Agencies and personnel working with refugees increasingly view schools as a central pillar for providing vital services that assist refugees in their survival and rehabilitation. The schooling of refugees has often been suddenly and violently curtailed by the onset of the emergency situations from which the refugees have fled. Experiences of war and flight deeply affect the psychological well-being of refugee youths. When refugees are resettled away from the refugee camps in neighboring countries, they are often expected, even legally obliged in many countries, to enroll in schools in which they may find themselves at an academic, social, and emotional disadvantage. This article explores the gap between what schools can do and what refugees may need from schools by examining the experiences of a group of Bosnian young women refugees in New York City schools. The analysis explores how the refugees constructed their identities and social relations in an attempt to have schooling meet their psychological needs. In this article, the author presents data from both sets of participant groups, but emphasis is placed on understanding the perceptions and experiences of schooling from the perspectives of the core participant group. (Contains 6 footnotes.)