Strategic Framework 2022–2027

FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN THREE PRIORITIES TWELVE INITIATIVES

The three strategic priorities and twelve initiatives were adopted by the Board of Trustees on May 25, 2022 and are aligned with and grounded in Nueva’s foundational commitments to its vision, mission, and core values.

MISSION

Our school community inspires passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the imaginative mind.

VISION

The Nueva School uses a dynamic educational model to enable gifted learners to make choices that benefit the world.

VALUES

Dynamic learning community

Environment of trust

Social-emotional acuity

Curiosity and creativity

Passion and excellence

Student agency

NUEVA PARENT, STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK SURVEY, NOVEMBER 2021

“We could not even have imagined that a place like Nueva existed when we first became part of the community.”

FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN | THREE PRIORITIES | TWELVE INITIATIVES

What the Strategic Framework Does

Nueva was founded to enable gifted learners to make choices that benefit the world. With this strategic framework, we reaffirm that essential commitment. Through three priorities—renew, belong, innovate—the framework guides our decisions as we emerge from a period of change. It keeps us grounded in who we are and helps us hold ourselves accountable. In this regard, it is a living document that informs our decisions and keeps us mission-aligned on a daily basis.

At Nueva, we have a history of making our visions come to life. ln 2012, we set the ambitious goal of building and opening a high school. In 2017, we set out to equip our students for the future by creating an environmental citizenship program. When the Nueva community comes together and identifies a goal that will advance our mission, the question is simply how we will achieve it—not if.

I invite you to learn about the framework’s priorities and initiatives, which will be supported by continued focus on long-term fiscal and operational sustainability, including stewardship of endowment, development, and community engagement. Developing this framework has been a true group effort, expertly led by Taryn Grogan, director of enrollment and strategic engagement, and Janet Cheston, longtime Nueva trustee and parent. I extend my deepest thanks to them, to the steering committee, and to the entire Nueva community, for the countless ways you have shaped this plan for Nueva’s bright future.

The Strategic Framework is a powerful blueprint that will ensure that each Nueva student is equipped to make choices that benefit the world, long into the future.

LEE FERTIG Head of School

How the Strategic Framework Was Developed

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the entire Nueva community developed the strategic framework. We offered the opportunity to everyone—students, faculty, staff, leadership, parents, and alumni—to share their hopes and dreams for the next five years, and we heard over a thousand perspectives.

In addition to asking about the things the school is doing well, we asked where we need to grow. What can we do differently? What needs aren’t we meeting? We know we can’t be better without being willing to evolve and change. That reflects who we are, who we have always been: innovators.

And even in the midst of a pandemic, coming out of a period of not being on campus, a period of significant change, we heard from so many of you what makes Nueva Nueva. Those perspectives brought into focus our three guiding pillars— renew, belong, innovate—and became the foundation for the ambitious goals you will see in the pages ahead.

TARYN GROGAN Director of Enrollment & Strategic Engagement

There is never a goal that we can’t achieve. When this community puts its heart and mind to it, it’s absolutely going to happen.

Innovation is in Nueva’s DNA. It’s what we do as a school, and we see it at work in our strategic planning process.

JANET CHESTON Trustee and Steering Committee Co-chair

What do you value most about Nueva?

“The personalized experience for each student. They are met where they are and their curiosity is supported and taken further.”

PARENTS

“The dedicated program towards gifted students, the SEL program, and the fact that my daughter loves to go to school.”

“The opportunities that students have to pursue what they are passionate about and the staff who are willing to engage with and be enthusiastic about what students are excited about.”

“Collaborative teachers who inspire and motivate gifted learners to get excited about learning.”

“Deliberate kindness, child-centered teaching, joyful learning.”

“How curiosity, creativity, and a love of learning (for learning’s sake) suffuse this community. How, in our best moments, we fuse ambitious thinking with kindness, consideration, and open-mindedness.”

“I value Nueva’s willingness to embrace new ideas and cultures, to give everyone a voice, and to allow the students freedom to explore.”

FACULTY, STAFF, AND ADMINISTRATORS

“I love that we are always iterating and changing and researching ways to be better in our mission of serving gifted students.”

STUDENTS AND ALUMNI

“I value Nueva’s teachers for investing so much time and energy into making classes unique and interesting, and I value the people around me for creating a school environment focused more on learning and success rather than social status.”

“Brilliant, driven students whose ambitions and dreams are supported by caring, remarkable teachers.”

Nueva’s motto is learn by doing, learn by caring. It is lived every day by students and teachers.

ENHANCE CURRENT OFFERINGS, CONSOLIDATE RECENT GROWTH, AND ENSURE THE INTEGRITY AND CONTINUITY OF OUR MISSION, VISION, VALUES, AND SCHOOL CULTURE.

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.

“The people are the center of it all. But besides that and the school’s mission and ethos—the campus itself offers a profoundly textured learning environment and beautiful place for people to spend time together, form memories, and connect.”

1.1

NUEVA FACULTY MEMBER IN THE FOCUS GROUP SESSION

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.

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.

“What I value most is the opportunity Nueva provides for students to learn differently: to pursue their passions, to embrace loving to learn and feel supported in that by peers and teachers alike, and to learn and grow holistically without the constraints and false imperatives of grades and external competitiveness.”

NUEVA PARENT

INCREASE BELONGING AND ENHANCE SUPPORT IN ORDER

TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITY AND ENSURE THAT EVERY MEMBER IS ABLE TO THRIVE AT NUEVA.

Our values of care for self, care for others, and care for the community are the foundation of Nueva’s culture.

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.

NUEVA STUDENT

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

“As a student at Nueva, I value the agency that the school gives students to advocate for themselves and for issues that they are passionate about. Nueva encourages us to stand up for what we believe in and challenge the status quo.”

NUEVA FACULTY MEMBER

awareness of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives, including community engagement around, and accountability for, the importance of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion for all members of the Nueva community.

“Find and retain more gifted students! From all around the area and from different backgrounds. Give thoughtful support to those who may need to acclimate to Nueva’s teaching style and the community environment.”

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

The Diane Rosenberg Wing opened to upper school classes in the fall of 2019.

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 in preK–12.

Expand environmental citizenship studies in preK–12 and increase sustainability on campuses and throughout operations.

“I hope Nueva continues its own growth and development around seeing the whole student and their family—as well as supporting the staff and faculty who help create the container for students to thrive.”

NUEVA FACULTY MEMBER

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

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

CURRENT NUEVA STUDENT

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

3.4

“I think one of the most important aspects of Nueva is the ‘learn by doing, learn by caring’ motto. The school’s receptiveness to student ideas, action, and activism has always been a core part of its pedagogy.”

Steering Committee

Student Programs

Lee Fertig Head of School

Janet Cheston Task Force Co-chair

Taryn Grogan Task Force Co-chair

Hillary Higgins Associate Director of College Counseling

Mary Hynes Trustee and Alumni Parent

Elizabeth Rossini Director of Teaching & Learning

Jessica Salcedo Parent

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Systems for Sustainability

Ed Chen Director of Technology

Louisa Gillett Trustee and Parent

Erin Longo Third Grade Teacher

David Robinson Lead PreK Teacher

Mei Chen Trustee and Parent

Tammy Crown Trustee and Parent

Arta Khakpour Upper School History Teacher

Terry Lee Associate Head of School

Community Connections

Karen Dearing Parent

Lindsay Louie Parent

Marc Tarpenning Trustee and Parent

Zubin Mobedshahi Lower School PE Teacher

Culture of Nueva

Sarah Koning Director of Environmental Citizenship

Margaret Lynch Parent

Jennifer Perry Middle School Humanities and Upper School Writing Center Teacher

Jennifer Sepulveda NPA Co-President and Parent

Members of the steering committee served on five different research teams that helped shape conversation around the strategic framework.

Board of Trustees

The Strategic Framework was approved by the Board of Trustees on May 25, 2022.

Hoon Cho, co-chair (July 2022–)

Kathleen Donohue, co-chair (July 2020–)

Gerald Risk, co-chair (July 2020–June 2022)†

Kat Alfond

Peter Blaustein

Derrick Bolton

Mei Chen

Janet Cheston

Bruce Cozadd

Tammy Crown

Bonnie Fought

Robert Frank

Louisa Gillett

† Continued as a 2022-2023 trustee upon completing his term as co-chair.

Zack Herlick ’82*

Rie Hirabaru*

Rick Holmstrom

Mary Hynes

Puja Kaul

Leon Kuan*

Kevin Lynch

Allison Rouse

Karen Pace*

Kristina Phipps

Jody Sievers

Marc Tarpenning

Ann Wilson Green

* Completed term in June 2022. All others comprise the 2022–2023 Board of Trustees.