Maverick for Life

Diane Rosenberg’s bold leadership leaves indelible legacy

S TO R Y BY W I L LOW TAY LO R C. Y. ’21

for Life

M AV E R I C K MEMORIES…

Carolee Fucigna

Lead PreK Teacher, 2001–2019 I was the first person Diane hired when she arrived as the new head of school. From the beginning, I always felt like she wanted to make a personal connection with all of us. She held dinners at her house for new and seasoned faculty. She would come by the PreK class for tea and share pictures of her own grandchildren. I always loved that she came to all the school events, like culminations. She tried to be present for all the grades. It meant a lot to me that she cared so much about seeing the work the children were doing.

← Departing Head of School Diane Rosenberg is honored at the fall ribbon-cutting for the new west wing of the San Mateo campus, named in her honor.

Diane Rosenberg wasn’t looking for a job when Nueva came calling 19 years ago—in fact, the first time she was asked to apply for the head of school position by a friend who ran a search firm, she half-jokingly told him, “Please don’t call me again.”

She’d thought nothing of Nueva’s head of school search other than as another recruiting request. But her husband, Bob Rosenberg, convinced her to take a second look.

“He said, ‘This is the school you’ve always wanted to found,’” Diane recalled. “So I did look at the website that night in late 2000, early 2001, and he was right. I loved everything about it.”

“I’m not looking for anything else;

I can’t imagine being in another school when I’ve loved this school as deeply and as long as I have.”

Weeks later, she visited the Hillsborough campus for three days while school was in session. She fell for the beautiful campus, the extraordinary faculty, the walls of a particular fourth-grade classroom plastered with world maps from a geography unit, and, most of all, the students.

“I’d never met a group of kids so engaged in what they were doing,” Diane remembered. “It was like falling in love. Truly.”

Nineteen years later, Diane bids farewell to a school she describes as one of her life’s “two great love affairs”—Nueva and her family.

“It’s time,” she said. “I’m not looking for anything else; I can’t imagine being in another school when I’ve loved this school as deeply and as long as I have.”

Diane’s tenure, the longest in Nueva’s history, was characterized by stabilization—having been hired after a tumultuous period in the late ’90s when the school nearly closed—followed by rapid growth.

Under her supervision,the student population has tripled from 317 to nearly 950, and she oversaw the conceptualization and creation of the Upper School and the 2014 opening of its San Mateo campus. A new building has already been added to it, named in Diane’s honor by the lead donor. She also pioneered the use of task forces to investigate questions in the community and enhance student programming, making Nueva a leader in areas like environmental citizenship and the ethics and education around artificial intelligence.

The success of the school has catapulted it into not only a far more visible spot among top independent schools in the Bay Area, but also amidst global progressive and gifted education, with weekly visits by national and international educators.

“Simply put, Diane has transformed Nueva,” said trustee and former board chair Bruce Cozadd. “Nueva—a model for gifted learning, innovative teaching, and institutional vibrancy—is recognized nationally and internationally for its leadership and excellence.”

While her innovations and accomplishments have been transformative for the school, Diane’s greatest legacy might be in what she has preserved so dearly: Nueva’s mission to serve gifted learners. Diane describes gifted people as those with

“When Diane came to Nueva, it was clear to us as students that we had a new head who cared about connecting with us. We remembered Diane coming to our classes to see us work on projects. She was always ready with a curious question, a smile, and a warm laugh.”

—COLIN TRIBBLE ’04 Nueva Middle School teacher

“the unusual question, unusual curiosity, and unusual level of engagement.” Throughout her tenure as Nueva’s gifted leader, she has been unwavering in her commitment to ensure that Nueva continues to be a safe haven for these learners.

“I was very afraid that with growth would come a loss of that mission,” said Lee Holtzman ’01, who attended the Lower and Middle Schools as a student and has taught interdisciplinary studies of science at Nueva for seven years.

“I think one of the things Diane champions that is very difficult to champion in this world is gifted education. It was one of the reasons I came back, and it is one of the reasons I stay.”

Diane believes that while the school’s culture has evolved with its expansion, one core value continues to shape the Nueva identity.

“I know not every day or in every way, but fundamentally, so deeply valued is a culture of kindness,” she said. “The culture is really deeply rooted . . . and has always been true to itself.”

Many of the academic practices at Nueva—such as self-evaluations and the absence of grading curves— focus on maintaining this idea of self-improvement over comparison. Diane particularly

stresses this in Lower and Middle School, when students are first understanding social competition.

“One of my favorite stories is about a little boy who was in kindergarten,” she recounted. “He was very mathematically precocious, years ahead. However, he had a real challenge making friends. So he talked to his friend and said, ‘I’m really good at math, but I’m not good at making friends. You’re really good at making friends. Would you help me?’ That, for me, is Nueva. Kids at a very early age will understand an ability that another student has and not be diminished by it.”

While this year marked the end of Diane’s journey with Nueva and the conclusion of a significant era in the institution’s 53-year history, it’s also a beginning for the community she has fostered over two decades.

“I think it’s healthy for schools to have new leadership and new directions,” Diane said. “It feels like it’s time for someone else to begin that new chapter.”

For Diane, her new chapter means spending more time with her family by moving to the East Coast to be closer to her grandchildren. She will, of course, miss her second love “tremendously.”

“I love the vitality, the vibrancy, the dynamism,” she added. “I’ll miss that, I’ll miss your questions, I’ll miss the engagement in curiosity. I’ll miss everything.” [N]

M AV E R I C K MEMORIES…

Noel Perry

Board Chair 2001–2006 When Diane came in 2001, the last five years had been rocky for Nueva. A couple weeks into the job, the trustees informed her that the school had a $400,000 budget deficit. This was a great shock to Diane; she probably wondered, “What have I gotten myself into?” But she rose to the challenge and, in short order, balanced the budget.

Around the same time, 9/11 happened. The community was in shock. Again, she met the challenge head on. I remember all of us rolling up our sleeves and calling families to let them know everyone was safe.

As I reflect upon Diane’s legacy, I think of the leadership she brought to the school to stabilize it and advance it. When I was board chair, I told people that she could be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She has tremendous energy, intelligence, and the fortitude to deal with crises and still keep her eye on the ball.

Connor Pace ’11

Diane never lost sight of what it was like to be the age of her students. Whether it was the frame of mind of an 8-year-old or a 14-year-old, she could understand our actual priorities and needs—not just the ones adult society would have us care about. She was the opposite of patronizing. Our voices mattered. Whenever new policies or hard decisions came about, she respected us enough to explain her thinking. That culture of esteem for students is her greatest mark on Nueva’s culture.

D I A N E L E A D S T H E WAY

How Diane’s leadership has transformed Nueva over the last 19 years

BY MITZI MOCK

2001 Diane Rosenberg started as head of school

ENGAGING AND INSPIRING EDUCATORS Spurred by Diane’s fall 2006 Teaon-the-Plaza speech, the Nueva community hosted its first Gifted Learning Conferences in fall 2007. Later renamed the Innovative Learning Conference, the biennial event brings together parents, educators, and experts from around the world to explore innovations and best practices in areas such as gifted learning, social justice, mathematics, neuroscience, SEL, design thinking, and more.

INSTITUTES To further its efforts to share best practices and connect with teachers in the broader community, Nueva now hosts annual summer institutes in giftedness, design thinking, structured word inquiry, mathematics, and equity and inclusion.

“Diane was described by a donor of the school as many things to Nueva, including ‘mother.’ It made sense to me. Diane is the mother of the Mavericks— with the mascot having been reimagined under her leadership as part of the recreation of Nueva as a PK-12 school. Diane inspired the largest gift the school has received in its history, and this anonymous donor named a building for Diane. This is just one of many examples of her impact.”

2001–2020 During Diane’s tenure, Nueva grew into a PreK–12 school and became an internationally recognized institution for its excellence in teaching and learning innovation. She led the way by … 2020 A MAVERICK FOR LIFE Diane retired this summer. Her legacy will be felt by generations of Nueva students to come.

EXPANDING FACILITIES AND ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

THE UPPER SCHOOL Nueva’s founder, Karen Stone McCown, always envisioned Nueva as a PreK–12 school. Diane’s leadership made it a reality. The pioneer class spent the 2013–2014 school year on one floor of a building in the College of San Mateo. The Upper School campus officially opened its doors at the start of the 2014–2015 school year.

NEW BUILDINGS During her tenure, Diane oversaw three capital campaigns, which transformed facilities—and therefore learning possibilities—across two campuses. These additions include: the Upper School campus (which further expanded its facilities in 2019), the Hillside complex (the Hillsborough café, library, the Neiman Speeth classroom building, and Nueva’s first I-Lab), and the forthcoming PreK–12 environmental and humanities centers. These buildings—all LEED certified— launched several new student programs and enabled innovative teaching practices, such as design thinking, to flourish. HARNESSING THE POWER OF COLLABORATION

TASK FORCES Since she arrived, Diane has been eager to harness the collective knowledge and creativity of the Nueva community. Through task forces, she brought parents and teachers together to explore and develop student programs in subjects as diverse as environmental citizenship, artificial intelligence and ethics, global citizenship, humanities, internships, and more.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS To shape the broader education system, advance professional development, and support parent learning, Nueva is a founding member of networks like Common Ground (local parent education events), the Mastery Transcript Consortium (schools rethinking the traditional transcript model), and the Collaborative of Innovative Educators (a think tank of likeminded schools envisioning the future of education).

FUN DIANE FACTS

Favorite Nueva tradition: Annual Halloween parade. Her final costume was fitting: the Queen of Hearts.

Diane used to keep an M&Ms dispenser and a jar of chocolate chip cookies in her office for student visitors. Both have gone conspicuously missing for the last few years. Kindergarten detectives hunting for the missing gingerbread cookies are still on the case.

Diane and her husband Bob are proud companions to two 25-pound Maine Coon cats. These feline friends and their predecessors were background fixtures at faculty and parent dinners held at Diane’s house over the years. At the first “meet and greet” day of every school year, Diane wore her signature yellow smiley face costume. She’s the original emoji!

Diane will be remembered as a keen storyteller. One of her all-time favorite stories: The day LowerSchool students asked her to save campus trees from the Hillside Complex construction. She struck a compromise—wood from the lost trees became the benches and façade of the plaza design, and new trees were planted.