Samara Community School

Samara Community is a happy, growing, and improving school that offers dual-language instruction in English and Spanish. Children in all grades learn in each language on alternating days, and through exploration, including field trips, gardening, and hands-on investigations.

Instruction is built around big themes. In kindergarten, children learn about pollinators like bees and butterflies. First graders study river pollution. Second graders study bridges and design their own. Third graders explore culture and identity, and create food carts that reflect family traditions. Fourth graders visit museums and study history, including the Underground Railroad. Fifth graders take part in participatory budgeting, where they help decide how school funds are used. Each year ends with children creating an informational exhibit that they share with parents and others in a “museum.”

The school sets high expectations for students. Support for reading starts early, including help during the school day and tutoring before and after school. Students use computer-based programs at home to practice reading and math, which helps prepare them for class lessons. Teachers have regular conversations with each student and their parents. This allows them to tailor support according to each student’s needs

Samara Community serves a diverse multilingual community, including many students from Ecuador as well as families from Venezuela, Colombia, and other countries. Instruction is planned with this in mind. Early literacy includes structured phonics. Staff also use training from the Windward School, known for teaching reading and writing to students who need extra help.

A partnership with Lehman College brings in many student teachers, some of whom are later hired. Teachers rarely leave so students have consistent instruction year to year.

Students enjoy special trips and experiences. They explore their Bronx neighborhood, visiting nearby parks and the Bronx River to look at plants, water, and wildlife. Pre-K students go into the wooded areas of the New York Botanical Garden about once a month, where they dig, build, and explore in all seasons and weather. Other grades visit the Garden about 4 to 5 times a year.

First graders release trout they raise in class into the Cross River at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in the NYC watershed. Fourth graders go camping, and fifth graders travel to Washington, D.C.

In addition to music instruction students swim at a nearby community center and learn capoeira, which combines music and movement. After school they may participate in chess, running, soccer or tennis.

The school is in its own modern building designed with small common spaces. Instead of a full gymnasium, it has a small indoor exercise room, a 4th floor playground, and an auditorium space that functions as a space for physical activity, as well as events.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: There is team-teaching in every grade, where general education and special education teachers work together in the same classrooms. The school also has Nest classes in grades K to 2, to support students with an autism spectrum disorder.

ADMISSIONS: This school is not zoned. It prioritizes children who live in District 12 or have siblings at the school. It attracts children from throughout the Bronx. Many families choose the school for its dual language program. Some students are offered seats from the waitlist each year. (Lydie Raschka, interviews and official reports, May 2026)