“Good Morning, Warriors! Rise & Grind! Happy Monday! Here we go! Let’s finish this semester out strong!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to be greeted in the morning with motivation and a reaffirming belief in you? If you’re a part of our New Millennium Secondary School (NMSS) community, you are! Our tuition-free 9th-12th grade high school in Gardena uses the power of social media to help you get excited about your day –and life– ahead.

Here For You

“You don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for.” -quote on NMSS Instagram page

What started out as a way to stay connected during the pandemic, has now become a beloved fixture in our community. Principal Samantha Navarro has used Instagram to send out updates since before 2020 as a way to communicate and check in with families. But what she found during online learning when students couldn’t come to school is that social media took on a bigger role in the community.

“I noticed it when I missed a day in uploading an inspirational quote,” she says. “All of a sudden I was receiving messages asking if I was okay! That’s when I knew what an impact these were making.”

These days, Principal Navarro still posts on the regular because she sees how helpful social media can be. At the same time, along with the rest of our staff, she’s checking in with students and families in-person as our main office is a gathering place without doors, come see us!

Messages That Mean Business

“Good Morning, Warriors! You made it! Last day of finals! Happy Thursday! Rise & Grind! Periods 2 4 6 and then dismissal at 12:40pm! Here we go! -NMSS Instagram post

Using social media to build our students up is engaging, but we also use it for real communication. Our small school uses block scheduling so students have more time to learn in each period but it’s not a bad idea to blast a reminder about which schedule we’re using that day.

Principal Navarro says parents like to use social media to contact her directly. She can’t make it to all of our great sports games (NMSS plays on Gardena Highs’ teams so students can participate in all the big sports like football, basketball, and soccer), but she loves it when parents keep her up to date on the score.

Connecting You

“Shout-out to Crystal L., Destiny L., and Matt R. for helping me set up to display artwork in the room!” – Mr. Catbagan

“Shout-out to 7th period biology for dazzling me with their presentations today.” – Mr. Kirtz

“Shout-out to Jamaya! Her poem, ‘Suffocation’ was published through Appelley Publishing!” -Principal Navarro

Our close-knit public high school uses social media for connection in many ways. Doing a great job in class? We see you! Teachers use shout-outs online to highlight students going the distance to succeed.

We also spotlight what classes and students are up to, especially the fun stuff. Speed dating in Spanish activity? Yep, everyone needs to know about that! Field trips to the Museum of Tolerance or iFly? Take note. Senior Week activities are added, along with prom and graduation. We love to celebrate you! And of course will show who is on fire in our Turkey Bowl, who the lip sync rock stars are and what our amazing ASB club is up to lately.

Ready to love high school? Our WASC-accredited school is enrolling now. School starts August 7th.

About NMSS

The New Millennium Secondary School (NMSS) is a tuition-free charter high school in Gardena, CA committed to preparing students to become life-long learners and dynamic leaders in the competitive 21st century. Our public high school students enjoy a small school education with big school sports and accredited community college classes. Enroll today.