SAS Quest Program
Program Overview
The SAS Quest program is a full-day, year-long program for juniors and seniors that inspires a community of learners to pursue their passions through authentic personalized learning experiences and rigorous, yet meaningful academic work.
It accomplishes this through an interdisciplinary approach, and experiential learning while leveraging a flexible schedule. Quest is an incredible opportunity to enhance student learning in a very personalized way as it allows learning to be tailored to students' passions and talents.
Quest students gain real-world experience as they work with off-campus mentors, build their career network, and take charge of their own learning, differentiating themselves from their peers across the globe as they craft and hone their skills in preparation for university* and the world beyond high school.
There are no additional tuition fees for SAS students to participate in the Quest program; any rising junior or senior is eligible to apply for the program.
*Click here to see where Quest students are attending university and/or have graduated from
The Quest Pillars
The program has two primary purposes. The first is to support the learning of students by providing them with an innovative, high-quality educational experience that is anchored by the program’s five pillars: (1) community of learners, (2) interdisciplinary approach, (3) experiential learning, (4) flexible schedule, and (5) personalized learning.
The second purpose is to support the learning of our school and our faculty by serving as a space within which educational practices and educational resources may be developed. Quest students, alongside the Quest faculty advisors, are given the time and space to pursue passions, nurture curiosity, design and create, and safely experiment without fear of failure. Reflection and feedback are part of the Quest programmatic DNA so that the community of learners can collectively support each other’s academic and professional journey, and personal growth.
Core Elements of Quest
Community of Learners: A small community that allows for close relationships, personalized learning, and daily mentoring.
Interdisciplinary Approach: Learning experiences emphasize the application and synthesis of knowledge and the development of essential skills and dispositions from across the disciplines.
Experiential Learning: Students learn best by doing in authentic settings, so Quest provides a variety of off-campus experiential learning opportunities through field trips and the partnerships program.
Flexible Schedule: Because Quest is scheduled across one or two days, students have more control over their schedule and learn essential time management skills. The schedule and pacing are designed to empower students to take control over their learning process and develop strong time management and executive functioning skills..
Personalized Learning: Units are tailored to students’ strengths and interests. Assessments are meaningful and authentic, and encourage student choice and agency.
the quest community
Starting from the first day, students form tight bonds with their fellow Quest-mates through the Launch week orientation. Quest provides students with a safe, comfortable space to be themselves, to engage in meaningful discussions to further their critical thinking, to explore creativity, and to deepen their cultural awareness. Throughout the year, there are ample opportunities for students to work in different groups for collaboration and feedback. There is built in time for daily mentorship and support from Quest Advisors; and community members make time to celebrate occasions, share meals and music, and swap life stories together. All of this helps support the social-emotional wellbeing of learners. Many students describe the Quest community as feeling more like family and the Quest room becomes their home away from home.
Click Here to see more of the Quest Community
An Experience- Like No Other
Experiential learning is the foundational approach to learning within the Quest program. The flexibility of the daily schedule is leveraged within Quest to build in more off-campus opportunities such as: field trips; community service; partnering with outside organizations to provide practical learning opportunities to students in authentic ways; receiving mentoring from experts; attending conferences; and conducting field work. These are opportunities that are often not possible in many traditional courses due to the time constraints of the daily bell schedule.
The program provides students with both high-level core courses and the opportunity to pursue a personalized educational experience through independent work, small group collaboration, off-campus learning experiences, placement in an 11-week partnership within an organization, and a year-long student-driven study. Students in Quest cohorts take the majority of their courses together in interdisciplinary, thematic units in the purpose-built Quest room.
Click Here to learn more about experiential learning opportunities in Quest.
Through experiential learning, students safely push themselves out of their comfort zone to learn about themselves and how they respond to challenges.
The coursework provides opportunities develop fieldwork and lab skills, on and off-campus.
Students become adept at presenting to authentic audiences, ranging from persuasive elevator pitches to a 20-minute thesis talk.
Students are able to co-design projects around their interests and create portfolios of their work.
COURSE OPTIONS FOR QUEST
Quest IS a Full-Day Year-long program that meets every other day.
Quest fulfills the Catalyst graduation requirement.
The Quest COURSES and daily SCHEDULE
Click the drop-down menu to see the course options and what a typical day in Quest might look like.
Advanced Topic (AT) courses within Quest carry an additional 0.5 GPA weighting, per AT course.
Quest allows students to be part of either an A-Day cohort or a B-Day cohort. Students would still be able to take up to three additional SAS classes along with the Quest coursework. For example, a student in the A-Day cohort would receive credit for four Quest courses and would have their B Day free to take up to three classes outside of Quest. The One-Day option of Quest serves as an enhancement to the standard High School SAS courses.
The Quest program is open to interested juniors and seniors. Students will take four courses within Quest. In 2023-24, Quest students will be a part of either an A-Day cohort or a B-Day cohort. For example, a student in the A-Day cohort would receive credit for four Quest courses all taken on their A-Day and would have their B-Day free to take up to three classes outside of Quest. Quest students will earn four credits by engaging with interdisciplinary projects and institutional partnerships (similar to unpaid internships) personalized to their interests. SAS will send a traditional transcript to college admissions officials reflecting the rigor of the Quest program.
To learn more about each of the Quest courses and syllabus, please visit the Quest Courses page.
