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DREAM Charter High School Class of 2022

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Our History

DREAM’s humble founding story starts in 1991 on a scrappy East Harlem sandlot baseball field located on what was once called the “the worst block in New York”. Harlem RBI (now DREAM) was born out of volunteers turning that lot into a baseball diamond, a Field of Dreams, for the neighborhood and its kids.


We taught kids how to be good teammates, how to lead and how to follow, how to win and lose, how to sacrifice for the team, and how to build resilience and grit. We brought our kids into classrooms during after-school and summer hours, and we worked on summer learning loss, high school graduation, and college matriculation. There was growth and meaningful impact. But it wasn’t enough.

In 2008, we opened DREAM Charter School to further mitigate the reality of failing schools in our community. Through the next decade, we built a school culture focused on high rigor, inclusion, and family support.


Today, serving over 2,500 boys and girls each year from ages 5-22, we have built upon the simple concept of summertime baseball to implement an effective, scaffolded out-of-school (OST) program and DREAM Charter Schools. We find ourselves in a unique position. By combining all we’ve learned from our community-based youth development practices and school experience, we’ve created a new model to tackle the cycle of inequity.


This model is defined by what we’ve come to recognize as our non-negotiables: rigorous academics, social-emotional learning, deep family and community engagement, and commitment to health and wellness. We believe that this is not just a model for DREAM, but a vision for communities everywhere. This is what it takes to elevate and empower vulnerable children and communities everything. This is what it takes to level the playing field so kids can recognize their potential and realize their dreams everywhere.