Helen I. Smith Elementary School

I think the teachers don't get too involved in helping kids with some learning desabilities... changing to many classes, waiste lots of time walking from class to class. Need for the teachers to communicate more with parents, specially if they are in resource. need more updates... New principal I don't know yet... but this school is going down from many years ago... other schools in town are much better. need to improve on books and teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

Some of the teachers at Smith School are excellent and make a difference, Krantz specifically, but like everywhere, if your child gets a 'bad' teacher they float along maintaining the status quo. I dont think the Saddle Brook schools (elementary and especially upper grades) are above par but they are about the same as most towns around us based on friends opinions who have children in them. If your child is a smart child and above average then they will do well but if not dont expect these teachers to motivate those that arent. One last thing, the TAG (Taleted and Gifted) program is a joke - not worth the children's time and def not worth missing im portant classes for. I agree the Principal is a joke.
--Submitted by a parent

I had a boy in kindergarten and I thought he was doing fine. Then we moved to Connecticut and he was so behind that we had to get an extra tutor to get him up to speed. My daughter (who is now in kindergarten) has learned more in a month than he did all year.
--Submitted by a parent

Principal is horrible!!!! Teachers are lazy. The curriculum is sub-par; definitely not challenging. They dumb down the tests so the children all look brillaint. Many children in 5th grade still can't do basic addition yet they have A's in Math on the report card. Figure that out. There is a ridiculous use of current events in 4th grade and then it dies off to never be seen again by older grades. Long and Franklin schools are 1000% better but so are their leaders.
--Submitted by a parent

Too many students in one class. Needs to go down to 17 or 18 students per teacher. an aide could also take the place of lowering the amount of students in class.
--Submitted by a parent

The quality of the academics in Saddle Brook Schools, specifically Helen I Smith is pretty good. Like anywhere else, there are issues with some of the staff. The Special Needs program has has excellent staff involved in the program. One of the teacher, Wiatrak is incredible in getting through to children. The principle is another story however. It is still possible to do well in the school. The problems occur after grammer school however. It seems to me that you can't stay passed grade 4. Just hang out by the high school at 3:00pm and you'll get a feel for what's to come.
--Submitted by a parent