We love hearing the pearls from current and former parents and students.

One former parent shared,

‍“During elementary school years, my second child took only deli meat and cheese sandwich for lunch. Every single day. I was not allowed to pack any other food he enjoyed, such as egg salad, tuna fish or leftovers from the previous dinner. Little did I know why he limited his lunch options until he started attending NOVA. First week of school, he came home requesting that I pack falafel for lunch. Falafel you asked? We do enjoy cooking and eating a variety of other cultural cuisine but can’t say I have ever made falafel. He explained that one of his new NOVA friends shared his falafel for lunch and it was quite yummy. It was now ok not to take just deli meat and cheese for lunch.

What made this change? My son explained that during his elementary school, it was not “cool” to have any “strange things” for lunch. Everyone around him pinched their noses if anyone brought anything other than PJ or ham/cheese sandwich. He needed his ham/cheese sandwich to fit in. At NOVA, he noticed that he could bring anything for lunch and that was cool. As a matter of fact, anything and everything for lunch was celebrated, like anything and everything that was unique as a person was celebrated. Tears came down my face as I listened to my second child’s explanation. Thus, NOVA begun our journey of packing anything and everything for lunch that my son enjoyed eating, including egg salad, tuna fish, leftover Indian food, and Kimbop along with Kimchi made by his beloved grandmother.”

Even grandparents have wonderful things to say about NOVA: "I never realized how important the middle school years were until I watched my grandkids transform from little children into remarkable young adults during their three years at NOVA School."