FAQs
Where is the school located?
Quest to Learn is currently located at 351 W. 18th Street, in the Humanities Educational Complex.
What grade levels does Quest to Learn serve?
Quest, now in its second year, has a 6th, 7th and 8th grade class. A grade will be added each year so that the school will eventually serve 6th through 12th grades.
What motivated the founding of Quest to Learn?
The students of today will soon be the scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs, writers, designers, and leaders of tomorrow. The goal of Quest to Learn is to educate children for college and career success in the 21st century. In a world that is increasingly networked, collaborative, global, and systems oriented the ability to resource knowledge, judge the credibility of information, and collaborate across disciplines are necessary literacies. While Quest to Learn leverages educational technologies and digital media, the strength of our model is our focus on 21st century learning creating authentic assessment, increasing student engagement, and equipping students with strategies to become life-long learners.
The key partners supporting Quest are:
The Institute of Play
The Gates Foundation
The John D. Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The New School University.
The school is part of an ongoing collaboration between Institute of Play and New Visions for Public Schools, and the Department of Education of New York City.
What kinds of students are a good fit for the school?
Quest’s program is predicated on collaborative education in the classroom. Therefore, students who are eager to participate in group problem solving and multi-modal learning are a good fit for Quest. The innovative, integrated curriculum utilizes 21st-century digital media incorporating games, animation, and other platforms into classroom instruction. The curriculum is based on New York state standards. The Quest curriculum entails an innovative application of those standards; families who understand the innovative and immersive nature of this curriculum become strong supporters of their child within the Q2L learning community. Curriculum developers and Q2L’s teachers have designed class work that is particularly suited to children who are creative, imaginative, and resourceful learners.
How does this selection process fit in with other District 2 choice schools?
Unlike the charter schools, Quest, along with all District 2 choice schools, uses its own selection criteria in creating the list of students we believe will be the best students to comprise our student body. Each school submits its list to the Department of Education, which then creates a randomly generated list of students for school assignments. Some schools require test scores, some a writing sample, some a math test, some an audition in order to create their list of students. At Quest, Informed Choice means that students and families must demonstrate an understanding of Quest’s unique curriculum and that they have actively chosen Quest as the right school for their child. At Quest, we believe that this will create an effective learning environment and best facilitate implementation of the curriculum.
What is your class size?
Quest is committed to small class size. Domain classes average 25 students. Home Base groupings average 10-12 students in order to ensure that each student’s needs are closely monitored by faculty. Trimester projects are also conducted in these smaller Home Base groupings.
What is the sequence from middle school to high school at Quest?
The integrated curriculum from sixth through twelfth grade follows a particular sequencing. Students attending Quest middle school will have priority admission to the high school. However, attendance at Quest middle school will prepare students equally well for attendance at the other citywide high schools.
Are there internships at Quest?
Internships begin in the 8th grade and continue through high school.
What is an integrated curriculum and what are domains?
At Quest students learn standards-based content within classes that we call domains. These domains organize disciplinary knowledge in 21st certain ways– around big ideas that require expertise in two or more traditional subjects, like math and science, or ELA and social studies. One of our domains – The Way Things Work – is an integrated math and science class organized around ideas form design and engineering: taking systems apart and putting them back together again. Another domain – Codeworlds– is an integrated ELA, math, and computer programming class organized around the big idea of symbolic systems, language, syntax, and grammar. A third domain – Being, Space and Place – an integrated ELA and social studies class – is organized around the big idea of the individual and their relationship to community and networks of knowledge, across time and space. Wellness is the last of our integrated domains, a class that combines the study of health, socio-emotional issues, nutrition, movement, organizational strategies, and communication skills.
What is game-based learning?
At Quest we believe that kids learn best when curricular content is presented in an inquiry-based format that contextualizes learning, promotes real world problem solving and creativity. We do this by creating immersive game-like learning environments. At Q2L, students learn by “taking on” the behaviors and practices of the people in real life knowledge domains. Students learn to be biologist and historians and mathematicians instead of learning about biology or history or math. By using the structure of games, Quest to Learn creates powerful educational tools to teach it 6th-12th graders. Games work as rule-based learning systems, creating worlds in which players actively participate, use strategic thinking to make choices, solve complex problems, seek content knowledge, receive constant feedback and consider the point of view of others. It is important to note that Quest is not a school where children spend their day playing only commercial video games. Instead is a school that uses what researchers and educators know about how children learn and the principles of game design to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences in the classroom.
I like the digital media focus but wonder: will my child be in front of a screen all day?
No. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Our wellness philosophy influences how we think about where and how kids are learning. This means we have given a lot of thought to what students are doing both with their minds and bodies during the school day. At Quest, we believe many kids learn in physical, tactile, and visual ways, through moving their body, touching physical materials, and interacting with the kinds of spaces around the school. Our use of mobile phones is in part intended to “get kids moving;” so too is the use of one of our learning labs (SMALLab) that allow kids to use their bodies to interact with large-scale digital projections on a floor mat.
Will my kids be safe going to on-line sites?
A core mission at Quest is to teach children to navigate the Internet safely and responsibly. Quest has a rigorous policy for both teachers and students around the etiquette of online activity. All students will sign an Internet contract, which outlines dos and don’ts of working online. We believe in media sanity, not censorship. And since we can’t always cover our kids eyes, we have to teach them how to see. Part of our curriculum has been designed to help your kids stay Internet safe and smart.
How will my child’s Internet activity be monitored?
Quest’s media literacy curriculum equips students with an understanding of how to be safe and smart on the Internet. We hold high expectations for all students in this area, as we believe learning how to self-monitor choices made around media, is critical. In addition, all of our teachers have been trained in working with and monitoring student online activity.
What is Wellness?
Wellness is both a class and a philosophy at Quest. Throughout the curriculum and during the school day students gain practice in ways of understanding and managing their own health and wellness. Home Base, our daily small group advisory period that bookends the day, is part of our Wellness program, as is Morning Meeting, a time when all members of the school get together and talk about issues affecting the school. In addition, PE, health, and nutrition are part of the Wellness curriculum.
Do you have academic services for children with special needs?
Quest to Learn offers CTT and SETSS services for for students with IEPs. We have a strong Instructional Strategy Team, comprised of three highly qualified Special Educators. After-school academic support is also available, based on teacher recommendation or by teacher request.
What afterschool programs are available?
Quest offers afterschool sports teams, Wednesday “Kick-off!” Soccer , a design and digital media enrichment program, Chess Club, art workshops, MATH POWER!, for students who are struggling, POWER UP! for students who need to “stretch” their math abilities, and Mathematical Olympiad, a competitive math challenge for student who excel at math, as well as test prep.
What kind of homework will my child get? How much will they have?
Students are expected to learn and work outside of the traditional school day. While the amount of homework varies from class to class, we have designed a homework website specifically for Quest, which allows students and parents access to all schools assignments and materials, including homework. This allows students to organize long-term workloads. At Quest, we believe that middle school is the time to develop capacities, such as organizational skills, which are crucial for higher education and the workplace.
What foreign language do you offer at Quest?
Quest offers an especially engaging language instruction program. Unlike most middle schools, Quest offers a choice of 5 languages: Spanish, French, Mandarin, Latin, and German. Quest is fortunate to be able to offer language training tailored to each student’s academic and cultural interests.
