JUNE 2010 UPDATE: Elisa Aragon, a graduate of the Leadership Academy and long time educator with a background in alternative education, became principal shortly after the Quest to Learn opened in September 2009, replacing Aaron Schwartz. In Septermber 2010, Quest will move to the Bayard Rustin Education Complex, 351 W. 18th Street, where it will share quarters with six other schools. Principals of the schools meet regularly to work out sharing details, Aragon said.

Quest to Learn will grow by one grade per year until it serves grades 6-12. Aragon says that although the school is based on gaming, technology is employed only when appropriate. The interdisciplinary curriculum is divided into domains: Code Worlds (math and English); The Way Things Work (math and science); Being Space and Place (social studies and English); and Wellness (social emotional learning and health and physical education). At Homebase, students meet to start the day and reflect at the end of the day. Students stay with the same homebase advisor until they graduate.

Aragon stressed the strong partnership with Institute of Play, which designs the curriculum. Katie Salen, Executive Director of Institute of Play and a MacArthur Fellow who teaches at New School University, is the school's executive director of design. Aragon's title is executive director of school. (Judy Baum, June 2010)

MARCH , 2009 REVIEW: Quest to Learn, a new 6-12 grade school, will open in September 2009 with 81 sixth graders. The school is focused on design and innovation, and students will learn by using new technology. Lessons will be structured like games, and students will use computer programs and in-class simulation to understand material. According to the principal, Aaron Schwartz, students will work on "21st Century literacy, which is becoming increasingly key for success in both career and college."

The school's founding partner, The Institute of Play, will work with teachers to create "game-like environments" in the classroom. Sometimes the learning will incorporate computer games like Civilization, a popular strategy game that allows players to create empires, and other times, students will act out scenarios in person. For instance, when studying early American history, students will pretend to be the founding fathers and will have to write their own versions of the Constitution, Schwartz said.

The curriculum is interdisciplinary. In a class called "Code Worlds," which is a hybrid of math and English Language Arts, students will study text, grammar patterns, and even foreign language. In another class, called "The Way Things Work," students will work on math and science skills by creating models and taking them apart, according to the principal. Even physical education will be an integrated program, combining health, nutrition, advisory counseling, and classes like Yoga and Tai Chi.

Schwartz has worked in the New York City public school system for almost a decade, and he previously helped found Archimedes Academy for Math, Science and Technology Applications in the South Bronx. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as a chef and restaurateur for 15 years.

Admissions: Open to District 2 families who have expressed an interest in the school. (Lindsey Whitton Christ, March 2009, telephone interview)

In the fall of 2010, Quest to Learn will re-locate to the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex, according to Chelsea Now in an article which details the pros and the cons of the move and the mixed reaction that the school is getting from others already housed in the building.