The result—Design Works High School—opened its doors in downtown Brooklyn in the fall of 2023 with a class of 90 students. The mission is for students to graduate ready for a career in urban planning, software engineering, or art, including interior design, digital design, and branding. Through these pathways, students sample different types of “world-building,” with examples such as a sustainable fashion micro-internship or passive (energy-efficient) house design and construction. 

Design Works High School is part of Imagine NYC Schools, a dynamic partnership between New York City Public Schools and XQ to design innovative, high-quality schools with equity and excellence at their core. Students, teachers, families, and community members are coming together to imagine high schools that are engaging, inclusive, and student-centered—schools that prepare all students for a wide variety of postsecondary options, and all the future has to offer. Learn more at NYC + XQ.

At Design Works, students experience meaningful, engaged learning starting in their first year. Ninth-graders ground their learning in real-world, relevant contexts by studying the politics of poverty and inequality and diving into how issues around housing and the environment impact their community. This first year provides a social-justice-oriented lens students will apply throughout their time at Design Works. Starting in their second year, students choose one of three realms, or paths in which to specialize: art equity, tech equity, or housing equity. 

Design Works teachers are specifically trained to co-design lessons with each other and the community and to center student voice in the curriculum. Three times a week, students have “design time,” during which core classes are 75 minutes rather than the usual 45, giving students more time to be creative and to engage with their work.

Staff also partner with organizations like the Brooklyn Academy of Music, BRIC Arts Media, the City University of New York, and The Center for Urban Pedagogy. Through these partnerships, students work on real problems, learn from professionals, earn college credit, and gain valuable experience and credentials. For example, students in the housing equity track work with urban planners and community-based organizations to understand housing needs. Students in the tech equity track have the opportunity to obtain an industry-standard certification.