Job Description

Hillsborough/San Mateo, California

Director of Communications

Start Date: July 2025

nuevaschool.org

Overview

Since its founding in 1967, Nueva has been a leader in the field of gifted education. Originally serving grades PK-8 on the Hillsborough campus, Nueva launched its high school in 2013, and the following year welcomed its first class of ninth-grade students to its San Mateo campus, home to a now-thriving division of 450 students. Nueva offers its 967 students a dynamic educational experience grounded in a caring and compassionate community. By all measures, Nueva is thriving with a vibrant mission, full enrollment, robust fundraising, two beautiful campuses, and a national reputation.

Trust, curiosity, creativity, and student agency are among Nueva’s foundational values, creating an environment where exceptional students and teachers can take risks and immerse themselves in the joy of learning. Faculty, staff, students, parents, and school leaders describe Nueva as a community that invites each person to be the most creative version of themselves. Intellectual freedom and the heady buzz of an independently created curriculum ignite a learning environment that celebrates intense curiosity and playful exploration. Nueva respects the minds of children and allows inquisitive kids to still be kids.

Now, Nueva seeks a Director of Communications who values openness to innovative ideas, lifelong learning, and the playfulness and discovery that emerge when educators explore and learn together. As Nueva has grown in recent years, it has built stronger and more consistent methods of communication across three divisions on two campuses. The current Director has strengthened overall communications, and the next Director will continue to build capacity and serve as an important, strategic thought partner to the Head of School and leadership team. Compelling candidates will show leadership experience in marketing and communications and an understanding of the independent school market.

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

Values

• A dynamic learning community
• An environment of trust
• Social-emotional acuity
• Curiosity and creativity
• Passion and excellence
• Student agency

At a Glance

Established: 1967

Enrollment: 967

Total faculty and staff: 246; 166 faculty, 80 staff

Students of color: 74%

Zip codes represented: 85

Faculty of color: 34%

Faculty with advanced degrees: 68%

Student/teacher ratio: 6:1

Financial aid budget: $8.4

Students receiving aid: 20%

Endowment: $55M

Annual operating budget: $65M

Student clubs: 110+

Campus size: Two campuses

San Mateo, CA (9-12)

Hillsborough, CA Campus (PreK-8)

Opportunities and Challenges

Looking ahead, the priorities, opportunities and challenges for the Director of Communications include:

Leading the Communications Team
The next Director of Communications will lead a team of three seasoned collaborators who bring distinct skills and institutional history to telling Nueva’s compelling story. Optimizing the team’s talents, elevating their professional development, and setting the vision for the team’s work will be the primary responsibilities of the next director. Understanding the centrality of the team’s collaboration across all aspects of the school’s life, the Director will establish priorities while maintaining a service orientation.

Strengthening Information Architecture
The next Director will continue to build systems and processes to optimize all methods of communication, both internally and externally. Through collaboration across departments and divisions, and with the ability to respectfully inquire into the why of current systems, the next Director will strategically maximize the utilization and impact of regular and specialized communications.

Partnering with the Leadership Team
Nueva’s willingness to embrace innovation and test new ideas in support of student curiosity, passion, and agency have fueled its growth and elevated its national reputation. The leadership team benefits from holding both an openness to new ideas and an understanding of the power of systems and structures that provide necessary frameworks and predictability. Nueva’s administrators value the ability to embrace the new, anticipate future challenges, and respectfully offer divergent perspectives.

Contributing to and Celebrating the Life of the School
The next Director will seek out the stories that reveal how Nueva’s powerful mission and vision support the magic that takes place between faculty, staff, and students in classrooms, on the playing fields, in the gardens, on school retreats and trips, and in the quiet moments in between. The Director will be comfortable participating in these learning spaces, identifying the unifying themes that tell Nueva’s story across the grades while understanding the nuances of each division.

Qualifications and Personal Attributes

• Minimum 5 years' experience in journalism, communications, media, or related communications field; school experience preferable but not essential.
• Excellent organizational, writing, interviewing, and editing skills required.
• Ability to think strategically about communications objectives and how to meet those objectives.
• A commitment to understanding trends and practices in the evolving fields of digital marketing and outreach.
• Ability to speak with and craft messaging for multiple constituencies.
• Expertise in social media, digital marketing, website development, and maintenance.
• Demonstrated leadership experience and the ability to mentor and inspire teams.
• A joyful spirit and the ability to remain calm in a fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of web content management systems, web analytics, social media, and Adobe Creative Suite. Knowledge of Blackbaud and Finalsite preferred.

Learn More

Click on the links below to learn more about The Nueva School.

To Apply
Candidates need to submit the following materials as separate PDF documents: 

• A cover letter expressing their interest in this particular position;
• A current resume;
• A portfolio of three samples of communications work;
• A list of five professional references with name, relationship, phone number and email address of each (references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission to:

Karen Whitaker

Senior Consultant

karen.whitaker@carneysandoe.com

Sara Shulman

Practice Leader – Development & Finance/Senior Consultant

sara.shulman@carneysandoe.com

We would appreciate receiving application materials by Friday, March 28, 2025.

The full-time equivalent salary range for this position is $175-210k. The starting salary is based upon, but not limited to, several factors that include type and years of experience, education level, and expertise.

The Nueva School offers 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.

About The Nueva School

The Nueva School, an internationally recognized, nonprofit, independent day school, has served gifted learners 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 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.” For more information on The Nueva School, please visit

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Job Tags

Full time, Temporary work, Flexible hours,

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