[3][4][5] Unique aspects of Nueva's curriculum include its focus on design thinking and social emotional learning.

A board with members including Ernest "Jack" Hilgard and Meredith Wilson helped to found the school.

[14] In mathematics, there is an integrated core curriculum, along with advanced elective classes in the upper school including multivariable calculus and complex analysis.

[18] The school's social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, originally called Self-Science, has been part of a Nueva education since its founding.

[24] Seventh-grade students go to Los Angeles and visit Japanese, Chinese and Spanish communities, as well as researching the film industry.

Eighth grade students travel to Spain, Singapore/China/Taiwan, or Japan depending upon their language study, and participate in a homestay.

Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, ninth grade students participated in annual trips to Peru to visit Machu Picchu.

Tenth grade students traveled to Costa Rica to work with the Upwell Turtles and the Monteverde Institute in conjunction with their biology curriculum, and currently take trips to Hawaii to study sustainability and post-colonial theory.

Eleventh-grade students break up into several groups and travel to various locations in the United States as part of their American Studies curriculum.

Mathematical Olympiad and competed at the International Mathematics Olympiad,[29] been finalists at the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge,[30] won second place at the Broadcom MASTERS science competition,[31] been named a Davidson Fellow for research on Alzheimer's disease,[32] won third place at the National Geographic Bee,[33] won the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship,[34] and competed at the international Prix de Lausanne dance competition.

Other campus facilities include a gymnasium/performance space, science labs, several playgrounds, art studios, and the "forts," a special outdoor play area.

There is also the Innovation Lab (I-Lab), a maker-studio space with equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, and construction tools that students use as part of the design thinking curriculum.

[37] The Hillsborough school campus has a gym/multipurpose room known as the GCC where students play sports ranging from basketball to volleyball.

Nueva's 42 acre Hillsborough campus is tiered, having the middle school going down into Crocker Mansion, going down into the hiking/forts trail.

[38] For the high school, established in 2013, a new campus of 133,000 square feet was built as part of the Bay Meadows development in San Mateo, opening in August 2014.

[40] The inaugural ninth grade class was housed at the College of San Mateo while the construction of the high school campus was underway.

[46] The admissions process also requires meeting with family, an activity session in a classroom setting, teacher evaluations, transcripts, and standardized test scores.