Original Research by School Decision on Dr Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School
DR RICHARD IZQUIERDO HEALTH AND SCIENCE CHARTER SCHOOL is a sixth-through-twelfth-grade charter school district serving students in Bronx County. The enrollment is small and stable across grades, with a substantial majority of students identifying as Hispanic, a significant share as Black, and very small shares of other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The school does not report state assessment proficiency data or graduation rates in the available record, so a prospective family cannot see how students perform on state tests or how many complete high school successfully. This absence of testing data is unusual and worth asking the school about directly. The school may have data it can share, or there may be reporting gaps on the state side. Either way, a parent evaluating whether this is an academically strong fit for their child should request current performance information from the school itself before deciding.
What is visible is chronic absenteeism, which sits in the bottom quartile among Bronx County's other districts. This suggests a meaningful attendance challenge. Chronic absenteeism can reflect barriers to getting to school, instability at home, student disengagement, transportation constraints, or a combination of these. For a charter school whose mission centers on health and science, understanding why attendance patterns lag and what the school is doing to address them would be reasonable questions for a parent to raise.
Per-pupil spending sits in the middle range on the lower side for the county. The school's operational budget is lean compared to some district neighbors but not the leanest.
Two elements of the school's recent history matter for continuity. In 2022, the charter was renewed for a full five-year term through June 2027, which is the strongest renewal category the authorizer awards. This signals the New York State Education Department found the school educationally and fiscally sound and likely to improve student achievement, offering operational stability for a child enrolling now. However, during the 2021-2022 year the school was cited for serving students at a private site without New York City Department of Education approval and without a valid Certificate of Occupancy. The school adopted a corrective action plan to resolve this, and the issue was resolved as part of the renewal process. For a family considering this school, it reflects the kind of operational friction that can arise in charter settings and is worth being aware of, though it has been addressed.
The school's mission is grounded in health and science. Beyond that, the available data does not detail the academic programs, course offerings, career pathways, or the balance between the sixth-through-eighth and ninth-through-twelfth grade experiences. A parent exploring this school would benefit from visiting, reviewing the current course catalog, and understanding how the health and science focus shapes day-to-day learning.
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