History

The Rafael Hernández Dual Language (RHDL) Magnet School opened its doors August 1999 in borderline of the South Bronx, east side of High Bridge-Morrisania neighborhoods.

The school sits at the southern tip of the old Morrisania Hospital’s powerhouse, laundry room and cylindrical colorful brick chimney which was demolished and converted into a parking lot on the corner of 167th Street and Gerard Avenue in the 1990’s. The old Morrisania Hospital opened its doors in the 1920’s to serve second-generation immigrants of Jewish, German, Irish and Italian descent until the 1970s.

After Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. Citizenship in 1917, they were free to travel to the U.S. mainland. With the invention of air travel in the 1930’s, many landed in New York City looking for a better future for their families. Puerto Rican’s population grew in the Bronx between the years 1950’s and 1970’s to be the largest Latinos ethnic group. In the 1990’s Puerto Ricans families demanded that there should a community school in the Bronx where their children and those of other ethnic groups can learn Spanish and newly arrived children, can learn English. Bronx politicians along with the Board of Education found just the right place: the old iconic Morrisania hospital’s land on the corner of 167th Street and Gerard Avenue. On May 29th, 1997, the ground was broken to start building the Bronx’ first Dual Language Magnet School.

The genesis of the Rafael Hernández Dual Language School was parents, community leaders, Woman Housing and Economic Development Corporation ( WHEDCo), and Bronx politicians who demanded more educational options for students of the Bronx. In 1996, community leaders approached the Board of Education and petitioned to create a magnet dual language school for students of Highbridge, Morrisania and the Bronx who wanted their children to be educated in two languages. What followed was a three-year exploration into where to build the school, what will its mission and vision be, and who will be its students’ population. The result was Rafael Hernández Dual Language Magnet School within District 09 Public School District, a Kindergarten to eighth grade preparatory school that provides a diverse body of scholars with the academic, character, and college and career readiness skills needed to become responsible and engaged biliteral citizens for a global community. The Rafael Hernández Dual Language School provides a nurturing and loving environment that promotes strong student-teacher relationships, requires rigor in its dual language curriculum, demands high expectations, and is relevant, connecting student learning to real-world experiences in two languages.

The significant demand for our Dual Language Program grew every year as grades were added, especially when the magnet status was not renewed in 2004. Post 2004, the school was zoned, and students subsequently admitted by Department of Education’s admissions policies. Elementary grades are zoned, and middle school grades followed a screened program for Dual Language. All our students move from Elementary to Middle school automatically. RHDL school prides itself in admitting students from all socioeconomic status, academic history, ethnic background, and language spoken to ensure equal access to all students.

Rafael Hernández Dual Language School has graduated thousands of students in its twenty-year history. Many of its students have attended the best high schools in the city, i.e., Bronx High School for Science, Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, Manhattan Village, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, Bard High School, La Guardia, Brooklyn Latin, Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, Catholic High schools, Charter Schools and out-of-state high schools through the A Better Chance prep program (ABC program). After twenty years of successful academic achievement in two languages, RHDLS continues to serve students from the Bronx.
Morrisania, Bronx New York, Circa 1790’s

167th Street and Gerard Avenue Morrisania, Bronx New York, 1901