The Nueva School

Upper School Faculty Position

History

Starting July 1, 2026

The Position

We seek an experienced high school teacher with expertise in teaching world history. We especially encourage candidates who have expertise in African, South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Latin American history to apply. Our robust elective program builds upon our core grade-based history courses to offer students varied and rigorous teaching in humanities and social science disciplines, along with advanced courses in the history of particular regions and periods. We welcome candidates with experience teaching in these disciplines, including international relations, political science, archaeology, and sociology. The candidate will have interest and experience in a variety of modes of teaching and be highly skilled at differentiated instruction for our gifted learners. The candidate will have taught for several years at the high school and/or university level. As a relatively new upper school division, we seek dedicated educators who are interested in collaborating with our current faculty as partners in the ongoing review, design, and implementation of our curricular program and humanities offerings.

We are seeking applicants who represent the full diversity of our community in the Bay Area. Our ideal candidate will possess a deep appreciation for the diverse socioeconomic, racial, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, academic, and ethnic backgrounds present in our community. In joining our team at Nueva, you will become a part of an inclusive community that examines all aspects of our school community through the lenses of equity and social justice in order to ensure an educational experience where all students and colleagues can thrive. In deciding whether to apply for a position at Nueva, you are strongly encouraged to consider whether your values align with Nueva’s Mission, Vision, and Values.

General Responsibilities for Teachers

Faculty at Nueva are expected to:

• Develop and teach courses with the highest academic standards for each student

• Convey enthusiasm for intellectual inquiry and model lifelong learning

• Design instruction that emphasizes critical thinking and differentiated learning

• Collaborate with colleagues in curriculum development and implementation
  Create hands-on, inquiry- and project-based learning experiences
  Work effectively with students, parents, faculty, and administrators

• Demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness in implementing best teaching practices

• Support the social, emotional, and academic well-being of all students

• Serve as student advisors and contribute beyond the classroom through clubs, activities, and programs

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion

• Participate actively in school life, including chaperoning trips, serving on committees, and helping develop new programs

• Bring genuine interest, joy, and care to working with students and supporting their learning and aspirations

• Lead by example in support of Nueva’s mission:
  “Our school community inspires passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the student’s imaginative mind.”

Position Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in history or a closely related field

• Demonstrated mastery in the field of history and the ability to teach within and across academic disciplines

• Minimum of five years of successful teaching experience at the high school and/or university level

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including experience teaching writing and research within the discipline

• Ability and desire to integrate curriculum across subject areas and teach collaboratively

• Flexibility and creativity in a dynamic environment that values innovation, reflection, and iteration

• Openness to feedback and continuous improvement, modeling lifelong learning in both pedagogy and subject matter

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in history or a related discipline

• Expertise in one or more of the following areas: African, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and/or Latin American history

• Experience teaching advanced or elective courses in related disciplines such as international relations, political science, archaeology, or sociology

• Experience working with gifted learners and implementing differentiated instructional practices

• Prior experience in a high school environment

Encouraged to Apply: Candidates who do not hold an advanced degree but bring significant, relevant teaching experience, demonstrated excellence in the classroom, and a deep commitment to student-centered, inquiry-based learning are strongly encouraged to apply.

Compensation

The full-time salary range for this faculty position is from $79,200 to 145,900. The starting salary is based upon, but not limited to, several factors that include type and years of creditable experience, education level, and expertise. 

We offer a full benefits package that includes fully paid medical, dental, vision, life insurance for employees, employer contribution toward dependent insurance premium, a generous match on our 403(b) retirement plan, long-term and short-term disability insurance, flexible spending account, and free lunch.  Eligibility rules must be met.

To Apply

Please send a cover letter, resume, and the names and contact information of three references to http://nuevaschool.applytojob.com/apply. To address specific questions, please email Claire Yeo at cyeo@nuevaschool.org or Liza Raynal at lraynal@nuevaschool.org. 

The Nueva School is an Equal Opportunity Employer – we do not discriminate against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, or sex. We welcome applications from people of color and those with experience outside the education field. 

About The Nueva School

The Nueva School, an internationally-recognized, nonprofit, independent day school, has served gifted and talented students since 1967. Today, Nueva serves nearly 1000 students PK-12. Nueva is located in the neighboring towns of Hillsborough and San Mateo, equidistant between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, serving six different counties throughout the Bay Area of Northern California.

A constructivist school, Nueva is known for its distinctive inquiry-based interdisciplinary studies, project-based learning, and pioneering work in social-emotional learning and design thinking. The Nueva community instills a passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the imaginative mind. Our school has received the US Department of Education National Blue Ribbon Award, the US Department of Education National Green Ribbon Award, and the American Institute of Architects Award for School Design and Sustainability; has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished Program and appointed an Ashoka Changemaker School; co-founded the Common Ground Speaker Series; hosts the biennial Innovative Learning Conference, and was highlighted by the Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times best-selling author Thomas Friedman in his book That Used to Be Us in the chapter “Average Is Over.”

Nueva’s Upper School

True to Nueva’s founding principles, our Upper School offers opportunities for deep, rigorous learning that includes inquiry-based, interdisciplinary studies as well as mastery of traditional disciplines. We offer accelerated and extended experiences where gifted learners design, discover, reflect, and apply their ideas in practical and real-world contexts. The physical proximity and institutional connections to world-renowned universities, cultural organizations, high-tech companies, healthcare institutions, and the can-do spirit of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area offer a dynamic entrepreneurial community for collaborative partnerships.

We prepare our graduates to be leaders in their chosen fields, certain of what drives them, and ready to pioneer new paths to success. We have designed a high school that responds to the pressing social, emotional, and learning needs of today’s teens, preparing them to direct their college educations and to live well as responsible human beings and global citizens. Nueva students learn to address difficult challenges with optimism and resilience. Our community is a personal and curricular partnership, where students encourage each other as they, alongside their teachers, continually think, construct, create, and re-think the best ideas and opportunities to explore their own passions and connect deeply with themselves and others.

Nueva’s Upper School opened in August 2013 after many years of discussion and comprehensive study, demographic analysis, feedback from alumni, consultation with educational and industry thought-leaders, and visits to more than 50 model high schools across the country and around the world. A seminal point of validation came from Nueva's 2011 Presidents' Roundtable, during which university presidents and college deans from some of the country's most respected institutions convened at our Hillsborough campus to discuss the future of education and affirmed the need for a new high school model like ours to better prepare students for this new century. The opportunity of a lifetime, to reimagine high school, is now a reality. We welcomed our inaugural ninth-grade class of seventy-seven students in 2013.  This year, we have a total of 436 students comprising four full-enrolled Upper School grades. Our extraordinary faculty models a spirit of deep inquiry and inspires students to be active and passionate learners. Teachers serve as mentors, guides and partners in the learning process, crafting and facilitating experiences through which students deepen their understanding and build transferable skills.

For more information about The Nueva School, please visit our website: www.nuevaschool.org