John I. Smith Elementary School

My kids are going to JIS for a littles while now. And I have a Excellent teacher for my kinder children, she is very caring, involved and active. Now, the other teacher for my 1 st grader , OMG, the opposite. The office staff are great, principal and assist principal are very involved. So I think it is all about the teachers commitment.
--Submitted by a parent

i loved this school my son is doing great and the teachers are great too. we are really pleasant to has this school in our community.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a horrible school! The teachers don't teach. I have to spend hours after school teaching my kids what they didn't learn in school so that they can get a passing grade. The teachers just love to hand out bad grades without making the effort to show the children what they expect from them. I send notes to the teacher and she never responds. I had to speak with the AP about it.. When I asked her if the teacher would email me, she said that they can't "force" teachers to use email because people falsify emails. Imagine that! Look at what they are worried about . . This school is horrid!
--Submitted by a parent

Amazing school with wonderful dedicated teachers and a very active, involved Principal. We are very happy so far.
--Submitted by a parent

I am highly disappointed in this school. With the high ratings, I assumed my son would be receiving an acceptable education. My son came from a school where he was honor roll, straight A's.. never even had a C grade in his life! After attending this dreadful school, he was barely able to maintain a C in any subject... If I were the teacher, I might take that a bit personally... I frequently attended parent teacher conferences with little achieved from them; I even applied to be a volunteer.. I constantly asked about it, and was told I'd be sent an e-mail about it, which never happened. This school has no desire to team up with parents with a mutual goal of teaching our children, rather, they push parents out at all costs and the real victims are our kids.
--Submitted by a parent

Pro: teachers are well prepared. Curriculum is strong, particularly bilingual program. Various after school activities to pick from. Strong emphasis on academic performance. Con: front office staff is not very friendly or knowledgeable. After school teachers are too young and I'll prepared to handle young children, often yelling at them or responding inappropriately, disciplining through intimidation. Bullying tolerated and not dealt with properly by teachers. My daughter reports something to me practically on a daily basis (name calling, food stealing, chastising). Teachers are obviously not trained well to handle bullying. Landscaping needs work. Classroom chairs are broken and need replacing. Playground is unkept.
--Submitted by a parent

I totally disagree with the parent who commented that Ms. Hines is not accessible! She has made her self very much available to me on the few times that I've needed her input. And it is very usual to see her at parent pickup greeting parents and getting a feel of the flow. My only real issue is the the lack of coordination with the parent pickup and some very few teachers who dismiss their students late, which really slows down the process. That and the PE coach sometimes is too busy socializing when he should be calling students' names. The teacher at the entrance should stand further down the line which seems to expedite this process. Parents should also never be permitted to park in the middle of the road in the parking lot to walk and pick up their kids. This happens on a daily basis, especially with the older High School siblings. Just selfish behavior on the parents setting horrible examples! Michelle Rousseau
--Submitted by a parent

good School, we are going to miss it so much! good gifted program, excellent teachers and the orquestra with Ms Morejon all together gave a good elementary education to my child! we are so happy that my child attended for 6 years JIS!!
--Submitted by a parent

I am very pleased with JIS. My daughter loves her teachers of PreK and Kinder. I've seen how much she is learning. The teacher told us that the kids will be reading & writing before ending Pre-K. Well, my kid is not only reading and writing in both English & Spanish but knows how to add & subtract as well. They also learn about geography & natural science. I can only say to those parents out there looking for a great school, that this is one of those. I was thrilled when my youngest made it into the lottery with VPK and will be proudly attending JIS in 2010-2011 too. Administrative issues or landscaping are things that can be resolved. Hwver, for me, the most important part is my kids' education & safety. 5 stars to JIS for those!
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been attending JIS for 3 years and she is very happy. Nice infrastructure, landscaping outside could be much better. Ms. Hines is an excellent Principal and she loves kids. Ms. Nolan is the sweetest lady in the World and the kids love her.
--Submitted by a parent