally grew up on the Nueva campuses and call Nueva my second home. My experiences and development over the years at Nueva have strongly made me who I am today, so I feel

that it only makes sense that I remain connected even after I’ve graduated.”

2021

After concluding her freshman year at Berkeley, where she’s majoring in sociology and psychology with a certificate in design innovation, Maya Chawla started the summer of 2022 with a week in Hawaii and ended it with a week in Bali. In between, she spent a month living, reading, feasting, wandering, and sunbathing in Paris, and then relocated to New York City, where she fulfilled her childhood show business dreams working as a production assistant on an upcoming HBO Max show, while also moonlighting as a graphic designer for a coffee company in upstate New York. ¶ At Berkeley, Maya has carried on her Nueva tradition by overcommitting herself to extracurriculars: she currently works as a design associate for two consulting groups, continues her Nueva yearbook editor-in-chief legacy as the layout director for an arts and fashion magazine, and is an assistant teacher for Berkeley’s Brand Identity and Graphic Design class. She’s also working as a research assistant for a Social Psychology lab at Haas School of Business. Maya currently takes classes in sociology, psychology, economics, sculpture, and sustainable architecture. She hopes to pursue academia, more research, business, design, mixed media arts, and maybe film production…she’s still deciding. ¶ Following a bookdrenched 2021 summer in the WRC, Grace Holmes embarked

on her first year at Wellesley, pursuing majors in neuroscience and education. There, she joined the Shakespeare Society, where she stage-managed a chaotic production of Hamlet this time with five Hamlets—and a version of Twelfth Night set in a fraternity house and replete with modern language interjections. She also became a tutor with the Science Learning and Mentoring team and joined Wellesley Against Mass Incarceration as part of the restorative justice taskforce. ¶ This past summer, Grace worked as a vote center representative during the primary elections and wrote lesson plans in preparation for the fall semester as a Zimmerman teaching fellow in Wellesley’s Psychology Department. She also serves as a neuroanatomy fellow for the introductory neuroscience course. Grace also found the time to acquire yet more chickens, embroider at least a third of her clothing, coordinate a rewrite of the Shakespeare Society’s constitution, and practice creating edible Jell-o hearts, which were devoured during a production of Macbeth this fall, for which she designed props. ¶ After pursuing the pre-medical track for one year with a major in human biology at the University of Southern California, Jordan Mak decided to change his major to computer science and business administration. He hopes to pursue a career combining business and marketing, graphic design, and UI/UX design. At USC, Jordan enjoyed highspirited tailgates and football games, rigorous and challenging classes, and plenty of delicious

↑ Eleanor Monroe ’21 (far right) poses with members of Princeton a cappella group, Koleinu, during its December 18 performance at the White House.

↓ Theo Rode ’22 poses with his alumni pennant in his dorm room at Harvey Mudd.

→ Courtney Stephens ’95

← Jeremy Trilling ’17

→ Stanley Wang ’20

Anisha Kumar ’22 Earns National Recognition

This fall, the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) named Anisha Kumar ’22 one of eight finalists for Cartoon of the Year. Two of Anisha’s comic strips were named as finalists, and on November 12, “Wordle Hurdle” earned a second-place finish in the national competition.

“Honestly, I had completely forgotten that we had even submitted the comics to the NSPA until I randomly suddenly remembered and checked the website,” Anisha said. “I was shocked to be chosen as a finalist, and to realize that my name was the only one that showed up twice! I started making comics in my seventh grade English class at Nueva when we were reading Julius Caesar—there were so many moments I could dissect and turn into comics to understand them better. My teachers were Katie Saylor and Colin Tribble at the time and they encouraged me to keep making them!

“My eighth grade recital project was creating a comic book, too. I started making comics for the Current in 12th grade, and I had so much fun making them, but I never would’ve imagined my cheesy little comics getting recognized like this!”

Anisha is a first-year student at Brown University and has joined a South Asian students’ a cappella group and is on staff at The Brown Daily Herald, the school’s student newspaper.

meals in Los Angeles. ¶ In summer 2022, he served as the media director for USC’s Chinese American Student Association. Jordan continues to seek opportunities to pursue his passions for graphic design and communications, sparked by his experience as Nueva’s communications intern and The Nueva Current’s design editor. ¶ A member of Koleinu, Princeton University’s Jewish a cappella group, Eleanor Monroe and the group were selected to perform at the White House for the December 18 Holiday Open House. After learning in October that the White House was looking for music groups to perform during the winter season, Koleinu’s business manager connected with the Jewish liaison to the White House. The group then submitted portfolio samples and information about the group. “We were fortunate enough to be selected!” said Eleanor, a second-year religion major. ¶ As a Morehead-Cain (MC) scholar at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Willow Taylor Chiang Yang has embarked upon a number of new experiences. The day after her Nueva graduation, she attended MC’s multiweek Outdoor Leadership course, spending 22 days in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, canoeing and portaging 8–12 miles each day. ¶ Willow is currently majoring in a self-designed course of study she is calling “American Political Economy and Society,” and is pursuing minors in PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics) and physics. After obtaining grant funding from MC, Willow spent her 2022

spring break in Washington, D.C. researching officerinvolved domestic violence, and her summer in Baltimore, MD crafting a 76-page research report on the state of permitting and public grant making in the city. She was also hired by her history and global studies professor to assist in running a global history talk series that has featured, among others, the ambassador from Belgium; she is currently working on beginning a shortened, podcast version of the series to Spotify. In addition, Willow continues to play volleyball on the competitive club team at UNC and is currently the treasurer for the team.

David Chan, an electrical and computer engineering major at Carnegie Mellon University, spent his first semester working with Carnegie Mellon Racing, helping build electronics systems for CMU’s electric race car team. Additionally, he has volunteered for Project Ignite, an organization introducing technical topics to Pittsburgh high schoolers such as robotics and bioengineering. Outside of classes and clubs, he also enjoys going to Pittsburgh Pirates games with friends, even if they aren’t the SF Giants. ¶ Avery Chen had a great first semester at the University of Pennsylvania. She is in the Agribusiness Club and Energy Group doing consulting work, getting hands-on experience learning and working with real clients. ¶ “The transition to college has definitely been a lot, so it was super comforting to see familiar faces and exchange stories about our

↓ Anisha Kumar’s ’22 nationally recognized comic “Wordle Hurdle”

first semesters!” Avery said of a recent #NuevaNosh gathering in Philadelphia. ¶ Tyler Huang is a first-year triple major in linguistics, economics, and mathematics at Northwestern University. Over the fall, he got involved in several school activities and clubs, and as a member of our Nueva Class Reps team, he has stayed closely connected to fellow alumni and enjoyed helping organize and attend various events. ¶ “College has been a huge, but fun transition after 13 years at Nueva,” he said. “I’m excited to come back to Nueva for more alumni events this year!” ¶ Powell Mathewson is enjoying his first year at Pitzer College and the opportunity to get involved with clubs and activities. He is a member of the Powerlifting Club, the Alexander Hamilton Society, and the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. He also runs an e-commerce business with a fellow Nuevan, producing beats for artists and bands at the Claremont Colleges. ¶ “I’m surrounded by people who are both interpersonally kind and easy to be around, but deeply curious and caring,” he said.

“I’ve developed relationships with a lot of my professors, which was much easier than I expected, because apparently nobody comes to office hours in college. The 5Cs (Claremont College consortium) definitely feel more like one large school than five small ones, which is very nice. I have the resources and community of a liberal arts college, with a large-enough campus that it doesn’t feel isolated. I miss a lot of things about Nueva, but I’m very grateful that because of my high school experience I feel comfortable here.” ¶ Over his first semester at the University of Pennsylvania, Humza Rabbani joined two technology consulting clubs, is a member of the club squash team, and is appreciative of the good friends he’s made and how much the school has to offer. ¶ Computer science and mathematics major, Theo Rode spent his first semester at Harvey Mudd College volunteering at Homework Hotline, a national free over-the-phone math and science tutoring service for students in grades four through 12. Along with his volunteer role, Theo enjoys helping classmates

E-Learning Enterpreneur Yash Nayaran ’22

Following a transformational experience participating in a hackathon while a student at Nueva, Yash Narayan ’22 aimed to make these events more accessible to school-aged students like him. In 2017, he founded and launched SchoolHacks, which boasts a large global community of students from 40-plus countries.

“I was usually the only student attending [hackathons], which were targeting experienced, adult programmers,” Yash said. “My mission behind SchoolHacks was to create a fun and supportive community for students. To inspire them to use their entrepreneurial creativity to bring new technology solutions to solve pressing problems.”

Continuing to scale SchoolHacks was important for Yash, a first-year student at Stanford, but it required full-time professional focus which he wasn’t ready to commit to. “I didn’t want to have to leave school to work on it full-time and that’s when I started looking to sell,” he said. “JetLearn was one of the companies I was introduced to. We hit it off right away— our values and where we wanted to take SchoolHacks closely aligned.”

Tyler Huang ’22

On December 8, Amsterdam-based JetLearn, a 1:1 e-learning platform, acquired SchoolHacks and will allow the company to expand its global reach. Yash will also remain involved as a strategic advisor.

“Our goal is to change every student into a creator and a builder using next-generation coding skills, and we’re just getting started. My hope is every student is a part of our SchoolHacks community,” Yash said. “This acquisition will enable us to bring the SchoolHacks experience to way more students around the world. We will be doubling down and putting even more resources into each hackathon to create a better experience for students and run the hackathons more frequently. JetLearn’s existing students will be able to participate in SchoolHacks events and new students joining the events will have the opportunity to start learning new skills on JetLearn’s platform. Together it will create a very strong community and platform for students.”

At Stanford, Yash is studying computer science with a focus on solving climate change. On campus, he’s involved with BASES, a student entrepreneurship organization, and TreeHacks, Stanford’s largest annual hackathon.

as a math tutor and remains an avid programmer. ¶ Cate Rose is enrolled at Northwestern University and is part of a firstyear seminar in Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, which brings together students from different majors with an interest in the interdisciplinary humanities. Coincidentally, prior to arriving at Northwestern, she had familiarity with her current professor, Daniel Immerwahr, thanks to Nueva teacher Tom Dorrance, who recommended Daniel’s book, How to Hide an Empire. ¶ During her first quarter, Cate joined The Daily Northwestern newspaper staff and the school’s chapter of Active Minds, a national student mental health advocacy organization. She is planning to double major in international studies and computer science.

¶ Rajeev Sharma is a first-year student at the University of Chicago and plans to major in a discipline rooted in the social sciences and apply

quantitative methods to government policy. He is looking forward to exploring offerings at UChicago’s wide range of clubs and extracurriculars. ¶ James Tilson is majoring in mechanical engineering at Northwestern University. He joined FSAE Formula I, an intercollegiate engineering design competition, is a member of the club basketball team, and is a practice player for the Wildcats Division I women’s basketball team. ¶ Yale University freshman Coby Wagonfeld enjoyed a recent fall break trip to Philadelphia to catch up with Nueva friends at the University of Pennsylvania. ¶ At Yale, he is involved with three clubs: Y Pop-Up, an undergraduate restaurant and cooking club; Tamid, an Israelibased finance, entrepreneurship, and consulting program; and an incubator program with the Yale Entrepreneurship Society. He’s also been playing intramural soccer.

← Stanford first-year Yash Narayan ’22 recently had his hackathon platform, SchoolHacks, acquired by Amsterdam-based JetLearn.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On Jan. 13, the Nueva Chinese Affinity group hosted a potluck party to welcome in the new year. Students and families played games; enjoyed favorite dishes (dumplings, oranges, candies, and noodles, to name a few); and practiced Chinese calligraphy, writing words of good wishes to decorate the Hillsborough café.

“This gathering really gives me a sense of family,” said Jamie Gao, upper school Chinese teacher. “I’ve been in the United States for over 20 years with only my son, so I always celebrate the new year with my school community. It truly is a beloved community.”

To those who celebrate the holiday, we hope this year brings you bounty and beauty, laughter and luck.

100 DAYS

Kindergarten and first grade students (pictured above) celebrated the 100th day of school on Feb. 16. Donning specially made vests with 100 items attached to them— corks, pom pom balls, googly eyes, and more—students wished everyone around the lower school a happy 100th day of school with an exuberant parade featuring a count-to-100 chant by both ones and twos.

Dive into the 80s & 90s, page 37.

JOURNEYS