Upper School Intersession 2025

What happens when a large enough earthquake hits? Very likely you and your family may have to care for yourselves for a few days.  This session gets you started thinking and considering your individual and family preparedness.

Why were grown men once absolutely terrified to ride trains? What would compel well-to-do women to swear off all physical activity and eat nothing but heavy cream soups? Why were doctors so worried about wristwatches? How did Coca-Cola – with traces of cocaine – become America’s favorite headache remedy?

In a word: anxiety. 

In this session, we’ll explore the history of modern America through its wild, amusing, and sometimes disturbing responses to big changes that included the rise of cities, new technologies, lightning-fast transportation, access to drugs, and shifting gender roles and identities. To do this we'll examine medical literature, fairytales, Victorian fiction, and a bit of 19th century pseudoscience.

For students interested in history, medical mysteries, gender studies, source analysis, and storytelling.

In this full-day stand-up comedy writing workshop, high school students will dive deeper into the art of crafting and performing original comedic material. Throughout the day, students will explore advanced techniques in joke writing, comedic timing, and personal storytelling, while developing their unique comedic voice. The morning will focus on brainstorming ideas, understanding different comedy styles, and learning how to turn personal experiences into relatable humor. In the afternoon, students will refine their material through peer feedback, revision, and performance practice. By the end of the day, each participant will have the basis of a stand-up set or comedy sketch ready to perform and the skills to confidently deliver their work in front of an audience.

It’s best if the first time you use a fire extinguisher is not also the first time you are fighting a fire. More likely than not, you will be involved in a 911 situation sometime in your life. You don’t need to be a hero, but practicing now can make you seem like one. We’ll practice using fire extinguishers and acting out 911 scenarios.

Join Nueva upper school alumni as they discuss life at Nueva. Topics to be covered include: advice on getting the most of your Nueva experience; classes or co-curriculars alumni wish they had taken/participated in; reflections on navigating senior year, transitioning to college and building a new network; and more. This is an interactive session—questions and audience participation encouraged!

We'll practice changing a tire, putting on snow chains, jumping a car and what to do if stuck in snow or sand. It's great to do this for the first time in the sunny parking lot of Nueva rather than, say, on the side of I-80 at night in snowstorm on your parent's transitional object. We'll learn how to avoid problems by checking the fluids and tire pressure and which lights mean you have to stop right away and which ones can be ignored for a little bit. No prerequisites.

Spend some time with our lower school students! This is a wonderful opportunity to interact with the youngest Nuevans and (re)visit the Hillsborough campus.

Participants will work in pairs or groups to design a 60-minute lesson for lower school students (you will need to do this BEFORE the session and Katie can help!). You can pick the grade and the topic of the class. Examples: storytelling, learn a new sport, arts & crafts, etc – the skies the limit! Great for students interested in teaching or who just want to have some fun being a kid again.

This session is on the HILLSBOROUGH CAMPUS. Transportation will be pre-arranged.

You’ve probably been on an airplane, but have you thought of what it takes to fly one?  In this Intersession, we’ll follow along on a flight from the San Carlos Airport to Truckee, and learn about all aspects of how to get a small (6-seater) airplane safely between two airports.

Coming out of the session, you should be able to answer questions such as “How do you plan for a flight between two airports?”,  “How does an airplane actually work and how do you control it?”, “What are  communications with Air Traffic Control like?”, “What do airplane avionics and navigation systems like?”.  And hopefully you’ll be interested in the answer to “How do I learn to actually fly an airplane?”!

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) can impact up to 5% of the population, but they can often be dismissed as bad habits. However, BFRBs are actual disorders and much harder to treat due to changes in brain anatomy and external stressors. These disorders, in which a person uncontrollably fidgets with his or her body, can be both physically and emotionally damaging. In this activity, the physiology, development, and consequences of BFRBs are discussed as well as ways to cope and support yourself and loved ones.

We'll practice changing a tire, putting on snow chains, jumping a car and what to do if stuck in snow or sand. It's great to do this for the first time in the sunny parking lot of Nueva rather than, say, on the side of I-80 at night in snowstorm on your parent's transitional object. We'll learn how to avoid problems by checking the fluids and tire pressure and which lights mean you have to stop right away and which ones can be ignored for a little bit. No prerequisites.