The Nueva School

The school believes that the "foundational work for equity and inclusion must happen in the early elementary grades as so much of the socialization we experience — from gender roles to conceptions of race — is embedded by the time children reach preschool." First graders "dive deeply into understanding how their personal intersectional identities, including race, class, and gender, inform their membership in different communities." Second graders consider "how systemic racism has impacted the opportunities of those immigrating here."

The school describes Middle School as "a time where students are very invested in issues of right and wrong and personal identity." The school claims that, "Social justice topics appear throughout Nueva’s Middle School curriculum woven across disciplines and grade levels." Middle school students "develop an appreciation for the history and work of social justice."

The school has classes, such as "Social Justice, Equity & Inclusion," where students "explore the impact of colonialism."

The school is "committed to ensuring that the themes and ideas of social justice and equity are present throughout our PreK–12 curriculum." The social justice and equity team offers social justice electives as well. Additionally, "Tenth-grade students take a weekly course entitled Engaged Citizenship that enables them to critically and compassionately engage in their communities while furthering their understanding of power, inequity, diversity, and liberation."

In a job listing on the National Association of Independent Schools' website, the school said that potential Upper School Learning Specialist candidates must incorporate "an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens into approach and practice" as a job requirement.

As part of its "Intercession" program ("a core part of the Nueva learning experience"), the school offered session offerings such as "Understanding Racism in Education" and "Effective Activism: Building a Better World in 2021."

The school hosted an "Anti-racist Communications Strategy Session," where school professionals discussed "creating a shared set of antiracist best practices for our work in communications, and sharing ideas with one another."

The school hosted an "Equity & Inclusion Institute," which discussed "implementing equity-minded education and emboldens educators to disrupt the status quo in the service of creating transformational change." Participants in the event aim to "Have a working understanding of how systemic oppression functions and how the various forms of oppression intersect" and "Understand the necessity of doing one's own internal work as it relates to issues of identity, bias, power, and privilege," among other goals.

The school offers "assemblies and school-wide events that promote empathy, perspective-taking, and thoughtful engagement with the issues of social justice, equity, and inclusion. Every year, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a full day of programming at the Upper School — themes have encompassed intersectionality, solidarity, and faith." It also offers faculty "relevant professional development workshops" on "cultural competency, understanding gender, engaging in difficult conversations, talking to kids about race, racial identity development." There is also a Strengthening Our Understanding and Learning (SOUL) group for faculty that "provides teachers with an opportunity to evaluate their practice and curriculum through such theoretical lenses as critical race theory, postcolonial theory, queer theory, and critical pedagogy."

The school committed to "being an anti-racist organization—one in which we all develop a comprehensive understanding of how racism and oppression operate—and to dismantling racism within Nueva and in our larger community." The school also established its Task Force on Racial Equity and Accountability, which will "help elevate the school’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)–with a specific focus on the Black community." Among some of the general goals of the task force are to "Enhance awareness to understand, acknowledge, and heal" and "Endorse through bold leadership to sustain systemic, long-term change."

On August 28, 2020, Nueva took to Facebook and highlighted its guest speaker who “has been leading Black Lives Matters initiatives” and came to speak at Nueva for “new Friday special programming in the upper school.” This post was also featured on its Instagram account.

On August 11, 2020, Nueva highlighted its “Identifying Gifted Students of Color Conference” on Facebook.

On June 1, 2020, Nueva posted a lengthy statement on Facebook, stating, “This has been a devastating week for America. The insidious racism we’ve been witness to is an epidemic—one we need to grieve and rally against while fighting for our friends, our communities, and our fellow human beings deserving of justice, of freedom from fear, of dignity, and the right to truly thrive.⁣” This post was also featured on its Instagram account.

On June 14, 2020, Nueva posted a photo on Instagram reading “Black Lives Matter” as part of its graduation celebration.

On June 11, 2020, Nueva posted a photo collage on Instagram from banners that fifth graders made “which support Black Lives Matter and fought against racial injustice.”

On June 5, 2020, Nueva announced on Instagram, “We see you. We hear you. We stand with you” as a statement seeking to engage in work to “confront injustice.”