Smith Elementary

I have been very impressed with the magnet program a and the administration!

Smith has been a wonderful school for our son who has attended for last two years. Great teachers and an excellent principal. We have really enjoyed the school and our son has learned a lot. Our experience with Smith has been 100 positive.

This is our second year at Smith. My son is currently a 1st grader. I had a lot of initial concerns regarding test scores and reviews I read, but we've been very pleasantly surprised with how much we love it! My son is off the charts in phonics and doing so well with reading and math. He’s made a good little group of friends too. He has had 2 fantastic teachers. I think Smith is in the middle of a really great transition. The Spanish and Chinese programs are wonderful. And I love his other Specials teachers too (Music especially). We've been very happy for the past 2 years. They run a tight ship and all the teachers we've met/interacted with are great. The principal is also really involved and responsive. His kindergarten teacher had a Master's degree (plus 3 boys of her own so she was perfect for our son). I think the biggest thing you might notice is that it's a Title 1 school, meaning a significant number of the students are low income and are on free/reduced lunch. The kids and families I’ve met are amazing. They serve free breakfast for everyone so it's really cute when they all walk down and get breakfast and bring it back to their class and eat and chat together. Parents seem to really care and show up at events with their entire family. But yes, it's diverse (both racially and socioeconomically), but my husband and I love that. There are a bunch of kids in our neighborhood who go too. I wish more parents would give it a chance as oppose to going the magnet/transfer route. When comparing it to other magnet schools, it seems consistent. They just lack the PTA funding to do a lot of the "extras" which I'm hoping the more middle class families that get involved can improve that. My son rides the bus there and home and that's been great for us as well. I would encourage families to tour and give it a chance. Another really cool thing is that it's a Spanish magnet school with a good number of native speakers. My son overheard a dad talking in Spanish to his son at Heritage Night and knew exactly what he was saying. They also have something called a "hive" (their mascot is the Smith Bee) where they put them in groups with all grade levels - it's like their little school family, which my son loves because it helps them develop relationships/friendships with some of the older kids. Looking forward to 4 more years!