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Our Insights

What’s Special

Game-like lessons (middle school); paid internships

The Downside

Declining enrollment

Quest to Learn is a small school for grades 6–12 that emphasizes hands-on projects and group work over traditional lectures. Founded on game-based learning, it aims to build skills through play and real-world challenges. The middle school stays closest to this original mission, while the upper grades resemble a more typical NYC high school. 

In middle school, students take a class called Sports for the Mind, where they devise math games, Minecraft projects, and other game designs. For example, they may build a simple Tic Tac Toe game, redesign it in 3D, and change the rules to make it more complex. This work is supported by a STEM lab with tools like 3D printers and design software.

Students also join weeklong “Boss Level” projects twice a year. In one, they design a Rube Goldberg machine with several moving parts and present it to a panel of teachers, parents, and alumni. 

Students come with a wide range of reading abilities. Teachers use research-backed programs like Wilson to build phonics, decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills. Younger students do about 20 minutes of reading each night. Writing takes place mostly in class to ensure it is the students’ own work. Sixth-graders read shorter texts in class and full books they choose, while seventh-graders read full novels, memoirs, plays, short stories, and news articles. In the spring, students focus on research projects. 

Manhattan Youth provides tutoring, table tennis, and clubs, including two musical productions a year, such as Aladdin Jr. and Willy Wonka. 

About 40 percent of Quest’s middle school students continue on to the high school. In 8th and 9th grade, students move into more challenging coursework and begin exploring college and career options. They write a resume, conduct research, and take part in extracurricular activities.

In high school, Quest to Learn follows a more traditional instructional approach, though classes still include projects. For example, in Algebra students design a food truck, price items, and simulate running a small business in the cafeteria. In Algebra II/Trigonometry, a mix of 10th- and 11th-graders work in pairs to record a basketball free throw, trace the arc of the shot, and use math to suggest ways to improve it. 

English classes focus on discussion, including small-group Socratic Seminars where students take turns presenting and observing.

There are paid internships in school, such as tutoring, mediation, and running the school store. Through a partnership with The High Line, select students explore arts and media production through internships. Some learn to sail through Hudson River Community Sailing.

The school has struggled with enrollment and attendance, particularly in middle school, which now has smaller classes. High school enrollment has remained more stable. 

Quest to Learn is working to improve attendance by talking to families, and through an incentive program where students earn “Quest Bucks” for showing up and meeting expectations. The school also supports their growing multilingual learners population through more consistent routines,  performance-based tasks that boost language skills, and family events.

The school is located in a wing of the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex, a building shared with several small high schools. An on-site Mount Sinai Health clinic provides students with free physicals, vaccines, mental health support, and other services.

Quest to Learn’s middle school is mostly on its own floor, with its own entrance, and all schools in the building stagger lunch and dismissal times. (Lydie Raschka, official reports and interview, January 2026)

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School Stats

Citywide Average Key
This school is Better Near Worse than the citywide average

Is this school safe and well-run?

From the 2024-2025 NYC School Survey

How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
78%
82% Citywide Average
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
48%
53% Citywide Average
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
69%
84% Citywide Average
How many teachers say they would recommend this school to other families?
81%
82% Citywide Average

From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card

How many students were suspended?
1%
4% Citywide Average

From this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Are teachers effective?

From the 2023-24 School Quality Report

How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
82%
78% Citywide Average
Years of principal experience at this school
2.9

How do students perform academically?

From the New York State 2023-2024 Assessment Database

How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
36%
50% Citywide Average
How many middle school students scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
45%
50% Citywide Average

From the 2023-24 School Quality Guide

How many 8th-graders earn high school credit?
49%
49% Citywide Average
How many students graduate in 4 years?
75%
90% Citywide Average

Who does this school serve?

From the 2024-25 Demographic Snapshot

Enrollment
376
Asian
7%
Black
21%
Hispanic
52%
White
15%
Other
4%
Free or reduced priced lunch
76%
Students with disabilities
33%
English language learners
20%

From the 2023-24 School Quality Guide

Average daily attendance
79%
88% Citywide Average
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
59%
39% Citywide Average

How does this school serve special populations?

From the 2023-24 School Quality Report

How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
63%
84% Citywide Average

From the New York State 2023-2024 Assessment Database

How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
7%
19% Citywide Average
How many students with disabilities scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
19%
19% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state math exam?
0%
8% Citywide Average
How many English language learners scored 3-4 on the state reading exam?
0%
3% Citywide Average
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2024 High School Directory

Quest to Learn Upper School (A25A)

Admissions Method: Ed. Opt.

Offerings

From the 2024 High School Directory

Language Courses

Spanish

Advanced Courses

Algebra II (Advanced Math), AP Biology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Studio Art - 2D, AP Studio Art - Drawing, AP United States History, Calculus (Advanced Math), Chemistry (Advanced Science), World Languages (Advanced World Languages)

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Soccer, Volleyball, Wrestling

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Bowling, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball

Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

351 West 18 Street
Manhattan NY 10011


Contact

Principal: Marina Galazidis

Parent Coordinator: Beaura Ringrose

Phone: 212-488-3645

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares the Bayard Rustin Educational Campus with five other schools

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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