Noted

BUBBA THE BRONTOSAURUS Dominic Willoughby ’11 explains where the name came from: “We named it after Tracie Mastronicola, who was our amazing sixth-grade science teacher. She used to call us all bubba, like you’d call someone buddy or kiddo, and I can’t think of a single person who it didn’t make smile.”

TRIVIA

The Hillsborough campus dinosaur was a gift from the eighth-grade Class of 2011. The brainchild of Clara Kelly, Amelia Roskin-Frazee, Dominic Willoughby, and Harry Bendekey, the students had it delivered from Half Moon Bay, where it has greeted students every day. (Except for one morning in June 2018 when it vanished from its usual spot, only to reappear on the San Mateo campus in Upper School Division Head Stephen Dunn’s office).

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS DESIGN FLUID DYNAMICS MACHINE

In 2018, Stanford earth science professor Leif Thomas brought Middle School I-Lab teacher Al Davies a challenge: How could students make a fluid dynamics machine—expensive equipment used by universities to demonstrate the fluid mechanics in weather patterns and ocean phenomena—less costly and more accessible to schools everywhere?

Challenge accepted—and met. After two years of prototyping, Middle School students have designed a product that costs around $200 to build, and they’re planning to make the design available to other schools.

Through the design process, students learned that “the last three percent of the process takes 90 percent of the time,” Al said.

For eighth grader Lauren S., who has been working on the project since 2018, the opportunity to serve actual users was motivation to persist.

“We wanted to design something that is ideal for the classroom and then show other schools how to teach with it,” she said.

QUOTED

↑ Middle School students construct a prototype of their fluid dynamics machine.

“Liza is an incredibly talented, collaborative, creative, and experienced school leader who is always hungry to learn more. Her widely known ability to work effectively with faculty, students, and parents will serve our newest division well in the coming years.”

Incoming Head of School LEE FERTIG on the appointment of L I Z A R AY N A L as Upper School division head. Lee also said, “We are confident she will build upon her already impressive skill set used in the Middle School and expand upon it so that it effectively addresses the specific needs of a high school education.”

Hello! FROM THE NEW HEADS

This spring, incoming Head of School Lee Fertig announced the appointment of Liza Raynal as the school’s next Upper School division head. As many in our community know, Liza is no stranger to Nueva, having been a student, teacher, and school leader here for more than 20 years.

Filling Liza’s shoes will be Karen Tiegel, who will serve as interim Middle School head for the 2020–2021 school year. With 11 years at Nueva, teaching multiple subjects across different grade levels and serving as dean for fifth and sixth grades since 2015, Karen is well prepared to lead the Middle School in the year ahead.

Faculty Farewells

In June, the Nueva community said farewell (but never goodbye) to two beloved faculty members— Gary Kaplan and Laraine Ray.

As a college student, Gary never envisioned himself as a teacher. He dreamed of coaching sports, but went on to become a lawyer. Called to teaching years later, he brought his passions and skills to Nueva in his work as a Middle School humanities teacher and athletics coach (flag football and basketball) for the last decade.

“Beyond public speaking and writing essays, Gary taught me how to be kind, listen to others, and be a leader,” said sophomore Andrew C., who had Gary as a coach, advisor, and teacher for debate and humanities. “He really embodied the Nueva spirit.” While Laraine dedicated herself to working with young children for more than 40 years, she never expected to stay at one school for so long. “I am not a creature of habit, and the fact that I have worked at Nueva for 16 years is such a testament to the richness of my experience here,” she said.

Lower School Division Head Megan Terra believes Laraine’s 16 years have had a lasting impact on Nueva’s culture and students.

“She models what it means to hold a strong image of the gifted child, to celebrate and spark creative thinking and problem solving, and to help children see that the sky is the limit—except maybe it isn’t really the limit,” she said. “Laraine will make you believe deeply that everything we need to know, we really do learn in kindergarten.”

Second-Grade Angel Island Field Trip

Integrated Learning

On Feb. 5, the second grade embarked on a research field trip to Angel Island and the former immigration center, which perfectly tied into the humanities theme of their grade: Bay Area history through the lens of immigration.

“We were looking at Chinese immigration in the late 1800s as a result of the transcontinental railroad,” second-grade teacher Sam Modest said. “Students learned about this systemic oppression, and also the ways that people resisted and persisted in the face of discrimination.”

In addition, the class also looked at the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a racist piece of legislation, which followed an influx of people.

Student Maren L. said, “We’re learning about this because it’s a really important part of history.”

To better understand what it might have been like to be an immigrant on Angel Island, students conducted extensive research prior to their visit. They read stories on the experiences of Chinese immigrants, studied primary source photographs of the immigration station in operation, watched a KQED video about the station’s history, and read poetry that Chinese immigrants carved into the walls of the barracks. In looking at the poetry, students selected a poem and then a line from that poem and dissected what they thought the author might have felt when the poem was written.

When the students arrived at the barracks, they were awed to see the same poems they had carefully studied on the walls. “For many students, that was a highlight of the trip,” Sam said.

“My favorite part was seeing all the carvings on the walls,” student Anaya K. said. “I also liked seeing replicas of the items that

↑ A state park ranger explains to second graders what the living conditions on Angel Island were like for Chinese immigrants.

immigrants brought with them, because it taught us about where they came from.”

Student Ishan S. shared, “My favorite part of the field trip was going inside the building and seeing all the cool stuff that I hadn’t seen before.”

For the final part of their studies, second graders selected one unmet need of the Chinese immigrants and a changemaking job that would empower them to implement a solution to this unmet need.

One student said, “I would be the architect of the immigration station, and I would build walls in the medical exams rooms so the immigrants had more privacy.”

Another said, “I would be a state senator and try to make laws that helped the immigrants have more rights, so that the station would be less claustrophobic and more welcoming.”

“Within the project and field trip we integrate equity and inclusion, design thinking, social-emotional skills, and empathy building,” Sam said. “We are asking ourselves, ‘How do we build empathy for people who immigrated to the United States during this time?’”

This project is really what Nueva is all about. —Rachel Freeman

FACULTY BOOKSHELF RECOMMENDED READING

The Overstory

Richard Powers “It won the Pulitzer Prize last year and is a haunting story about the connection between humanity and nature.” — EVAN BARTZ, Middle School Writing & Humanities Teacher

Free Food for Millionaires

Min Jin Lee “A delicious summer read: savage Jane Austen social commentary meets immigrant narrative meets New York City fashion. Why is this not a movie yet?” — ALLEN FROST, Director of the Innovative Teacher Program

Season of the Witch

David Talbot “Definitely a must-read if you live in the Bay Area! Season of the Witch details the history of San Francisco from the ’50s to ’70s; this is the era of Harvey Milk, Summer of Love, anti-establishment hippies, and a young Nancy Pelosi. It’s easy to read and great if you want to understand the city by the bay.” — CHELSEA DENLOW, Upper School History Teacher

AT H L E T I C S

Mavericks

G O M AV S!…

71

goals scored by the US girls soccer team

<< Soccer

In its first two official years in the PSAL, the varsity girls soccer team has done more than proven itself.

“Since joining the PSAL, the team has gone undefeated, 20-0-1, and earned two straight Central Coast Section (CCS) postseason appearances,” said Athletics Director Chris Wade, who also noted that, in addition to being league champions, the team earned recognition as a CCS Scholastic Team Champion for having the highest team GPA in their CCS Section. While the season came to an end with a CCS playoffs quarterfinals loss against Sacred Heart Prep, there is a lot to be excited about in the coming years.

<< Volleyball

The varsity girls volleyball season was a historic one! In addition to competing in the CCS Division V championship, the team qualified for the NorCal regional and made it all the way to the NorCal regional championship before falling to familiar foe Mt. Madonna.

Following the conclusion of the season, Athletics Director Chris Wade shared that the athletes gave “nothing but their best, leading by example, making our community proud, and enhancing Nueva spirit community-wide.”

15

the number of players on the inaugural US girls varsity tennis team

64%

of students in 4th through 8th grades participate in Nueva athletics

3.87

average GPA of US winter teams (highest four-team cumulative average in Central Coast Section)

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

In Middle School, wins and losses take a back seat to participation and instilling the values of commitment. But when participation and commitment lead to on-field and on-court success, it’s an accomplishment worth recognizing. Middle School girls soccer had one of its most successful seasons, as two of three teams completed their seasons undefeated.

For boys basketball, two teams often shared the gym space for practices, which blossomed into unexpected leadership opportunities for our students. “We had our sixth-grade team practicing with the fourth-grade team, and it was so great to see the older students mentoring the younger students,” noted Lower & Middle School Athletics Coordinator Alyssa Richards.

Art Briefs

MEET A MAVERICK

Hamilton fans, listen up! “The Federalist Papers” are no match for this mic drop. Watch rapper and sixth grader Reid D. run rhymes around our founding fathers in his episode of #MeetAMaverick on our YouTube channel: nuevaschool.org/youtube.

HARVEY

In the fall, Upper School students performed Harvey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, 1944 comedy about a man whose best friend is a 6-foot-tall invisible rabbit. True to our own culture, it’s a story that proves that acceptance and kindness trump fitting in.

SUCCULENT SOUND GARDEN

Inspired by other video series like NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, the new student concert series Succulent Sound Garden featured intimate, performances showcasing a breadth of genres including rock, indie, and classical music. Check out these student performances on our YouTube channel: nuevaschool.org/youtube.

Building Empathy

First Graders Strive to Be Kindness Ambassadors

Nueva first graders are learning to be kind, compassionate, empathetic citizens. This year, they studied abelism, a unit the first grade teachers say is redefining community and understanding people who are often misunderstood and marginalized.

According to the Center for Disability Rights, ableism is defined as “a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other.”

“We want to teach the children to walk with people who have challenges while building empathy,” explained first-grade teacher Diana Friedman. “I understand ableism firsthand—my mom had polio when she was 13. She had many surgeries but never complained, and my mom went on to live an incredible life.”

“We are teaching our students to become kindness ambassadors,” said first-grade teacher Emily Mitchell. “We read many wonderful stories to the children, including Six Dots, the story of Louis Braille, who created the Braille system based on the Morse code.”

Other ableism book favorites have included A Boy Called Bat, the story of a boy on the autism spectrum, and The Sound of Silence, the remarkable tale of a young boy who grows up with two deaf parents.

“You could be born without a body part (except for your heart or brain),” noted first grader Macallister B. “In the story Emmanuel’s Dream, a guy was born with a leg that didn’t work, but he ended up riding a bike for 40 miles a day! We’re learning that if people need help, you need to help them.”

“We are learning about ableism so that when we grow older, we can treat people correctly,” said first grader Toby G. “We all just need to be a little kinder.” —Antonia Ehlers

← Nueva first graders are learning to be kind, compassionate, empathetic citizens. This year, they studied ableism, a unit the first grade teachers said helped to redefine the Nueva community and understand people who are often misunderstood and marginalized.

T H E N U E VA WAY

← PK–12 Math Coordinator and Upper School math teacher Danielle McReynolds-Dell reads a “kind tweet” that one of her students wrote about her.

KINDNESS TWEETS

We love Jimmy Kimmel Live’s “Celebrities Read #MeanTweets” segment and were inspired to do our own version in honor of Kindness Week. Below are some examples of #kindtweets students submitted about their teachers.

I

Watch online: nuevaschool.org/ kindnesstweets

“Jo is such a kind, caring person. She supported me when I was in a really tough spot, and continues to do so now. I can’t thank her enough.”

“John is like the human embodiment of an excited puppy that memorized everything on Google.” “Kevin is so articulate and clever with words that sometimes when I listen to him speak I forget that I’m fluent in the same language.”

“Alexa does it all, and still somehow managed to find time to be a nice person. I think she needs to be thanked more often. So, thank you!”

VIRTUAL ART WORKSHOP

In a virtual art workshop hosted by teacher Reenie Charriere and parent Wayee Chu, sixth-grade students selected a photo from a newspaper or magazine that held meaning for them, and recreated it in collage form using found materials. This project was inspired by artist Mark Bradford’s “Pickett’s Charge,” an exhibit the class had planned to visit on their D.C. trip.

SEASON’S GREETINGS

During the fall, some middle schoolers took Electronics and Wearables for Holiday Displays and Costumes, an elective blending art, technology, and fabrication. Using basic electronics, foam, and other materials, they created their favorite holiday moments.

OPERA À LA CARTE

Teaming up with the San Francisco Opera for an Opera à la Carte performance is a treasured tradition in our Lower School. This year’s jewel: a fourth-grade performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.

PERFORMING ARTS

Newsies

Now is the time to seize the day! The Middle School musical elective and afterschool club proudly presented Newsies as the fall musical in November.

Based on the real-life Newsboy Strike in 1899, the newsboys, mostly poor immigrant kids working 15-hour days, take action after publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise prices at the newsboys’ expense. Newsies is the vibrant, historically accurate celebration of the kids’ eventual triumph, filled with exuberant music and dance.

Commencement 2020

As the world collapsed around us this spring, we faced a pandemic, economic uncertainty, and a reckoning of longstanding, grave human rights violations. We are in the midst of what feels like a collective consciousness stirring. There is determination to right the wrongs and conviction to find solutions to injustices. Our hope comes from you, Class of 2020—for who you are, the actions you will take, and the light you will bring into the world. Today is the day to focus on who you are . . .

You have so often been a grade of firsts—the first to create 100-word eighth-grade speeches; the first to create Upper School award-winning publications; the first to research and write biographies of mathematicians; the first to go on the Peru trip by interest groups; the first and only ninth grade to create a multi-round pingpong tournament during your portfolio defenses; the first to hold sports rallies at the Upper School, and the first to use taco trucks to attract crowds. You were also the first to create the 20-second talents, which included donning swimming caps, spinning yarn, and featuring your teachers in a variety of costumes and interviews. You may be the only ninth-grade class to take spam calls during the day. Some of you tucked yourselves into little nooks and crannies, talking to scammers in various languages for so long that the scammers finally had to give in and give up. Well done.

You were also the class to develop opportunities for the grades to follow: you started the girls’ soccer, tennis, and beach volleyball teams and formed the boys’ volleyball team; you went to the states in cross-country, basketball, and volleyball and to the nationals in debate; you expanded the music program and founded coffeehouses; you performed a steel drum concert for 3,000 educators at last year’s national conference; you started the sweet tradition of welcoming freshmen at sunrise with donuts and signs.

Class of 2020, what you have given to Nueva and will give to the larger world—is your best. The beauty of giving your best is that you always gain more than you give.

You have changed all of us who have been part of your lives, and we are eager to see where your lives take you. You have proven over and over that you have the tools you need to build your wings on the way down. You are ready to soar.

DIANE ROSENBERG, Head of School, excerpt from commencement speech

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To read Diane's complete speech, go to nuevaschool.org/voices

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(1) Camille Grigg proudly shows off her grad cap. She received her diploma from her father and former Nueva trustee Vernon Grigg. (2) Noah Tavares throws streamers in the air after his diploma is conferred by Upper School Division Head Stephen Dunn. (3) The Hillsborough field was turned into a graduation drive-in theater to allow for an in-person socially distant celebration. (4) Jason Hwong poses in our open N after receiving his diploma from his mother Karen Tiegel, fifth grade dean and Middle School writing teacher. (5) Siblings Maya and Luciano Malavasi rolled onto campus with a bubblemaking machine on their car. (6) Madeline Park shows off her decorated car, with one window honoring the moments and people that shaped her Nueva experience.

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(4)

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See page 32 for an excerpt of Anjali Ramanathan’s ’20 powerful speech.

Eighth Grade Graduation

Eighth graders and their families gathered for a socially distanced celebration, drive-in style, on Friday, June 12. Their teachers and advisers cheered them on as they rolled onto campus to a playlist of songs that held special meaning to the Class of 2024. From the windows and roofs of their vehicles, all those gathered watched pre-recorded 100- word speeches each eighth grader delivered about their Middle School time at Nueva: lessons learned, unforgettable memories, and shared experiences.

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(7) Alex W. (8) Cars came to the ceremony decked out with graduation messages. (9) Temilola S. and family. (10) Head of School Diane Rosenberg greets Nicholas Q. before the start of the celebration.

BY THE NUMBERS

48 students immersed themselves in a crash course in money management

24 students ran away to the circus—they learned aerials and acrobatics at AcroSports

2020 INTERSESSION

11 WILD ANIMALS (along with FOUR humans) taught animal behavior in the Zoo to You session Intersession is a time for high school students to develop interdisciplinary exploration with real-world experts. It is an intellectual and experiential feast of topics extending beyond the usual academic disciplines. Each year, students choose from nearly 200 seminars, intensives, and activity sessions offered by industry experts and academic presenters. Intersession takes place in the two weeks following winter break and spans a total of six days. 400 upper school students participated (82 eighth graders also joined)

117

SUCCULENT GARDENS W E R E B U I LT

21 students were hands-on at the Stanford School of Medicine Anatomy Lab

22 students made CHEESE!

47 students spent a day in the life with a district attorney in a murder case

118 presenters taught 155 sessions SEVEN start-up founders were among the presenters! 100 S T U D E N T S ON THE TEAM

U P P E R S C H O O L ROBOTICS 232

hours of meeting time since kickoff on Jan. 4 through the beginning of March

100

DAY S C E L E B R AT I O N

First-grade students celebrated the 100th day of school on February 11. They each created their own visualization of … 100 hearts on a student’s house

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inspirational quotes

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paper cranes for the coronavirus victims

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corks painted red and shaped into a heart

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piece LEGO structure

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4,374

BOOKS SOLD during the school Book Fair with 5 authors hosted

B O O K FA I R

11 CHAMPIONSHIPS PSAL and CCS AT H L E T I C S Basketball Cross-Country Diving Flag Football Golf Soccer Swimming Tennis Track & Field Volleyball 50% of Upper School students participate in Nueva athletics 936 TOTA L E N R O L L M E N T 214 299 423 Lower School Middle School Upper School (PreK–4) (5–8) (9–12) 205 FAC U LT Y A N D S TA F F 140 65 59% Students of Color 6:1 Student-to-Faculty Full-time Faculty Staff R AT I O 15–18 AV E R AG E C L AS S S I Z E Graduates attending 82 70% Faculty with ADVANCED DEGREES different institutions 130+ ELECTIVES

I N N OVAT I V E L E A R N I N G CONFERENCE

On October 17–18, 2019, Nueva hosted its biennial Innovative Learning Conference, where some of today’s most influential experts in education shared their knowledge, their research, and their practices. All over the campuses, in classrooms, in the cafés, and in the hallways, there were engaging conversations and thought-provoking dialogue with people who all care deeply about the future of education.

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TOTA L AT T E N D E E S

M I D D L E S C H O O L C S L DAY 132 This Community Service Learning (CSL) B O X E S Day in the Middle School was organized, packed by Middle led, and run by students in the Community School students on Service Club. CSL Day for Rise Against Hunger. 28,000 meals of soy, rice, vegetables, and vitamins for children in schools in other countries. Each box they pack will feed WAS T E AUDIT one child for an entire year. In March, Upper School students conducted an audit of one day’s waste by sorting roughly 60% L A N G UAG E of the waste generated. .51 INSTRUCTION • JAPANESE • MANDARIN POUNDS of estimated • SPANISH waste per student

A Unique Twist

Creative Biology Project Makes Lasting Impression

When remote class began March 16, the biology curriculum took a major pivot, threading in topics including zoonosis, the coronavirus, and immunology into the tapestry of 10th-grade learning. Instead of solidifying content through more traditional labs or tests, biology teachers Michaela Danek, Samantha Huff, Paul Hauser, Jehnna Ronan, and Trip Sweeney designed an original and creative “Deep Dive” project that enabled students to mesh different disciplines.

“We wanted to give students more freedom in their learning,” Michaela said. “We built up their understanding of biology, and at the end of the semester we wanted to open it up and allow students to dive in different directions.”

“Thinking about biology creatively is way more interesting, surprising, and memorable than just the content itself,” Trip explained. “Being able to artistically and creatively express yourself is paramount in high school, so having biology funnel into that greater goal is important.”

Students took advantage of the various pathways the project afforded them. Some utilized technology to create 3-D models, animations, digital drawings, or music, while others explored painting, cooking, poetry, drawing, and weaving.

Maya C. created a series of desserts, entitled “Reverse Transcrip-taste.”

“My art component was a metaphor for the activity of reverse transcriptase,” she said. It was very enjoyable to make, since I don’t consider myself to be very good at art, so I got to make something a little more interpretive.”

Rebecca T. presented her knowledge in digital art form. She explored the public health issue of concentrated animal feeding operations. These farms use methods such as overuse of antibiotics in animal feed, mistreatment of waste, and pollution—which has many consequences, including antibiotic resistance and bacteria.

For Rebecca, the deep dive was not only insightful because she learned about a topic of interest, but also because she grew as an artist. Her piece was created in Photoshop—which she had never used before to paint digitally—and wows with its meticulous detail, something that was “tedious but pretty rewarding.”

Brandon C. explored a completely different facet of art—music. He composed a piano piece influenced by the emergence of COVID-19. Maya B. chose creative writing and wrote a poem about HIV.

“Doing a mechanistic write-up is helpful for your learning, but having created some sort of artistic piece really cements the content for you—it gives you an emotional resonance with the project,” Jehnna noted. “It’s not just about students communicating to other people, but also them thinking about science from a different angle and seeing how it connects to another mode of expression.” —Anouschka B. ’22

CREATIVE BIOLOGY PROJECTS

↑ Rebecca T. explored the public health issue regarding concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), learning new Adobe Photoshop skills for her art piece. “I thought about how disconnected most grocery shoppers are from the origins of their meat; they don’t really see the living conditions, life cycle, and effects on humans and the environment, and common depictions of farm animals— especially from childhood—are so unlike real life,” she said.

↓ Maya B. chose to write a poem about HIV. “The hardest part was finding the balance between metaphor or artistic abstraction and cold science,” Maya said. “If you want something to be more visually appealing, you can’t just be reciting a scientific textbook, but at the same time, you are trying to communicate something about some scientific thing.”

Flowers bloom inside us every moment, there’s Daffodils, daisies, dalias, daphnes, delphiniums, our bodies Growing, healing, living, but some of the Flowers are dark. No one lives through the beginning, consciously They learn of that dreadful inception posthumously, think back To when this thing would’ve taken root, inside Of their precious bodies. Asymptomatic, invisible, at the Beginning of this dreadful story, which No one was ever meant to live, except You are living it, and life goes on— Until it doesn’t, the dark flowers Spreading their petals, at first Tentatively, then Into the deepest crevasses of your being. You are the flowers, and the flowers are you. That’s how it gets you.

→ Maya C. created a series of desserts, titled “Reverse Transcriptaste.” Reverse transcriptase is a process by which an enzyme can turn RNA into DNA—a process that allows retroviruses (such as HIV) to integrate their viral genome into the host cell genome. Maya represented the enzyme with three raspberries clustered in the corner, and the progression of chocolate shells, mousse, and the slight hint of raspberry depict the steps of reverse transcription.