Manhattan Bridges High School

Manhattan Bridges is a small high school located in Hell’s Kitchen that caters to immigrants recently arrived from Spanish-speaking countries. The school is committed to assisting students in maintaining the richness of their native language while teaching English so as to best equip them to navigate our current multicultural world. For example, the Repertorio Español theater class teaches Latin American and Spanish cultural themes so students may learn about their cultural identity.

Opened in September 2003, the school has consistently received top marks from the Department of Education for its success in taking in students who may not be well prepared for high school and graduating them on time. The school fosters a strong college-readiness culture and teachers are committed to helping students achieve at high levels. It is a regular diploma-granting school serving grades 9 to 12, not a transfer school for older students.

There are many extracurricular options available for students, with clubs ranging from yoga and dance to chess and robotics. There are soccer and baseball teams for boys and volleyball for girls.

After-school career exploration programs are offered in areas such as engineering, law enforcement, business, law and architecture. The school has a job-shadowing program and field trips to organizations such as American Express, ESPN and NBC to bolster career development, according to the yearly education plan. All 12th-grade students are paired with an online mentor and are placed in weekly advisory groups to learn about the college process and receive comprehensive career advice.

In 2009, Manhattan Bridges established the Academies of Engineering and Information Technology. At the end of their high school career, students may graduate with industry certifications, which are confirmations of competency in a given field and can be helpful when students are applying for jobs.

Teachers say the school is orderly and praise principal Mirza Sanchez Medina as an effective manager, according to the school’s 2015 quality report. In 2013, Mirza was recognized by the New York–based publication “Latino American Who’s Who” as a leading Latina professional.

U.S. News & World Report gave Manhattan Bridges a gold medal in 2018 for college readiness and student performance on state-mandated tests. Students take the Regents exams and regularly meet or exceed standards for Regents performance. In addition, students have high participation and pass rates for AP exams. Students also have the opportunity to participate in College Now, a partnership between CUNY and public high schools that allows high school students to receive high school or college credit for taking CUNY college classes.

Parents are supportive and engaged, as demonstrated by the high turnout rates at parent events. The parent coordinator makes sure parents are updated with important information. The school also offers English-instruction lessons for parents and has meetings in both English and Spanish. Parents are also given the opportunity to participate in citizenship workshops, technology classes and cultural trips.

Past students have gone on to attend public city and state colleges as well as private universities such as Cornell, Fordham, NYU, Barnard and Bard.

The school is housed in the Park West Educational Complex, sharing the building with a number of other small schools. Though students must pass through metal detectors, most report feeling safe in the building. All the schools in the bulding share use of the cafeteria, gym, auditorium and library.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: There are not many students with disabilities at the school. Those who do attend receive additional help from special education teachers who work with subject teachers to give students the accommodations they need. The majority of students with disabilities graduate in four years with a Regents diploma, as stated in the school’s yearly comprehensive education plan.

ADMISSIONS: Admission is limited to students who have lived in the United States for three or fewer years, whose native language is Spanish, and who currently live in New York City. Call (212) 645-5110 for information on open houses and school tours. (Isabel Corpus, DOE statistics and web reports, May 2018)