Smith Elementary School

4209 Smith School Road

School District

Del Valle Independent
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:10
Type

public

School Map for Del Valle Independent School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on August 15, 2023

My daughter was there for two years, the academic requirement is good, they are bilingual and they attend to both languages equally, the activities at the school are adorable... The social skills of some teachers and field staff need to be worked on. But academically it seemed good to me compared to other schools in Austin that have very good scores which they do not deserve, such as Steiner Ranch and Summitt.
Submitted by parent on June 09, 2015

Even though the communication and organization for some events could have been better, I want to say I was extremely pleased with this school during the 2014-2015 school year. Ms. Karkos was an amazing teacher. She takes the time to know each student and not only works hard to develop their brains, but also works very hard to show them how to be wonderful members of a community. The LEAD program was amazing. Lots of ppl on staff who care deeply for the children. Thank you Smith Elementary!
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2014

THEY CARE and they do A lot for ALL the kids. At times they have exceeded my expectations. LOVE Smith
Submitted by parent on October 29, 2013

Everything the Post from April 14, 2013 says PLUS I am OUTRAGED to find that they issue detention to Pre-K age children for tardies. How is punishing a 3 year old by giving their parent's more free time to do whatever they want for an extra few hours constructive? Anyone?
Submitted by parent on April 14, 2013

First off the office staff is not very welcoming. The school does not make you feel welcome at all. I understand that there are security measures to follow, but not being able to walk your child to class is ridiculous, and the way they have the pick up set up is terrible. Basically all the parents wait in a small area at the front and wait for the childs name to be called to go home. This can take a while, because sometimes the teachers dont have the children in the lunch room when they are calling names already. Also the lunch monitors are extremely rude and yelll constantly at the children. There are better ways to communicate with them. The menu itself is terrible, but that is a different topic. Overall we have been happy with the teacher and academics, but not feeling welcome is sad. AISD is not the best, but at least when we volunteered or visited the schools, the staff was always friendly and encouraging. Also they are always late to send out notifications. Everything seems to be last minute for them, such as events and they do not seem organized at all.
Submitted by parent on April 11, 2013

Friendly, On top of things as best as possible, organized and has been very helpful for my child who struggles a bit. I feel that my child is safe. Is the school perfect, no. But I can tell you from switching my child from another school in Del Valle this school is WAY better then the others. REMEMBER we are in TX. GOP controls, so there is a lot of lacking of good resources to help our teachers and other staff members; especially on East side.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2013

Within the first two weeks of kinder they lost track of our child. A teacher instructed our daughter to ride the bus even though she was given a sign to wear around her neck that says parent pick up. They only allow parents three days to help walk their child to class. Most kids where crying the first week as parent were made to stand and watch their child being ushered by some school rep they've barely been introduced to. Horrible communication about upcoming events, they send notices out the day before or the day of parent involved school events. They performed, without any notice, an emergency drill in reaction to sandy hook, our daughter said she was scared that somebody had hurt us and she was confused on what was happening.
Submitted by parent on November 27, 2012

The teachers are great.... the resource teachers are awesome... what I hate about Smith Elementary is that they yell at the kids and use the whistle in the cafeteria if it gets too loud.... they rush the kids to eat and if they forget their milk or something they wont let them return and get it... they serve pizza most of the time and chocolate milk should be completely removed ... they shoud concentrate on teaching social and behavioral skills instead of making them act like if they are in the army.... No parents can be walking in the halls or much less in the calssrooms... I understand its safety but they are really strict and it almost feels they are hiding something....