ASPIRA Raúl Arnaldo Martinez Charter School (''formerly ASPIRA Youth Leadership Charter School'') is a charter school in

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University. Originally the "Town of A ...

for grade levels six through eight. The school opened in 1999."CHARTER SCHOOL OPENS WITH PROMISE OF SMALLER CLASSES," Miami Herald, August 29, 1999.

History

Its original facilities were built in 1998, and ASPIRA opened in 1999. "ASPIRA" is Spanish for "aspire," and most of the school's students are Latino. An official dedication ceremony held in March, 2000, featured Puerto-Rican-born actor

Jimmy Smits Jimmy L. Smits (born July 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the legal drama ''L.A. Law'', NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the police drama ''NYPD Blue'', and Matt Santos on the political dr ...

. The ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'' and ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'' star recounted how he benefited as a child from a scholarship for Puerto Rican students and urged more positive portrayals of Latinos in popular culture. He cut the ceremonial ribbon with a cry of "Viva la educación!""Miami Charter School Earns A Star (Jimmy Smits) For Its Ceremonial Dedication," Carol Rosenberg, ''The Miami Herald,'' March 16, 2000.

Name changing

To honour the memory of the former President of ASPIRA of Florida, Raúl Martinez, the school name was officially changed by the governing board to ASPIRA Raúl Arnaldo Martinez Charter School.

References

Public middle schools in Florida Miami-Dade County Public Schools North Miami, Florida Educational institutions established in 1998 Charter schools in Florida 1998 establishments in Florida {{Florida-school-stub