Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School

ELA proficiency of 35.6% is below the District 12 average of about 44.6%, and math proficiency of 16.6% is dramatically lower than the district average of roughly 43.3% — students here are not closing gaps at anywhere near the rate of their peers. Science proficiency sits at 34.3%. The historical pattern is striking: math proficiency hit 53% in 2019 and has since fallen back to the mid-teens, while ELA has bounced between 21% and 40% without a sustained upward trend. By grade, 8th graders post a respectable 40.9% in ELA but only 14.3% in math, suggesting the gap is structural rather than grade-specific. The overall trajectory over the past five years is clearly downward, especially in math.

This is where the school's story flips. Despite weak test scores, parent satisfaction is 94% — above the district average of about 91.8% — and parent-teacher trust sits at 95%, with parent-principal trust at 93%. Teachers rate the quality of instruction at 96% and trust in their principal at 93%, both well above district norms. The day-to-day feel, based on survey data, is one of warm relationships and engaged staff. But attendance is a real headwind: 88.1% average attendance and a 51.4% chronic absenteeism rate mean more than half of students miss enough school to be flagged as chronically absent — a factor that almost certainly pulls down the academic numbers.

The student body is 77% Hispanic, 20% Black, and 2% White, with 19% of students classified as IEP and an economic need index of 90 — placing it among the higher-need schools in the city. The diversity index of 37% reflects the heavy concentration of those two main groups. The school closely mirrors the surrounding Longwood community, where the median household income is $36,558, the poverty rate is 33.2%, and homeownership sits at just 12.7%. It is, in essence, a neighborhood school in the demographic sense — serving the families that live around it.

Longwood is a densely settled South Bronx neighborhood where most residents rent, the median household income is $36,558, and roughly one in three households lives below the poverty line. Just 15.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree, and only 14.3% of households include children — meaning many families sending kids to this school are doing so against the demographic grain of the area. The neighborhood is well-served by the 2/5 subway line.

Three 2/5 stations are within walking distance: Intervale Av (about 8 minutes), Simpson St (about 9 minutes), and Prospect Av (about 11 minutes).