Founded in 1994 as one of the first small, non-traditional high schools in New York City, Landmark has stayed true to its progressive roots. We are first and foremost a collaborative and diverse community of learners. Our teachers work diligently to create project-based curricula that challenge students intellectually and prepare them for college and careers. We nourish a strong sense of community and we encourage independence, mastery, and empowerment. Our students graduate ready to navigate the world and succeed in future endeavors.
As a member of the New York Consortium, we have a state waiver from the Regents examinations. Our students take only the English Regents, and must complete four rigorous Performance-Based Assessment Tasks (PBATs) in order to graduate, one in each core subject area. In history, for example, students must complete an independent historical research paper that demonstrates their ability to think critically and analyze historical evidence. In science, students must research, design, and implement an independent scientific experiment and share their findings in the style of a scientific journal article. For each PBAT, students must present and defend their work to a committee of teachers. We strongly believe that our PBAT process prepares students for college, as it focuses on strengthening students’ reading, writing, research, critical thinking, and presentation skills.
Here at Landmark, we value the building of strong relationships between students and staff. Our advisory program helps to cultivate a family-like environment in the school because every teacher serves as an advisor to approximately fifteen students. Through our advisory program, we focus on non-academic skills, including responsibility, team building, collaboration, goal-setting, and social-emotional development. Teachers advocate for and monitor the progress of their advisees, and serve as the first point of contact for their advisees’ parents.