This qualitative and multi-modal study examined the educational needs of refugee students in New York City schools, how schools were meeting those needs, and what school institutional factors best facilitated students’ academic achievement? Youth participants engaged in participatory visual methods, through which they took pictures of people and/or places they felt helped them be successful in school. The images that resulted from the participatory visual methods approach were also used to guide a deeper discussion about educational needs during focus group discussions. The study found that refugees were generally grouped together with other immigrants, with insufficient attention to their unique experiences and needs, which resulted in inadequate services.