Smoke Rise Elementary School

4780 Hugh Howell Road

School District

Dekalb County
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for Dekalb County 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 February 03, 2025

The parents have ruined this school, instead of getting a hobby. We had a distinguished principal a group of parent bullies ran out over a need to control PTA money. They ran a very loud and disrespectul campaign silencing anyone (he majority) that did not share their specific and siloed viewpoints. An audit proved no wrong doing and they ran our principal off anyway. The new principal is inexperienced and the mass exodus of teachers and good test scores shows it. It will take years to regain a healthy dynamic at this school. All those parents are now choosing to voluntarily leave the school and the mess they made. Pay for private if you can and avoid this mess.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2024

Smoke Rise Elementary is an amazing school that has out performed the district and the state in several categories. Principal McCloud' has excelled over the last decade and this school is award winning. I'm just happy my child gets to attend here. The teachers and staff are all so amazing and professional too! I'm so proud of this school and definitely recommend it!!
Submitted by parent on April 06, 2024

There are some amazing teachers at SRE. Unfortunately, the principal leaves much to be desired. The level of unprofessionalism I have observed from her over the last two years is inexcusable. This school could be amazing if not for her. They are very test heavy - but there is nothing innovative about their curriculum. Lots of memorization so that they perform well on standardized tests. There are lots of issues with bullying, and if you have any sort of issue and speak up you will be labeled as a problem parent.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2024

In my opinion this school is one of the best in Dekalb County. Their STAR test scores are surpassing the state average. The teachers are friendly and always providing me updates on my child’s progress.The PTO is in the process of restructuring and its working out the kinks. The PTO has great potential. There is a small group of disgruntled parents that are always creating drama stay off their radar and you’ll have a great experience. I love the Principle Mrs. McCloud!! She is involved with the students and empowers the teachers. In turn you see the way the teachers care for the students. My child has the coolest class projects in which they work on at school. Teaching them how to put together their projects without the assistance of parents.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2024

We love this school for our little one. This is our second year here and so far we’ve had wonderful teachers, our little one is excelling and the atmosphere of the school makes you want to be involved as a parent. They actually encourage it! We love to volunteer for school functions and they make space for parents to do just that. The administrative staff are all friendly and helpful and we absolutely LOVE the principal and counselors! The community nights are the best! Just a heads up, they do require uniforms which in my opinion is great because it’s less of a hassle when it comes to school shopping. The only thing we’ve been asked to spend money on is ClassDojo app which is standard for most schools. All other expenses we have been asked for were voluntary (at least for pre-k-kindergarten). Definitely recommend this school to anyone that lives in the area!
Submitted by parent on August 08, 2022

Took an ENTIRE year to start an IEP. During this time, the teachers would continue to call and complain about my child's performance in the classroom despite being informed that he needed an IEP. They do not prioritize or go out of their way to assist students in need. Instead they blame the student, and publicly shame them in the classroom. When confronted, Administration is very quick to defend the Teachers and Blame the parents or Children.The uniform policy is ridiculous because no other Elementary school within 15 miles has a Uniform policy. They have WEEKLY expenses. They find an excuse to ask the parents for money for any and everything! The bullying is ridiculous because the students that go here think they're prestigious despite it being a public school. Smoke rise as a community needs to humble themselves. My Children have literally begged me to not go back there. Consider if your child will truly belong.
Submitted by parent on September 04, 2018

Smoke Rise is an excellent school nestled in wonderful neighborhood. The staff is the amazing ! It's my child's 2nd year at Smokerise and the experience has excelled my expectations. I don't believe this Great schools rating is very accurate. My child's teacher sends homework home Monday thru Thursday along with a list of free educational websites to put into practice what's being taught in class. Kudos to Mrs Mccloud and the staff at Smokerise!
Submitted by parent on January 11, 2018

Smoke Rise Elementary is a great school for students to learn. I believe that everything starts with the head. Mrs. McCloud is an excellent principal who truly strives for the students to become better. The administration, staff and janitors have bought into the program of making sure the students are in a safe, loving and learning environment. We have a son enrolled at Smoke Rise and we volunteer to help where we can. By volunteering we have witnessed the learning program and can say that we are very pleased. As parents we make sure that our child does his home work and take advantage of the websites that the school recommends for additional work in math and reading, along with the curriculum at Smoke Rise.
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2017

My experience at this school has been excellent
Submitted by parent on August 23, 2017

Great experience at Smoke rise. Administration and also teachers are more than willing to go above and beyond for students. Also principal and assistant principal take the time to answer any questions that you have. Also the questions about school rankings were answered in dept with a clear explanation on where the school is currently and ways of improving. Smoke Rise is a great school which is a direct reflect of the administration, teachers and community. Numbers don't always tell the story and in this case they are misleading..Go Smoke Rise!!!
Submitted by other on August 11, 2017

Excellent school! Great school ratings are misleading.
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2017

The principal and teachers and staff r very friendly and care great about the children.
Submitted by parent on September 11, 2016

We are new to Smoke Rise Elementary school! I'm not going to lie; my husband and I were nervous about putting our kindergartener in this school. We, like many other residents with school aged children living in Smoke Rise area believed the misconception surrounding this school. We spent a lot of time touring local private school options. But ultimately decided on giving our neighborhood school a try. We informed our selves about the school and dug a little deeper. We spoke to many different parents with children who attend the school and heard nothing but great things. Hearing such words boosted our confidence in our decision. Fast forward.... We couldn't be happier with our decision. My son loves attending this school. They have awesome clubs and extra curriculum activities. My son is a part of the robotics club and comes home excited after every meeting. Please don't let the ratings on this site deter you! Dig deeper, speak to the parents, students, and to the faculty/staff. Smoke Rise is a higher performing school than this site gives credit. The data is not current and reflective of what kind of school Smoke Rise is. My hope for this school is that, more Smoke Rise residents will enroll their kids here. That would be such a win, not only for the school but for property values in the Smoke Rise neighborhoods.
Submitted by parent on March 25, 2016

My daughter started attending Smoke Rise this year. Sadly, it seems that most families that live in Smoke Rise choose to send their children elsewhere based on the misconception that this school is not good. Having had my older son in other DeKalb schools for the last 6 years, I cannot say enough good things about Smoke Rise. The administrators are wonderful, communication with parents is excellent, the teachers are incredibly caring and respectful. I've also found the other children and parents to be very welcoming. I'm looking forward to the next five years at Smoke Rise and hope that parents in Smoke Rise will choose to support our school.
Submitted by other on August 05, 2015

The principal and teachers and staff r very friendly and care great about the children.
Submitted by parent on July 31, 2015

My daughter attended this school last year for the first time. The staff and administration are wonderful. My daughter had a fantastic year. She maintained A/B Honor all year. The programs the school had for the kids to participate in was awesome. My daughter got accepted into a magnet program for the new school year, but we will continue to support Smoke Rise Elementary School. The opportunities are endless and it was a hard decision to go. We intend to refer everyone we can to this school. The teachers are so personable and the administration and staff are fabulous.
Submitted by other on July 28, 2015

This is a great school. The new principle Ms. McCloud and the team that she is building are doing great things at Smoke Rise Elementary. I love hearing about the great things that this school doing. I look forward to seeing the new facilities once they are built.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2015

The secretary lost my childs paperwork with our social security numbers , address and phone numbers. This school Is very unorganized, there is a lack of parent iinvolvement, and this school has gone completely downhill!!!!
Submitted by parent on December 11, 2014

My son and I absoloutely LOVE Smokerise. I was a little worried about switching him from his "school of excellence" at first, however I soon realized that enrolling him in Smokerise was a great idea. The teachers and staff are friendly and care a lot about the students. It is very mixed, which I LOVE and all the children seem to have tons of fun learning new things. Please dont let GreatSchools rating worry you. Your child will learn an abundace of wonderful life lessons and have fun along the way!!!! PS the no uniform policy, recess, and hands on learning are awesome. My son came from a school that was very strict and didnt even allow chatting during lunch. I'm very happy he can be a kid and enjoy school.
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2014

This year was a difficult year because my son had a teacher that wasn't a good fit. The administration worked with us and we were able to resolve the issue. I see the administration each time I enter the building and am greeted by name.