Queens School of Inquiry, The

Queens School of Inquiry (QSI) offers students in grades 6 - 12 challenging academics and lots of support. The school is designed as an early college program, which starts in earnest in the high school and culminates with 11th- and 12th-graders attending classes part-time at Queens College. Motivated students can amass up to two years worth of college credits by graduation.

The school was designed around two ideas: inclusion and college culture. A majority of the classes are co-taught by a subject teacher as well as one certified in special education. High school students sit in the hallways chatting and doing work before their classes on the college campus and at QSI; they take seminars co-taught with guidance counselors on topics such as health and wellness. Middle school students take a weeklong immersion course at Queens College to give them some exposure to the college experience.

Writing, research and projects are emphasized. Eighth-graders take Regents Algebra and Living Environment, which puts them on track to tackle college level math and science before graduating from high school. Older students enjoy the independence that comes with taking courses at Queens College.

QSI uses a “mastery” approach to instruction. Teachers focus on student’s progress in specific skills rather than overall performance on an assignment or exam. For instance, feedback on a student’s research paper is broken down into a skillsets such as the steps taken to build their analysis, the quality of their writing and understanding of the content. Rather than a letter or numeric grades, students are told whether for each skill they are performing above, at, approaching or below the standards level.

Students learn Spanish and take visual arts and drama, depending on the grades.

One downside: limited extra-curricular activities. For middle school students, there are lunch clubs and some after-school options. High school students can join sports teams, contribute to the literary magazine and participate in clubs.

QSI shares a building with the Robert F. Kennedy Community Middle School and PS Q255, a District 75 program for autistic children.

Meredith Inbal became principal in 2010 after QSI’s founding principal, Elizabeth Ophals retired. Inbal taught 6th grade at the school and was a member of its founding faculty.

The school has a full-time college advisor. Rising seniors have the opportunity to travel abroad to European cities such as Paris, Barcelona, London, Florence and Rome as part of study-abroad program in partnership with Queens College. During their time abroad, students attend classes at a local university in the morning and then spend the afternoon on organized excursions.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: The school has self-contained and ICT (Integrated Collaborative Teaching) classes. This school also hosts an ASD Nest Program for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASDs). Students with ASD learn in a classroom alongside general education students, taught by two teachers who have been trained in the program’s specialized curriculum and teaching strategies.

ADMISSIONS: For middle school, priority to students zoned for the Robert F. Kennedy Community Middle School and then to other District 25 students. For high school, priority is given to continuing 8th-graders and then to Queens students and residents. High school admissions is based on a review of students’ grades, test scores and records of attendance and lateness. Most QSI 8th-graders stay for high school. (Laura Zingmond, web reports, November 2018)